Karanovo culture

The Karanowo culture ( usually written as Karanovo culture) is a prehistoric culture in Bulgaria. The name derives from the settlement mound of Karanowo ( Bulg Карановска селищна могила ) near the village Karanowo in the western part of the Thracian plain, 10 km west of Nova Zagora. The Karanowo culture provides a chronological system for the Neolithic and Eneolithic that the Balkan Peninsula. Since June 2010, the eastern Karanowo grave - mound is developed for tourism.

Settlement mound of Karanowo

The settlement mound of Karanowo is one of the oldest and largest hill settlement in Bulgaria and in Europe. It occupies an area of ​​24,000 m². Its height is 13 m, its extension 250 x 150 m. It is located in the northwestern part of the village Karanowo, 10 km west of Nova Zagora. The grave mound is located 5 km north of the road between Stara Zagora and Nova Zagora, which is part of the Sofia - Plovdiv - remote connection Burgas.

The settlement mound located at the foothills of the mountains Sarnena Sredna gora ( Bulg Сърнена Средна гора ), the eastern part of the Sredna Gora ( Bulg Средна гора ). To the south the fertile black soil plains of Nova Zagora connects. In Bulgaria there are a large number of settlement mounds. The highest density they reach here, where the Karanowo settlement hill which is in the area around Nova Zagora.

The settlement mound originated from prehistoric settlements, which were successively built in the same place, ie one above the other. The Karanowo settlement hill was inhabited during the Neolithic Age, the Copper Age and the Bronze Age. This well-preserved building foundations and rich finds were exposed to everyday objects. On the settlement mounds were 18 buildings that housed about 100 residents.

The settlement mound was inhabited more or less continuously for 4000 years, from the early 6th millennium (New Stone Age ) to the early 2nd millennium BC ( Early Bronze Age ).

Layer sequence and chronology

The chronological system of Karanowo was created on the basis of the established stratigraphic system and serves as the standard for the synchronization of the prehistoric cultures in the eastern Balkans. Fulfills a similar function of the hills of Vinca, near Belgrade, for the central Balkans. The stratigraphy in Hügelk Karanovo is thus a Leitgrad of cultural development from the early Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age in South Eastern Europe. A total of seven basic horizons can be distinguished in the settlement mound.

• Karanowo I- II: Early Neolithic Age, about 6200-5500 BC
• Karanowo III- IV: late Neolithic Age, about 5500-4950 BC
• Karanowo V: Early Copper Age, about 4950-4500 BC
• Karanowo VI: Late Copper Age, about 4500-4000 BC
• Karanowo VII: Early Bronze Age, about 4000 -? BC

Due to the recent excavations from 1984 to 1992 saw a further breakdown of the layers according to the early Neolithic, which are divided while maintaining the traditional terminology, now in the additional layers Karanovo II / III, classic Karanovo III and Karanovo III / IV.

Although the Karanowo - settlement mound was only partially explored ( on an area of 1700 m²) by excavations, he gave important archaeological information award. The stratigraphic profile has been explored to a depth of 12.40 m. This allowed the periodization of cultures from the individual layers. This meant that the chronological Karanowo system be created. It serves as a performance benchmark of the different cultures in the Neolithic Age, the Copper Age and the first half of the Bronze Age in southern Bulgaria.

Some archaeological pieces are exhibited in resort. Many are located in the National History Museum in Sofia and at the Museum of Nowa Zagora.

Hiatus

The longest gap ( hiatus ) in the settlement history can be found between the end of the Copper Age and the beginning of the Bronze Age. About the relationships and reasons why the scientists are not unanimous.

After a thesis the resident population was completely destroyed with their culture by invading nomads from the north.

This is supported by the discovery of the burial ground of Varna from the Late Copper Age. In Varna many gold objects were found, so far the oldest known processed gold of humanity. The finds in the graves show that some of the deceased were from wealthy families. They bear witness to the division of the population into social classes, wealthy, higher ranking ruler whose not quite as wealthy vassals and simple people.

The cemetery of Varna is at 4600 - dated 4200 BC. Correct civilizations type a city-state occurred only later, in Egypt and in Mesopotamia.

According to another theory forced economic factors, such as climate change, depletion of water sources, or the fatigue of the soil, the population to leave their settlements for a certain time.

Karanowo Culture I and II

The early Neolithic cultures in Thrace are the Karanowo culture associated with I and II. The characteristic pottery of this culture were tulip-shaped cup with a hollow base. In addition, spherical vessels with cylindrical neck and cord handles. The plates were semi - spherical. The surface of the ceramic was red to brown. The ornaments were typical checkerboard shaped ornaments, as well as belt-shaped ornaments, which were filled with reticulate ornamentation. Furthermore, there was hanging triangles as ornaments.

Karanowo Culture III

The walls of the water jugs were typically perpendicular to the bottom of the ceramic vessels and were thick and massive.

Karanowo Culture VI

The Karanowo Culture VI mingled with a form ( from the left bank of the Danube, from the Lesser Wallachia ) of the Cucuteni culture) to a conglomerate. The main settlement mound this conglomerate were Karanowo, Hârşova and Bordusani. It left its mark in the necropolis of Varna.

Stamp

In Karanowo was in the 1950s by Wasil Mikov a round stamp found in the remains of a Thracian house, which is provided with signs. The punch has a diameter of 6 cm and 2 cm thick. The characters are held by some to be the initial shape of a font (picture). The stamp probably dates from the time the 4th to the 3rd millennium BC The first known writing is younger, it is the writing that comes from Crete ( Aegean writing systems ) and to the second half of the 3rd millennium BC is dated. It is believed that the stamp was a prestige character that has been awarded for outstanding service and was probably used in religious ceremonies.

Some scientists argue that the characters represent the western night sky (zodiac sign).

Excavation history

The first excavations led Wasil Mikov 1936-1937 by the suggestion of the school teacher Nikola Kojtschew from Nova Zagora. Based on the ceramics he dated the finds in the oldest layer Karanowo I in the same time as Troy I. Much later it became clear that the Karanowo I layer is much older than the Troy I- layer. While the layer Karanowo I from the 7th to 6th Millennium BC, comes the film Troy I from the early Bronze Age and is thus much younger. The excavations in Karanowo were first performed for Bulgaria, according to scientific methods by stratigraphic point of view and with grid squares. Mikov took in 1946, the excavations on again. 1947, joined him Georgi Georgiev. The excavations lasted until 1957. Based on the excavations of Minkow and Georgiev chronological Karanowo system was established, which serves as a standard measure for the synchronization of the European prehistoric cultures. The system was presented at a scientific meeting in 1961.

From 1984 to 1992 found renewed excavations are part of a Bulgarian- Austrian cooperation between the Bulgarian Archaeological Institute under Georgi Georgiev ( until his death in 1988) and Vasil Nikolov and the University of Salzburg under Stefan Hiller.