Varna

Late Copper Age cemetery site on the Black Sea coast of eastern Bulgaria, of the Gumennita culture (Karanovo VI), with some of the richest burials of the 4th millennium BC. It is the largest collection of pre-Mycenaean gold in Europe. The cemetery contains over 100 extended inhumations as well as two special grave types: the 'mask' grave (where the skull is replaced by a clay mask) and the 'centotaph' grave (where grave goods are arranged as if the missing body were present). These grave categories contained some of the richest grave goods: gold scepters, diadems, pendants, appliqués, copper tools and weapons; stone, shell, and bone jewelry. Foreign items include copper and graphite, spondylus and dentalium shells, carnelian, and marble. Analysis of the Varna gold indicates two sources, probably in the eastern Mediterranean and the Caucasus. Varna was founded as Odessus by Milesian Greeks in the 6th century BC.

The largest collection of pre-Mycenaean gold in Europe was found at the Late Copper Age cemetery of Varna, on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. Excavated by I. Ivanov and dating to the mid-4th millennium be, the cemetery contains over 100 extended inhumations as well as two special grave types the ‘mask’ grave (where the skull is replaced by a clay mask) and the ‘cenotaph’ grave (where grave goods are arranged as if the missing body were present). These grave categories contained some of the richest grave goods: gold sceptres, diadems, pendants, appliqués, copper tools and weapons, stone, shell and bone jewellery. Analysis of the Varna gold indicates two sources, probably in the east Mediterranean and the Caucasus; other exotic items include copper and graphite, Spondylus and Dentalium shells and carnelian and marble.