28 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Unique Gold Artefacts of Thracian Horseman Found in Bulgaria

The Topolovgrad Municipality posted on its Facebook page on Wednesday that during excavations at the site of a Thracian warrior’s tomb in the Topolovgrad village of Kapitan Petko Voyvoda, valuable and unique archaeological artifacts, including gold jewelry, were found.

Among them are as well as numerous weapons, a breastplate, a gold necklace, a gold diadem, a gold ring, a knife decorated with gold elements, and semi-precious stones. A horse was also found buried next to the human body, indicating that the warrior must have been a horseman from a rich family.

The archaeologists, led by Daniela Agre, say some of the finds are unparalleled among those ever discovered in Bulgaria. The findings are valuable not only for Bulgaria, but also for Europe.

On the second day of excavations, the team found the tomb of a Thracian warrior from the Roman troops from the early 1st century AD and unique artifacts.

Photo: Topolovgrad Municipality /Facebook

‘The tomb contains all the battle equipment of this warrior. There is a very interesting braided breastplate, which was very rare in Roman times. An unusual hunting knife with a handle decorated with precious stones, with motifs that we have not come across in Thrace since that period, has a gold necklace that is unique in our country at this stage,” said Daniela Agre.

The handle of the hunting knife was decorated with precious stones and one of the gold bands depicted hunting dogs.

The archaeologists, led by Daniela Agre, say some of the finds are unparalleled among those ever discovered in Bulgaria. Photo: Topolovgrad Municipality /Facebook
The archaeologists, led by Daniela Agre, say some of the finds are unparalleled among those ever discovered in Bulgaria. Photo: Topolovgrad Municipality /Facebook

We will be able to see the gold ornaments in their full glory by the end of the week when they will be moved to the museum in Topolovgrad, where a special room is already being built to protect them and meet all the requirements. Until then, however, the site will be guarded around the clock by the police.

Thracian warriors were the most famous light infantry soldiers in the classical world. They were known as Thracian peltasts because of the peltast shields they carried. The pelta was crescent-shaped, made of wicker covered with goat or sheepskin, and carried by a central handgrip.

The Thracian peltasts had a much bigger panoply, including knives (to defend themselves because these light troops were very vulnerable in close fight) as well as swords or spears of various kinds, thus opening to them a great diversity of formations of fight.

From the Fourth Century BC onwards, peltasts became an integral part of Greek armies, and Thracians formed part of the army that Alexander took into Asia, where, at the Battle of the Jhelum in 326 BC.

Topolovgrad Municipality

Cover ımage: Topolovgrad Municipality /Facebook

Related Articles

1,600-year-old Roman-era wine shop unearthed in Greece

29 January 2024

29 January 2024

A team led by Scott Gallimore of Wilfrid Laurier University and Martin Wells of Austin College discovered a 1,600-year-old Roman-era...

Archaeologists Uncover 8 Graves Dated 6,500 Years Ago in Lausanne, Swiss

30 October 2021

30 October 2021

Archaeologists have unearthed eight prehistoric tombs between 5,500 and 6,500 years old in the Swiss town of Pully. The site...

Archaeologists discover a hidden Maya burial chamber in the walled enclosure of Tulum

28 December 2023

28 December 2023

Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have discovered a hidden Maya burial chamber concealed within a...

A 7,500-year-old settlement has been discovered in Turkey’s Domuztepe Mound

11 September 2021

11 September 2021

During the most recent excavations at Domuztepe Mound in the Türkoğlu district of southern Turkey’s Kahramanmaraş province, a settlement and...

Archaeologists unearth hidden tunnels under the 3,000-year-old temple complex

6 June 2022

6 June 2022

Archaeologists have discovered a system of hidden tunnels beneath the 3,000-year-old Chavín de Huántar temple complex in the Ancash Region...

Ukrainian Soldiers Uncover 6th–5th Century BC Burial Site During Fortification Works

1 April 2025

1 April 2025

In a remarkable archaeological find, soldiers from the 123rd Territorial Defence Brigade have uncovered an ancient burial site dating back...

Ancient fish processing factories were discovered in ancient Roman city of Balsa, Portugal

18 July 2022

18 July 2022

In the Roman city of Balsa, one of the most important and symbolic archaeological sites in southern Portugal, archaeologists have...

A coin of Queen Fastrada and Charlemagne found – First of its kind

8 May 2023

8 May 2023

A coin purchased by the Charlemagne Center in Aachen, Germany, bears the name of Queen Fastrada. This is the first...

500-year-old curse tablet found in Germany

15 December 2023

15 December 2023

In the city of Rostock on Germany’s northern coast, archaeologists found a lead curse tablet invoking Satan and two other...

Ming-era two shipwrecks found in South China Sea

23 May 2023

23 May 2023

In the South China Sea, two ancient shipwrecks that date back to the middle of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) were...

An olive workshop dating back to the 6th century was found in the ancient city of Dara

16 February 2022

16 February 2022

An olive workshop dating back to the 6th century was unearthed in the ancient city of Dara, one of the...

7,600-year-old child skeleton and a silver ring found in Türkiye’s Domuztepe Mound

12 September 2024

12 September 2024

A child skeleton and a silver ring presumed to be used for babies dating back to 7,600 years ago were...

Archaeologists in Peru discover a mummy tied with 800-year-old ropes

28 November 2021

28 November 2021

On Peru’s central coast, archaeologists discovered a mummy estimated to be at least 800 years old. The mummy’s body was...

Czech archaeologists discovered a unique bronze belt buckle dating back to the eighth century

12 December 2023

12 December 2023

Czech archaeologists have unearthed a bronze belt buckle from the early Middle Ages, depicting a snake devouring a frog-like creature....

Uncovering the ritual past of ancient mustatils: Cult, herding, and ‘pilgrimage’ in the Late Neolithic of north-west Arabia

16 March 2023

16 March 2023

Mustatils—stone monuments from the Late Neolithic period thought to have been used for ritual purposes—have been the subject of new...