Gold dagger, tiny jewelry discovered in Bulgaria
China Post, Taiwan
2006/8/8
SOFIA, AFP
Bulgarian archaeologists have unearthed a gold-and-platinum dagger and some 545 miniature golden pieces of Thracian jewelry dating back to the third millennium BC, the director of the National Historical Museum said Sunday.
“The golden objects were unearthed near the village of Dabene in central Bulgaria, where archaeologists have already found last year more than 15,500 similar miniature golden rings,” Bozhidar Dimitrov told AFP.
“This turned out to be a site full of mystery — the center of a civilization that extracted large amounts of gold and applied exquisite craftsmanship in working it,” he added.
The dagger was made of an alloy of gold and platinum that, unlike pure precious metal, allowed for a high level of rigidity. Archaeologists initially believed that alloys were invented at least 1,000 years later in time, he added.
“The dagger is extremely sharp. One can still shave with it,” Dimitrov said.
Digging near Dabene started two years ago after an archaeologist saw a farmer’s wife wearing a necklace of golden rings, assembled by her husband from pieces he had found in his fields.
The rich finds initially led archaeologists to believe that they have come upon the remains of a burnt down ancient metalsmithing center, but now they say it was rather a ritual site where precious objects were buried as a tribute to the Thracian Goddess of Earth.
Central Bulgaria is considered the cradle of the ancient Thracian civilization, which extended from the Caucassus to southwestern Europe from the fourth millennium BC to the third century AD.
