Rare Medallion of Emperor Caracalla Among Valuable Finds from Nova Varbovka

The Veliko Tarnovo Regional History Museum has presented to the media the valuable finds from the Roman graves discovered last December near the village of Nova Varbovka in Strazig.

The rich grave goods - jewelry, coins and vessels date back to the first half of the 3rd century. They are from two brick graves, in all probability family members. In the earlier one, a child aged 1-2 years was laid, and in the shorter one, two adults were buried - a woman aged about 45-49 years and a man aged about 50-60 years.

The deceased are believed to be wealthy landowners whose estate was in the administrative territory ruled by the ancient city of Nicopolis ad Istrum.

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The artifacts from the Roman tombs being presented to the press. (Veliko Tarnovo History Museum)

A Chance Find

The Roman graves were accidentally found in autumn by a tractor driver who, while plowing a field near the village of Nova Varbovka, hit a limestone slab.

After a report was made to the mayor of the village, Todor Iliev, the police were notified, because it was initially believed to be a criminal case.

After it was established that the burials were from the Roman era, an emergency archaeological excavation procedure was launched. Field operations were carried out in December this year by archaeologists Kalin Chakarov and Nedko Elenski and museum expert Michaela Tomanova.

The gender and age of the buried were determined by L.A. Nadezhda Atanasova from the National Institute for Experimental Morphology, Pathology and Anthropology at the BAS. DNA analysis of the skeletons have not yet been carried out, but anthropological ones suggest that it was a family necropolis, with the child dying first and then his parents.

Representative gifts were found with the child - a pair of small gold earrings, children's jewelry made of glass beads, a ceramic amphora for wine and two glass lacrimaria - exquisite vessels in which mourners initially collected their tears, and were later used for fragrant oils.

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Two lacrimaria (vessels for tears) were retrieved in the necropolis. (Veliko Tarnovo History Museum)

Rare Coin of Emperor Caracalla Took the Prize

A rare and very valuable find from the Roman tombs is a bronze medallion of Emperor Caracalla, struck in the city of Pergamum in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey).

On one side is a scene from the emperor's visit in 214 to Pergamum, where he sought healing from the god of medicine Asclepius. The medallion has a high financial value, but due to its size, it was not involved in everyday trade. The inscriptions are in ancient Greek.

A rare and very valuable find is a bronze medallion of Emperor Caracalla, struck in the city of Pergamum in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). (Veliko Tarnovo History Museum)

In the grave of the man and the woman were found exquisite gold ladies' earrings, a gilt pendant with a bead and a silver-plated fibula of several types of metal.

The burial facilities themselves give a high status to the buried, they are built with bricks, stones and mortar, with mortar plaster on the inside, which only the rich could afford, Kaloyan Chakarov said.
It can be assumed that the family were high-ranking residents of Nicopolis ad Istrum. They probably had a rustic villa in the area. The long-term studies of Nikopolis ad Istrum show that the rich landowners lived in their estates in the summer and returned to the city in the winter.

Top image: Artifacts and medallion of Emperor Caracalla found in the Roman tombs in Bulgaria. Source: Veliko Tarnovo History Museum

This article is a press release from Veliko Tarnovo History Museum.