Archaeologists on the brink to discover third Thracian tomb with murals, the likes of those in Kazanlak and Alexandrovo

Archaeologists are about to discover a third Thracian tomb with wall paintings very similar to the Kazanlak tomb and the one in Alexandrovo.

Bulgaria's unique Alexandrovo Tomb announced European Heritage Label site

Unfortunately, they have found indicative pieces of the murals in a tresuere hunters' excavation pit, which means that the Thracian painting in the tomb has suffered damages.

The hope is that the state will allocate funding from the emergency excavation fund. But until then they have announced a charity campaign.

There are hundreds of burial mounds in the Haskovo area, in which there probably are tombs. And the race against treasure hunters is unequal and far from being in favour to archaeologists. But here, near the village of Teketo, they hope that not all is lost. Around one of the tomb excavations, they are unearthing pieces of frescoes.

"Here we have only the top layer, the finest, the stucco. It is made of very fine mortar plaster with marble powder usually to make it so fine and the coloured decoration is applied over it. This is with a deep red orange. We have something like green here, a stripe," said archaeologist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Georgi Nehrizov.

Some of the colorful pieces promise a real sensation. They perfectly match with the decorative frieze that surrounds the frescoes - like the one in the tomb at Alexandrovo.

"This belt, which ends the figurative hunting scene of the tomb. This is the so-called cymation. Lesbos cymatiion, a series of kini that are purely decorative ornament. The same can be seen in Kazanlak. This cymatillon is present only on those in which there are figural scenes. The same applies to the other Hellenistic tombs found not in Thrace, but in Greece and Italy," added Assoc. Prof. Georgi Nehrizov.

This makes the forthcoming discovery extremely exciting, because it will provide valuable information about the life and lifestyle of the Thracians of this era. The mound where the tomb is, is certainly not a small one - 7 meters high, 40 is the diameter. Apart from the frescoes, the treasure hunters have certainly destroyed some of its walls.

"These are some of the blocks we have unearthed. Look at the treatment, the rustication. They have broken the wall, this is from the destroyed wall. It's tuff, the rock is tuff. Interestingly, there is no tuff in the area. Most probably they were brought from Kardzhali. We expect the tomb is here somewhere, the entrance is in this section," said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Georgi Nehrizov.

The exact location of the entrance will be revealed by a geophysical survey. But there are unlikely to be any surprises. Following their solar cults, the Thracians probably chose the most heated sides of the mound. Archaeologists believe that within months they will be able to uncover the valuable tomb and it is important to intervene quickly.

"All the mounds in the area have been terribly excavated, there were even some treasure hunters detained by the police 2-3 years ago here in this village and there is still a case," said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Georgi Nehrizov.

And although the Ministry of Culture has a fund for emergency excavations scientists still have no funding. In order not to risk missing this archaeological season, they opened a donation account and announced a charity campaign.

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RHM-Haskovo