Archaeologists found a 2,500 years old Scythian sceptre in the last days of this season's excavations in the prehistoric salt mining and urban center "Provadia - Solnitsata" in Northeast Bulgaria, BTA reports.

The 5th century BC sceptre is 39 centimetres long and its handle is made of two pieces of bone glued together. At the bottom it is covered with a socket and has an opening, suggesting that the sceptre was probably hung somewhere, according to Acad. Vasil Nikolov, who is leading the excavations at the site.

The connection between the head and the handle of the scepter is meticulously made. The head is carved in the characteristic Scythian animal style. Viewed from one side, it is like the beak of an eagle, but on the other, the ancient craftsman has carved an anthropomorphic image on which the beak looks like a hat.