Iron Age Ancient Thracian Hamlet, ‘Cross-Shaped’ Ax Discovered in Highway Construction Excavations in Bulgaria’s Ugarchin

An Iron Age Ancient Thracian settlement, or, rather, a hamlet which was inhabited on and off over a period of about 1,000 years – from the 11^th century BC until the 1^st century BC, has been discovered by archaeologists during rescue excavations in the town of Ugarchin in Central North Bulgaria as part of the construction of a major highway.

The most intriguing artifact discovered in the Ancient Thracian hamlet near Bulgaria’s Ugarchin is a cross-type or cross-shaped iron ax from the Early Iron Age (11^th – 6^th century BC).

The Ancient Thracian settlement in particular is intriguing also because it seems to represent a rural settlement model known in today’s Bulgaria until the 20^th century consisting of scattered, relatively isolated homes such as huts or cottages, or small communities of homes resembling hamlets.

The Early Iron Age “cross-shaped” Ancient Thracian ax from the newly found 1st millenium BC settlement near Ugarchin is one of the most intriguing artifacts on display in the 2020 Bulgarian Archaeology Exhibition, which was opened in February 2021, an annual event presenting to the public the main archaeological discoveries in Bulgaria from preceding year.

Archaeologists have found the ruins of the previously unknown Iron Age settlement in the northwest part of the territory of the small town of Ugarchin.

They have made the discovery in rescue excavations for the construction of the Hemus Highway, a major road connecting the Bulgarian capital Sofia with the city of Varna on the Black Sea via the Danube plain in Northern Bulgaria.

The Iron Age Ancient Thracian settlement, or hamlet, is located on a terrace on the left (western) bank of what is now a dried-up riverbed covered with a forest.

The rescue excavations have been led by lead archaeologist Ventsislav Dinchev and deputy-lead Alexander Harizanov from the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology in Sofia. Archaeologists Kristina Koseva, Radi Radev, Plamena Koycheva, and Ivo Nikolov were also part of the archaeological team.

The archaeologists have found near Ugarchin Ancient Thracian homes from the Early Iron Age (11^th – 6^th century BC), and the Late Iron Age (5^th – 1^st century BC).

“The dwellings in question were ground buildings with a light, frail structure plastered with clay. [We] have also explored several shallow refuse pits from the respective periods,” the archaeological team that researched the Iron Age Ancient Thracian site near Ugarchin explains in the official catalog and poster of the 2020 Bulgarian Archaeology Exhibition.

The most numerous archaeological artifacts found by the researchers in the settlement have been pottery vessel fragments.

“The vessel fragments from the Early Iron Age are solely from vessels which were produced by hand whereas many of those from the Late Iron Age come from vessels made with a potter’s wheel,” the archaeologists say.

“These are mostly samples typical of the so called gray Thracian pottery (cups, jars, and low-bottom bowls,” they explain.

The researchers note fragments from several iron fibulas from the Late Iron Age that they have found in the Ancient Thracian settlement near Bulgaria’s Ugarchin.

“The most interesting find from the Early Iron Age is an iron ax, a representative of the so called ‘cross-shaped’ axes,” the archaeological team informs.

Based on the rescue excavations, the archaeologists have been able to establish the inhabitance model of the Iron Age Ancient Thracian settlement near today’s Ugarchin in Central North Bulgaria.

The settlement model in question is reminiscent of what is known in today’s Bulgarian as “колибарство” (“kolibarstvo”) roughly translated as “hut-dwelling” or “cottage-dwelling”, which, however, means a settlement model based on scattered, relatively isolated homes such as huts or cottages, either as individual homes or as small communities consisting of several homes, or hamlets.

“[We] can conclude that the archaeological site contains traces and materials from sporadic inhabitation during the Early Iron Age and the Late Iron Age,” they state.

“In this case, it was not so much of a full-fledged settlement as there was a separate family- or clan-based presence on the site,” the archaeologists elaborate, explaining how the settlement in question resembled a hamlet or community whose residents lived in hut- or cottage-type dwellings.

“In this regard, it has been curious [that we have received] information from locals that up until the middle of the last [20^th] century, there were many hut dwellers (or cottage or hamlet dwellers – editor’s note) in the region, that is, until recently the area had a form of settlement and economic life that was close to the one explained above,” the archaeological team concludes.

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Ivan Dikov, the founder of ArchaeologyinBulgaria.com, is the author of the book Plunder Paradise: How Brutal Treasure Hunters Are Obliterating World History and Archaeology in Post-Communist Bulgaria, among other books.

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