Exploring Rodostoyuk

published on 10/22/09 12:58 PM

For a third summer in a row, Ivailo Kanev from “Middle Ages” department of the National History Musem, has explored Rodostyuik fortress in the southern hills of Rhodope Mountain, near the border with Greece.

“Our objective in 2009 has been to proceed with uncovering a large public building sitting on the fortress’ highest point and assessing its functions. We’ve managed to unearth in full a single room where we’ve delineated the various cultural layers. What is more, we’ve recovered a cache of 193 coins and scales, lying in the foundations of the room. The earliest of the coins is dated to the time of Constantine the Great (early 4th c.) when the foundations of the fortress must have most likely been laid down. The latest one belongs to the late 5th c. the time emperor Marcian reined. The next cultural layer is referred to the 6th c. with coins from the time of emperor Anastasius. The 6th c. wound up with a huge conflagration, most likely caused by Slav and Avar incursions. Last year we excavated a bronze incense-burner, in perfect condition. This led us to assume this is most likely an early Christian temple, some sort of basilica”, Ivailo Kanev told Radio Bulgaria.

The archeologist goes on to point out this could actually prove to be a basilica sitting on top of a predating antique temple, something that is not so rare to come by. The presence of a necropolis dated to the XIth c. comes to support the thesis this must have been a sacred place in various ages. A number of pieces of pythoses-large gain storage jars-were discovered in the room of the coins. This was current practice in late antiquity. The grain jars do not exclude the presence of a temple; we know that basilicas in those times very often had grain store rooms attached to them”, argues Ivailo Kanev.

“People should be aware that great archeology is not necessarily linked with golden treasures only. Godd archeology is when you help understand the material culture of our forefathers. It’s been my great joy that in the VIII-IX c. layer I unearthed an old Bulgarian girdle applique trimming. To me this has been a genuine break through in historical assumptions because we had not been aware of traces of a sustained presence of Bulgarians so far to the south of the Balkan Range and in those times. In most recent years, my colleagues who’ve been digging along the banks of the Maritsa and Tundja Rivers present-day Southern Bulgaria, have been uncovering increasing traces of Bulgarian presence, notably so in the early 9th c., after Khan Kroum’s battle victories in Thrace. This girdle applique trimming, in combination with another three uncovered in preceding years, though not in the same fortress, testify to the fact that Bulgarians used to live there in those times. Should these appliqué trimmings have been found to the North of the Balkan Range, this would have been only too natural since it was there that the Bulgarian state was to be found. But uncovering a Bulgarian fort so far out to the South, to me this has been a major find and gratification”, said in conclusion Ivailo Kanev.

English version: Margarita Dikanarova

По публикацията работи: Veneta Pavlova

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Exploring Rodostoyuk

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