Human occupation in the area of Varna Lake, Bulgaria
Human occupation in the area of Varna Lake, Bulgaria

Summary/Abstract: During the analyses of the settlement system in the area of Varna Lake are known three periods of large-scale human occupation from the Late Paleolithic until the Late Antiquity. These are the Late Eneolithic, Early Bronze Age, and Antiquity after the Great Hellenic colonization.The Western Black Sea coast and especially Varna Lake has attracted man from the ancient times. Until now the most ancient traces of his stay in this region are dated from the Late Palaeolithic (14000-12000 BC). In the Little Cave near the town of Beloslav, Varna district have been found Late Paleolithic flint tools and animal bones. Late Paleolithic artifacts have been found during the excavation in the area of Pobitite Kamuni, too. At the beginning of the Holocene, the Eastern Balkan Peninsula was almost completely uninhabited; the only one Mesolithic site is known from the West Pontic shore. This is the site of Pobiti Kamuni, Varna district. This site revealed numerous microliths, unfortunately unstratified, which belong to the period between 9th and 8th millennia BC.The more dynamic period of human development in Southeastern Europe is the boundary between the Neolithic and Eneolithic (the very end of the 6th millennium BC – the beginning of the 5th millennium BC) and the very end of the Eneolithic (5th millennium BC). This is the time of the so-called “unfulfilled civilization” of the Hamandjia culture and the Varna culture. The brilliant development of the late Eneolithic cultural block was terminated at the end of the 5th and the beginning of the 4th millennium BC by a colossal, global, and multi-causal environmental event. From the area of Varna Lake are known eight submerged settlements dated to the Late Eneolithic. These sites include large numbers of up to several decimeters thick, vertical poles, probably from permanent house constructions.During the second half of the 4th millennium BC under the influence of the migration of nomads from Southern Russian steppes the important structure of the proto–Thracians was established. This is the Early Bronze Age (3200-2100 BC). From the area of Varna Lake are known thirteen submerged settlements dated to the Early Bronze Age.

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