Observation tower, ancient sanctuary from Hellenistic Era found near Bulgaria’s Burgas

From the end of May to the end of June, archeological excavations were carried out on Cape Chiroza near the Kraimorie district of Burgas. The excavations were financed by the Municipality of Burgas with scientific supervisor Prof. Dr. Ivan Hristov (National History Museum) and Deputy Supervisor Dr. Milen Nikolov from RHM Burgas.

Archaeologists from both museums have uncovered the foundations of a wall enclosing an area of ​​1 decare of Cape Chiroza and the foundations of a large massive two-part tower located in the highest and protruding part of the cape in the sea. In front of these structures, separate sections of a ditch up to 3 meters wide, preserved at a depth of up to 2 meters from the current terrain, have been studied. 

The moat probably performed defensive functions, but it is possible that its excavation also had ritual functions. Hundreds of ceramic fragments of local Thracian pottery have been found, and imported ones made for the most part in the workshops in Asia Minor around ancient Pergamum. The found coins, ornaments, amphora seals and character samples of the ceramic production date the site to the end of the 2nd to 1st century BC.

Very interesting is the location and the massive foundations of the building situated at the end of Cape Chiroza. The foundation suggests the presence of storeys in height through stone masonry. Regardless of the taxes for residential use on the first floor, the possibility that this building served as a tower cannot be ruled out. A similar tower with massive foundations has been studied on Zaychi Vrah near Kabile. Towers similar to that of Cape Chiroza have been recorded in various places in the Mediterranean world. For some of them, it has been hypothesized that they were observatories and places for transmitting signals at sea.

In this case, the site of Cape Chiroza should be considered in the context of underwater structures found in the southeastern waters of the cape, where underwater details of destroyed buildings, archaeological material dating back to the first millennium BC, as well as amphorae and building pottery from the Roman and late antiquity.

The excavations on Cape Chiroza fill a white spot in the coastal settlement system of the Western Pontus between the Atia Peninsula and the area of today's Burgas. As a design of the site, it finds parallels with the fortified sites on the western Bulgarian Black Sea coast: Palyura near the village of Emona, Canton on the northern shore of Lake Mandre; Pharmakida near the town of Primorsko; Brodilovo village, Tsarevo municipality; Sinemorets village, Tsarevo municipality; the village of Ravadinovo, the Municipality of Sozopol and the village of Izvor, the Municipality of Burgas.

The research of Prof. Hristov and his colleagues from the Burgas Museum continues underwater in the Chengene Scaffolding Bay.

• Saturday, July 17, 2021
  ancient Hellenic culture archeology Bulgaria current affairs

Ancient Hellenic terracotta relief fragments found in Bulgaria

A 2,500-year-old slab, a relief depicting marching Ancient Hellenic warriors, or hoplites, has been discovered among other finds in the recent archaeological excavations of two temples of Apollon on the St. Cyricus Island, today a peninsula, in the Bulgarian Black Sea town of Sozopol.

The newly discovered slab with Ancient Greek warriors, or hoplites, appears to a piece of a larger depiction, other parts of which were discovered during digs in 2018 and 2019 in the zone of the two temples of deity Apollon Iatros (“The Healer") – one from the Late Archaic period and one from the Early Classical period of Ancient Greece – on the St. Cyricus Island in Bulgaria’s Sozopol.

The St. Cyricus Island, more precisely named Sts. Quiricus and Julietta Island, is rich in archaeological structures from the dawn of the settlement of Sozopol, which emerged as the Ancient Greek colony of Apollonia Pontica on the Western Black Sea coast in the 6th century BC.

The St. Cyricus Island (the Sts. Quiricus and Julietta Island) is believed to have been the site of the Colossus of Apollonia Pontica, a large, 13-meter-tall bronze statue of Apollon towering in the harbor of the Greek colony for four centuries before it was seized by the Romans and taken to Rome. The Colossus of Apollonia Pontica has been likened to the taller and far more famous Colossus of Rhodes.

Among the many archaeological wonders of Bulgaria’s Sozopol is also the 2010 discovery of relics of St. John the Baptist in an Early Christian monastery on the nearby island of St. Ivan (St. John), whose presence has been construed as a counterbalance to the religious significance of the ancient city in the pagan period.

In the fall of 2020, the Bulgarian government and the French Ambassdor to Bulgaria announced an initiative to turn the St. Cyricus Island in Sozopol into a museum of archaeology with aid from France, the OAE, and the Louvre Museum in Paris.

• Wednesday, March 31, 2021
  ancient Hellenic culture Apollon Bulgaria current affairs

Fortified Hellenistic centre found at Bulgaria’s Cape Chiroza site

The first stage of the excavations of a fortified Hellenistic site from the second to the first century BC, located on Cape Chiroza between the Kraimorie district and the fishing village of Chengene Skele in Bourgas Bay on Bulgaria’s southern Black Sea coast was completed in July 2020, Bourgas municipality said on August 19. The excavations are being done by a joint team from Bulgaria’s National History Museum and the Regional History Museum in Bourgas, and are funded by Bourgas municipality.

The fortification had an area of ​​800 square metres and was protected by a stone wall and a large moat with a depth of 1.3 metres and a width of nearly four metres. An indicator of the dating of the site is the ceramic material, the statement said.

In 260 processed ceramic fragments, 40 per cent are made of Thracian ceramics – vessels made by hand, with plastic decoration and a polished surface. The other fragments are from amphorae, bottoms and sides of local and imported cups, and red lacquer ceramics with embossed decoration. A reliable marker for dating the site are the handles, the bottoms of bone amphorae (from the island of Kos) and the ceramic fragments of presumed origin from the area of ​​ancient Pergamum, according to the statement.

The discovery of the moat and the tracing, albeit at the initial stage, of the stone wall, makes it possible to assume that another late Hellenistic fortified centre was built on Cape Chiroza, dating from about the same time as the already known ones near the town of Primorsko (Farmakida), with Sinemorets, Brodilovo and Izvor. It is possible, however, that the narrow wall and the moat marked the temenos (enclosure) of a seaside sanctuary.

Underwater archaeological work was done from June 30 to July 7 in the eastern and southeastern waters off Cape Chiroza. Structures and other finds over an area of 0.1 hectares were discovered and mapped. At the same time, geophysical surveys and bathymetric surveys of the seabed were carried out, thanks to the support of the Centre for Underwater Archaeology – Sozopol, the statement said.

The work led to a number of finds and preliminary conclusions. Several scatterings of stones were found on an underwater terrace east of Cape Chiroza at a depth of four metres. The diving team managed to photograph many processed stone blocks of different sizes and shapes. The discoveries include a large number of fragments of Greek building ceramic tiles, Roman tegulas and imbrexes (overlapping roof tiles used in ancient Greek and Roman architecture as a waterproof and durable roof covering), as well as some intact Late Antiquity tiles.

The work led to a number of finds and preliminary conclusions. Several scatterings of stones were found on an underwater terrace east of Cape Chiroza at a depth of four metres. The diving team managed to photograph many processed stone blocks of different sizes and shapes.

During the underwater inspections, the diving team managed to collect from the seabed about 100 ceramic fragments, half a stone Greek anchor rod, a stone battle ball and several relatively well-preserved amphorae.

At this stage of the underwater research, it is assumed that the site at the foot of Cape Chiroza covered an area of 2000 square metres, the statement said.

For many more images, go here.

• Tuesday, September 8, 2020
  ancient Hellenic culture archeology Bulgaria current affairs

Red-Figure pottery krater depicting Oedipus found in Bulgaria

The well-preserved ruins of a 5th century BC home from the Ancient Greek colony of Apollonia Pontica, today’s Sozopol on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, have been discovered during rescue digs together with numerous artifacts, which include an Attica red-figure pottery krater (a large ceramic wine vessel) depicting the myth about Oedipus and the Sphinx. The rescue excavations were led by archaeologists Pavlina Devlova and Iliya Kirov from the National Museum of History in Sofia.

The 5th century BC red-pottery krater depicting Oedipus and the Sphinx was discovered underneath the foundations of a 1826 home, in a dig that also contained pottery and coins from both the Antiquity period and the Middle Ages.

“[We have] exposed a well preserved structure with a rectangular shape (a residence) with materials from the end of the 6th – 5th century BC."

They add that they have also discovered three pits hewn into the rocks from the Classical Period of Ancient Greece containing materials from the 5th – 4th century BC.

“During the archaeological excavations, [we have found] numerous items which belonged to the ancient residents of Apollonia Pontica."

The artifacts in question include imported luxury ceramics, red-figure pottery, sgraffito pottery, pottery lamps, loom weights, spindle parts, coins, amphora seals, an arrow coin (more arrow coins were discovered in Bulgaria’s Sozopol in 2016), ceramic game pieces, adornments.

The krater is probably the most impressive find from the 2017 rescue excavations and it has now been unveiled to the public in the 2017 Bulgarian Archaeology Exhibition at the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology in Sofia.
   
The krater in question was produced following an Ancient Greek decoration style known as red-figure pottery, which was in use between the 6th and the 3rd century BC. Red-figure ceramics were produced primarily on the Attica Peninsula as well as in Southern Italy and Etruria.

According to the Oedipus myths, the Sphinx, a mythical creature with a human head and a lion’s body, guarded the entrance to the Ancient Greek city of Thebes. The Sphinx would ask travelers a riddle to let them pass, and would strangle and devour those who would fail to give the right answer.
Her riddle was, “Which creature has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?”

Oedipus, the son of Laius and Jocasta, the king and queen of Thebes, answered her riddle correctly by saying, “Man – who crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult, and then uses a walking stick in old age".

In addition to the 5th century BC Attica krater depicting Oedipus and the Sphinx, another intriguing and well preserved ceramic vessels discovered in the latest excavations on the Skamni Peninsula in Bulgaria’s Sozopol is a ceramic askos, an ancient vessel with a specific shape used for pouring small amounts of liquids.

• Wednesday, April 11, 2018
  ancient Hellenic culture archeology Bulgaria current affairs Oedipus Sphinx