Object description

In the 2000s Bulgarian archaeologists discovered an ancient Thracian surface tomb and sanctuary in the immediate proximity of the village, and it was soon recognized as an exclusive religious center in the region of importance to the whole region according to head archaeologist Nikolay Ovcharov. Latest archaeological finds date the earliest settlement to 4000 BC. According to Ovcharov, the site is the sanctuary and tomb of an influential Thracian leader who was deified after his death. He also links it with the cult of Orpheus. The ancient sources describe the ritual of burying leaders overground, on the top of a hill , as extremely rare, mentioning only Orpheus and Rhesus as two of the leaders who were buried this way and as Orpheus was buried in Leibethra close to Olympus, Greece it only leaves Rhesus as a candidate though both of the characters are mythological and may have never existed.