Five gold coins from the time of Justinian the Great were found during archaeological excavations in the Trojan village of Debnevo, dariknews.bg reported.
The coins were scattered on the floor of a burned-out dwelling from a later period. This was announced by Assoc. Dr. Stiliyan Ivanov from the National Historical Institute with a museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, who led the archaeological expedition exploring the fortress “Kaleto” above the village.
For the sixth year in a row, Associate Professor Ivanov and his assistants Dorothea Ivanova and the specialist from the Chiprov Museum Miroslav Markov are excavating the archaeological site “Kaleto” above the village of Debnevo. Young archaeologists from Veliko Tarnovo University are also part of the team.
“During this year, the most interesting archaeological situation is an early medieval dwelling that was burned down. In other cases similar dwellings are found without remains of the internal structure, while here we have the rare opportunity to see the wooden lining of the dwelling, which, although charred, is clearly discernible. It must be related somewhere to the 10th century, to the time of the rule of the Bulgarian kings Simeon and Peter”, the associate professor said.
The owners left all the inventory in the dwelling - two iron sickles, iron tools, a belt buckle, three bronze rings, various sized ceramic vessels, from which it can be judged that they were involved in agriculture, he added.
“The most interesting find from the apartment is the discovery of five gold coins scattered on the floor. Two of them were badly damaged by fire. The interesting thing about them is that they are much earlier than the existence of this early medieval dwelling.
They date from the 6th century, from the time of Emperor Justinian I. They were most likely discovered by those who built the dwelling and who subsequently preserved them. Although not in circulation, these coins were valuable enough because they were made of gold – a material that was quite valuable even in the Middle Ages”, the archaeologist said.
The studies of the fortress "Kaleto" over Debnevo began way back in 1974 and after several archaeological seasons were suspended for decades. In 2019, they were restored again thanks to funding from the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Troyan.
According to Associate Professor Ivanov, the area of the fortress is 18 decares, and part of the fortress walls are well preserved, while others have suffered because material from them was used in the construction of the nearby settlement.
The fortress is located on a naturally fortified hill, close to the river and arable land. These are prerequisites for it to be inhabited during different historical periods. There are several fortifications on top of each other and dwellings from nearly ten archaeological horizons, superimposed on each other, the docent explained.
He said that traces of a large Thracian settlement from the 4th-3rd century BC, three phases of habitation from Late Antiquity (4th-6th century), the First Bulgarian Kingdom, a necropolis from the Second Bulgarian Kingdom and the Ottoman period.
According to working hypotheses, the hill was actively inhabited in the 18th century because of the Kardjalian unrest at that time. The studies will continue until the end of August, after which actions will be taken on field conservation of the archaeological structures discovered during the season.
The coins were scattered on the floor of a burned-out dwelling from a later period. This was announced by Assoc. Dr. Stiliyan Ivanov from the National Historical Institute with a museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, who led the archaeological expedition exploring the fortress “Kaleto” above the village.
For the sixth year in a row, Associate Professor Ivanov and his assistants Dorothea Ivanova and the specialist from the Chiprov Museum Miroslav Markov are excavating the archaeological site “Kaleto” above the village of Debnevo. Young archaeologists from Veliko Tarnovo University are also part of the team.
“During this year, the most interesting archaeological situation is an early medieval dwelling that was burned down. In other cases similar dwellings are found without remains of the internal structure, while here we have the rare opportunity to see the wooden lining of the dwelling, which, although charred, is clearly discernible. It must be related somewhere to the 10th century, to the time of the rule of the Bulgarian kings Simeon and Peter”, the associate professor said.
The owners left all the inventory in the dwelling - two iron sickles, iron tools, a belt buckle, three bronze rings, various sized ceramic vessels, from which it can be judged that they were involved in agriculture, he added.
“The most interesting find from the apartment is the discovery of five gold coins scattered on the floor. Two of them were badly damaged by fire. The interesting thing about them is that they are much earlier than the existence of this early medieval dwelling.
They date from the 6th century, from the time of Emperor Justinian I. They were most likely discovered by those who built the dwelling and who subsequently preserved them. Although not in circulation, these coins were valuable enough because they were made of gold – a material that was quite valuable even in the Middle Ages”, the archaeologist said.
The studies of the fortress "Kaleto" over Debnevo began way back in 1974 and after several archaeological seasons were suspended for decades. In 2019, they were restored again thanks to funding from the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Troyan.
According to Associate Professor Ivanov, the area of the fortress is 18 decares, and part of the fortress walls are well preserved, while others have suffered because material from them was used in the construction of the nearby settlement.
The fortress is located on a naturally fortified hill, close to the river and arable land. These are prerequisites for it to be inhabited during different historical periods. There are several fortifications on top of each other and dwellings from nearly ten archaeological horizons, superimposed on each other, the docent explained.
He said that traces of a large Thracian settlement from the 4th-3rd century BC, three phases of habitation from Late Antiquity (4th-6th century), the First Bulgarian Kingdom, a necropolis from the Second Bulgarian Kingdom and the Ottoman period.
According to working hypotheses, the hill was actively inhabited in the 18th century because of the Kardjalian unrest at that time. The studies will continue until the end of August, after which actions will be taken on field conservation of the archaeological structures discovered during the season.