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The present text is the first part of a broader study and it provides a new perspective to certain aspects of the issue of the Troglodytes in Thrace. The analysis and the reinterpretation of the available written evidence lead to reconsidering of the traditional view that Troglodytes inhabited the territories close to the Danube Delta, or lived in the caves along the Black Sea coast, giving arguments for a new localisation in the interior of the Getic lands.
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The study of Thracian toponymy with a view to chronology has different aspects. The history of each source gives a more precise picture of the chronology of the attesting of the data. Tracing the chronology of emergence is of greater significance both in linguistic and in historical plan. Owing to the areal positioning of toponymic isoglosses or isoglosses of toponymic elements, the conclusion reached in the study concerns the chronology of the emergence of groups of toponyms united by common characteristics. Tracing their propagation leads to the conclusion that the oldest layer of Thracian toponymy has lexical and word-forming parallels with the pre-Greek toponymy in the southern and western parts of the Balkan Peninsula and in Asia Minor. There is a newer layer that demonstrates lexical parallels only within the Thracian linguistic space. It comprises the settlement names with two roots and with second components recurring repeatedly, whose dissemination occurred successively throughout the first millennium BC. On the whole, the models for the formation of the Thracian toponymy were completed by the end of the first millennium BC.
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The reconstruction of the palaeo-environment of the lands inhabited by the Thracians in this study is based on comparative analysis of currently existing written, archaeobotanical, archaeozoological, palynological, archaeological and physico-geographic evidence. It presents the natural conditions, the resources and the registered palaeogeographic changes, while at the same time taking into account the specificity and the importance of the environment for the development of Thracian society and culture during the first millennium BC. Hence the territorial scope of the study comprises mainly the lands to the south of the Danube.
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Old and new finds belonging to EBA II and III are considered. Most of all, these are the artefacts from Mikhalich, Constantsia, Ezero, Dubene, etc. Some of them are imports into Thrace and are commented enough in the specialised literature. Others were made in Anatolian style. A stone cup in the collection of the village of Svezhen, Plovdiv region, may also be indicated as an example. It is made of serpentinite, probably of local origin. However, its decoration has a very good parallel in one silver vessel of Anatolian origin. On the other hand, some finds from the Anatolian region evidence to the two-sided process of influence and contacts during EBA III and later. The data give reason to confirm the conclusion that contacts with Anatolia are certain at least since EBA II, and this is discernible in the artefacts considered, while they are considerable during EBA III.
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On June 26, 1987 Professor Fol put the beginnings of Bansko Expedition. His programme was grounded on the idea of the roots from which the intellectual power broke off in the 18th c. to give birth to the Bulgarian Revival – a brave new idea against the common belief that Bansko was founded in the 15th century by refugees from the Ottoman invasion. The members of the expedition believed that far back in time a rich pre-history existed waiting to be revealed and read properly. Today we know much better the territory after historical research, terrain observations, regular archaeological excavations and interdisciplinary analyses of artifacts. The work presents the results. St. Ivan Sanctuary A small mound with two wooden crosses and wooden iconostasis with candles. Offerings of flowers and small coins. The research revealed a sanctuary of nearly three thousand years of life and unchanged practices. Kilns for building ceramics, 4th – 6th c. in the same area. Early Christian (4th – 6th c.) and Medieval churches and a large necropolis (10th – 13th c.) all of them built over a Thracian sanctuary – Shipotsko site. The building manner of the Early Christian church has followed some earlier Thracian building practices. Most probably serious demographic changes have not taken place. The religious site was visited also by pilgrims coming from the Rhodopian Mountain judging from the pottery left. Early Christian necropolis (4th – 5th c.) in Karagonsko site. Traces of a Thracian community recently adopted Christianity and still keeping some of their earlier inherent practices. An interesting find – one of the graves contained a complete bronze belt set from the time of Constantine the Great or heirs, found for the first time in the Southern Bulgaria – a dramatic meeting between the Thracian warrior and Rome? Ancient and Medieval town in St. Nickolas site. Early Byzantine fortress of Sitan Kale – once again earlier Thracian building traditions.
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