General Information
Ancient History
The Republic of Bulgaria is situated in the middle of the Balkan Peninsula on a busy crossroad of different cultures. According to the statistics the country ranks third only after Greece and Italy for the number of its archaeological monuments. During the Palaeolithic Age different tribes inhabited the territory of present day Bulgaria. The Karanovska mound near the town of Nova Zagora reveals exceptionally interesting findings from that period. We can distinguish cultural layers dating back almost 40,000 years ? from the Late Palaeolithic and Early Neolithic Ages. Traces from the Glacial Epoch have been preserved in many caves, the most interesting of which can be found in the Magura Cave. It is famous for its cave drawings depicting hunting scenes, dances, animistic, totemic and pantheistic cult figures.
The world famous culture of the Thracians developed on the territory of today's Bulgaria during pre-historic and ancient times. The oldest gold in the world, dated 8,000 years back is of Thracian origin. It was skilfully wrought and was meant to be used by aristocrats and for priests? rituals.
The period after 3,000 B.C. is very rich in archaeological findings. The culture of the Thracians thrived at the same time as the culture of the Ancient Egyptian Kingdom.
The Thracians also made a profound impact on world culture due to their contacts with civilisations of Ancient Greece. Herodotus mentioned the Thracians as the second biggest tribe in the Ancient world. Homer described them as allies of the Trojans during the 8th century B.C. Eschiles, Euripides and Aristophanes also wrote about the Ancient Thracians.
The period after 3,000 B.C. is very rich in archaeological findings. The culture of the Thracians thrived at the same time as the culture of the Ancient Egyptian Kingdom.
The Thracians also made a profound impact on world culture due to their contacts with civilisations of Ancient Greece. Herodotus mentioned the Thracians as the second biggest tribe in the Ancient world. Homer described them as allies of the Trojans during the 8th century B.C. Eschiles, Euripides and Aristophanes also wrote about the Ancient Thracians.
