Ancient site · Tomb
Varna Necropolis
This Copper Age cemetery was found by accident in 1972 by an excavator driver in Varna, Bulgaria. Archaeologists have uncovered 294 graves, some filled with gold ornaments, copper tools, fine flint blades and shells.
It holds the oldest large hoard of worked gold in the world. The richest grave, of a man buried with gold regalia, is the oldest known burial of an elite person: an early sign that some people had far more wealth and status than others. Several 'symbolic' graves held no body, only objects and clay masks.
- Dates
- c. 4570–4340 BCE
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- Location
- 43.21° N, 27.86° E
How we know
No writing existed; radiocarbon dates published in 2006 show when the graves were dug.
Nearby sites
- Theodosian Walls of Constantinople c. 405–413 CE; defended the city until 1453
- Troy (Hisarlik) c. 3600 BCE – c. 500 CE
- Sarmizegetusa Regia 1st century BCE – 106 CE
- Lepenski Vir c. 9500/7200–5500 BCE (trapezoid houses c. 6300–6000 BCE)
- Starčevo culture dated c. 6200–4500 BCE
- Sesklo c. 7000–4400 BCE (earliest levels possibly older)
Related
- Varna culture archaeological culture