Archaeologists conducting rescue excavations in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, have uncovered a Roman-period necropolis containing 135 burials, including the grave of a child accompanied by two gold earrings.
The discovery was made during archaeological investigations ahead of the construction of a residential building with garages at 91 Tsar Ivan Asen II Street.
The site is located in the south-western part of the Augusta Traiana–Vereia–Stara Zagora Archaeological Reserve, outside the fortress walls of the ancient city.
Excavations revealed remains from several periods, including structures dating from the late 2nd to 4th centuries AD, the 4th to 5th centuries, the 17th to 18th centuries and the late 19th to 20th centuries.
Necropolis containing 135 burials
The most significant discovery is a necropolis dating from the late 2nd to 5th centuries AD.
Archaeologists documented 135 burial structures representing several different types of grave.
These include simple burial pits, graves covered with tegulae (Roman roof tiles), burials covered with bricks, graves covered with stone slabs and burial pits without coverings.
Two funerary rites were identified during the excavations. Four of the burials involved cremation, while the remaining graves contained inhumations.
Child buried with gold earrings
Among the discoveries is the grave of a child, who was buried with the head orientated towards the west and the feet towards the east.
Archaeologists recovered three grave goods from the burial: a coin and two gold earrings.
The coin has been identified as an antoninianus issued during the reign of the Roman Emperor Aurelian and minted at Serdica, modern-day Sofia, between AD 274 and 275.
Based on the dating of the coin, archaeologists have assigned the child's burial to the same period.
Augusta Traiana–Vereia
The necropolis was discovered outside the fortress walls of Augusta Traiana–Vereia, the ancient settlement beneath modern Stara Zagora.
The cemetery forms part of a wider sequence of archaeological remains identified during the rescue excavations, documenting activity at the site from the Roman period through to the modern era.
The discovery adds 135 burial structures to the archaeological record of ancient Augusta Traiana–Vereia, alongside artefacts including the gold earrings and the antoninianus of Emperor Aurelian.
Sources : Regional History Museum Stara Zagora