Works at Bulgarian Hwy Yield Scores of Archeological Finds

Society » ARCHAEOLOGY | August 16, 2011, Tuesday // 13:40
Construction Works at Bulgarian Hwy Yield Scores of Archeological Finds: Works at Bulgarian Hwy Yield Scores of Archeological Finds The very downtown of Sofia has seen massive excavations since 2010 over the construction of the Sofia Metro. Photo by BGNES

Thousands of archeological objects with museum value have been found during construction works at the recently launched Maritsa highway in southern Bulgaria.

The 3 500 objects come on the heels of several recent discoveries in Bulgaria during construction works, such as the million-year-old fossil of a fish under excavations for the Lyulin highway in Sofia and the remnants from a Roman city at the central Sofia metro station site.

An exhibit titled "Archeological Studies at a Highway" was just opened in the southern town of Chirpan, dedicated to the Maritsa highway finds. 2 700 of them belong to a medieval settlement form the 9th-13th century, currently studied by the archeologists, while another 900 are clay vessels or parts of them.

Dimitar Yankov, manager of the Regional History Museum in the southern city of Stara Zagora, says that not all 3 500 have museum value, and some will just be directed to research. The Martisa highway actually follows the route of the all Roman corridor from Philipopoulis to Constantinople, he says.

Yankov points out all finds are precious, but two tombs from the Necropolis are the most important – one, of a female, dating from the second half of the 9th century, marks the beginning of the settlement and the latest tomb – its end in the first half of the 13th century. It was, most likely, abandoned during the fourth Crusade, but the last tomb showed that some people remained there.

Another significant find about the medieval settlement is its preliminary planning, which can be established by the orientation of the houses, the existence of streets and open spaces.

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Tags: sofia, Sofia metro, archaeology, archaeologists, Christianity, Middle Ages, excavations, subway, subway construction, Maritsa, Chirpan, medieval settlement, fossil, fish, Lyulin, highway, archaeologists, Dimitar Yankov

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