7000-year-old skeleton found in Bulgaria

Archaeologists from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) have found an early Neolithic grave at the Slatina site in capital city Sofia, according to an announcement on the BAS website.

The recently discovered skeleton of a woman [Credit: BAS]

Archaeologists have been working on the current project examining the Slatina site for more than five years, uncovering details of an early Neolithic settlement that dated back to the period 6100 to 5500 BCE. The site was first examined and studied in the 1950s.

Slatina is believed to be the site of the oldest human settlement in what would later become Sofia.

Furnace discovered during the excavations [Credit: BAS]

BAS said that many buildings had been found during the digs, including two large houses, of 117 and 147 m2, and one of close to 300 m2.

The settlement was surrounded by concentric ditches, which had protective and magical functions, sacrifices were made in them, BAS said.

Stone implements, pottery fragments and animal bones discovered at the site 
[Credit: BAS]

Among the newly discovered finds in the village of Slatina are various household and cult objects, such as a a bone spoon and ceramic vessels, and parts of cult sacrificial tables.

Bulgarian media reported Vassil Nikolov, deputy head of BAS and head of the dig team, as saying that the Neolithic grave find was extremely rare.

Fragments of a sacrifical table found at the site [Credit: BAS]

The newly-discovered skeleton most likely was that of a woman buried with a child in the immediate vicinity of the remnants of a house on the outskirts of the village.

The archaeological excavations by Nikolov’s team are to continue in the central part of the settlement. They are financed by Sofia municipality, with the support of the Sofia Inspectorate.

Pottery fragments found at the site [Credit: BAS]

Those who settled in Slatina in the Neolithic Age are believed to have come from central Asia, introducing agriculture to the area that would later become Bulgaria. They produced pottery, painted with white paint before being baked, and many ornaments painted in shades of red.

Source: The Sofia Globe [May 28, 2019]