Antique Artifacts and their Stories on Sozopol’s Past

Artifacts from the Apollonia Pontica antique necropolis in the Budjaka area of the Black Sea port town of Sozopol were among the most impressive findings at the 10^th national exhibition named Bulgarian Archaeology. Dr. Margarita Popova from the National Museum of History and Dr. Teodora Bogdanova from the Archaeological Museum of Sozopol headed the excavations.

An area of 1.2 ha was researched there over the past season. Dr. Bogdanova says that the most interesting artifact was a family tomb with impressive architecture, found on the territory of the huge site. It is the only one known so far from the antique Greek world, despite the intensive research of the Greek necropolises in Bulgaria and Romania, BNR said.

Apparently someone knew that valuable objects were hidden inside and the tombs were attacked quite early in time. Fortunately the children’s grave was somehow at the periphery and remained untouched, to the delight of the archaeologists.

As far as the Roman graves are concerned, cremation on the spot happened there. A gold wreath for the head was found in one of them. We are talking about a middle-aged man – 20 to 40, buried with an iron knife and alongside rare ceramic and glass vessels.

An artifact from one of the tombs is of particular interest: a rare relief cup, imported from the ancient Greek town of Pergamum. It was made during the 1^st c. AD. There is only one of the kind in Bulgaria, found in the Black Sea port town of Varna. It is decorated with Dionysus’ head and also has scenes of fertility and welfare.

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