National Institute and Museum of Archaeology in Sofia Opens ‘Bulgarian Archaeology’ 2015 Exhibition

Assoc. Prof. Lyudmil Vagalinski (center) at the opening of the “Bulgarian Archaeology” 2015 exhibition together with fellow archaeologists: Boni Petrunova, Deputy Minister of Culture (second on the left), and Todor Chobanov, Sofia Deputy Mayor (first on the left). Photo: National Institute and Museum of Archaeology

Bulgaria’s National Institute and Museum of Archaeology has opened its 9^th annual exhibition entitled “Bulgarian Archaeology” which presents the results from the last archaeological season, including the most intriguing newly discovered artifacts.

The Bulgarian Archaeology 2015 exhibition was formally unveiled on February 11, 2016, (Thursday) at 6 pm in the Temporary Exhibitions Hall of the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology in Sofia. It will be open for visitors until April 10, 2016.

The opening of the exhibition was attended by Bulgaria’s Deputy Minister of Culture, Assoc. Prof. Boni Petrunova (who is herself an archaeologist from the Institute), Sofia Deputy Mayor Todor Chobanov (also an archaeologist), and high-ranking officials of the Bulgarian Presidency and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, among others.

A total of 15 museums of history and archaeology from all over Bulgaria are participating in the Bulgarian Archaeology 2015 exhibit as co-organizers and contributors.

The exhibition presents over 260 artifacts from 24 archaeological sites belonging to different types and chronology, ranging from the Early Prehistory to the Middle Ages.

The 2015 archaeological excavations of a total of 50 sites all over Bulgaria are presented with posters.

The Museum stresses in a statement that these include both archaeological sites that have been researched for decades, and sites which have just been discovered during infrastructure construction projects, and have warranted rescue excavations.

Examples of the former type of archaeological sites are:

• The Paleolithic deposits in the Kozarnika Cave near the town of Belogradchik in Northwest Bulgaria;
• The Solnitsata (i.e. “The Salt Pit”) prehistoric settlement, which has been dubbed “Europe’s oldest prehistoric town”, located near the northeastern Bulgarian town of Provadiya;
• The Ancient Greek Black Sea colony Apollonia Pontica, today’s Sozopol;
• The Ancient Roman city of Serdica, the predecessor of today’s Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria;
• The Ancient Roman colony of Deultum near Debelt and Burgas on the Black Sea coast.
• The ancient and medieval rock city of Perperikon (Perperik) in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains in Southern Bulgaria.

Examples of the newly found archaeological sites which have been discovered recently during infrastructure construction projects include:

• The Early Neolithic settlement in Mursalevo, Kyustendil District, along the route of the Struma Highway in Southwest Bulgaria;
• The Late Bronze Age settlement and Late Antiquity necropolis during the construction of the Northern Tangent of the Sofia Ring Road;
• The Ancient Roman villa at the town of Dragovishtitsa, Kostinbrod Municipality, near Sofia;
• The late medieval necropolis on the Western Arc of the Sofia Ring Road.

Some of the most intriguing artifacts to be displayed in the 2015 Bulgarian Archaeology exhibit include:

• The frog-like nephrite swastika from the first half of the 6^th millennium BC discovered by Prof. Vasil Nikolov in the Neolithic settlement in the Slatina Quarter in Sofia (pictured on the exhibit poster below);

• The Ancient Roman silver coin treasure from the 2^nd-3^rd century AD found by Assist. Prof. Veselka Katsarova during the excavations of ancient Serdica in downtown Sofia (pictured on the exhibit poster below);

• A silver earring from a late medieval necropolis from the 15^th-17^th century found during the rescue excavations along the route of the western arc of the Sofia Ring Road by Assoc. Prof. Hristo Popov and Assoc. Prof. Metodi Daskalov (pictured on the exhibit poster below).