What is known

Two large tombs discovered in northern Bulgaria tell a “sad family story” of wealthy Roman landowners whose children died in the 3rd century AD, archaeologists say.

In December 2023, a farmer unexpectedly found graves while plowing his field in the village of Nova Varbivka. Since this area was a Roman province called Moesia in ancient times, archaeologists from the Velikotirnivsky District Historical Museum came to excavate the graves.

Researchers used excavators to remove the tops of the graves / Photo: Kalin Chakarov

Grave of adults / Photo: Kalin Chakarov

Both tombs are made of brick and their walls are covered with plaster. Above them was a large slab of limestone.

• The larger of the two graves was approximately 3 meters long and remains of two adults — a man and a woman, approximately 45 to 60 years old at the time of death. They were buried along with jewelry, coins, ceramic and glass vessels.
• In a smaller tomb built slightly earlier skeleton of a child approximately 2-3 years old and a rare bronze medallion depicting the visit of the Roman emperor Caracalla (reigned 198-217 AD) to Pergamon in modern-day Turkey in 214 AD. There he searched for the temple of Asclepius, the god of healing.

These two graves together may represent the family’s final resting place.

Some of the limestone in the tombs appears to have come from a quarry near Nicopolis ad Istrum, a Roman and early Byzantine city founded by the emperor Trajan in the early second century.

This feature and other signs suggest to me that the dead are somehow connected to the site of Nicopolis ad Istrum.
– said archaeologist Kalin Chakarov from the Veliko Tarnovo Local History Museum.

Chakarov, who excavated the burial with his colleagues Nedko Yelenskyi and Mihaela Tomanova, noted that the Caracalla medallion could indicate that the tomb’s inhabitants were of Turkish origin, which would be consistent with the fact that Nikopolis ad Istrum was built mostly by immigrants from the region. “Of course, we are looking for the opportunity to do DNA and other tests that our museum cannot afford to test whether this hypothesis is true.”– said Chakarov.

It is not surprising that such graves were discovered on the territory of Bulgaria, because the climate and soil are very suitable for growing agricultural products. So these are probably the graves of wealthy landowners. In Lower Moesia, people were often buried on their own land.

The artifacts unearthed during the excavations are still processed in the museum laboratory and subjected to conservation and restoration. Among these, there are items that the dead used during their lives, as well as items that were supposed to accompany them in the afterlife. Besides jewelry made of glass beads and gold, there were also six coins dated to AD 200-225, as well as a lamp, leather shoes, and several glass bottles, three of which were called “lacrimaria”, small bottles for collecting purposes. the tears of mourners.

I think this is a sad family story from the first half of the 3rd century. Dead baby buried by parents who found its final resting place where they buried their child
– says Chakarov.

Collection of finds from Roman tombs / Photo: Kalin Chakarov

Bronze medallion with the image of Roman emperor Caracalla / Photo: Kalin Chakarov

Reverse of the bronze coin / Photo: Kalin Chakarov

Gold jewelry / Photo: Kalin Chakarov

A necklace with golden elements was found in one of the graves / Photo: Kalin Chakarov

Chakarov plans to conduct additional studies in the area to find out where these people lived. It was probably located near the recently discovered tomb.