The Thracians (, , ) were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting a large area in Central and Southeastern Europe, centred in modern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. They were bordered by the

Scythians The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...

to the north, the

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

and the

Illyrians The Illyrians (, ; ) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking people who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan populations, alon ...

to the west, the

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

to the south, and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

to the east. The

Thracians The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared betwee ...

were skillful craftsmen. They made beautifully ornate golden and silver objects such as various kinds of vessels,

rhyton A ''rhyton'' (: ''rhytons'' or, following the Greek plural, ''rhyta'') is a roughly conical container from which fluids were intended to be drunk or to be poured in some ceremony such as libation, or merely at table; in other words, a cup. A ...

s, facial masks, pectorals, jewelry, weapons, etc. These show strong, and increasing, influence from the neighbouring cultures, especially the Greeks. They used to bury rich hoards of precious objects both to hide them in times of enemy invasions and unrest as well as for ritual purposes. To date, more than 80 Thracian treasures have been excavated in

, the cradle of the Thracian civilization. Refer to the map which explicitly shows the territory of present-day Bulgaria.

Thracian treasure hoards

* Borovo Treasure * Lukovit Treasure * Panagyurishte Treasure * Rogozen Treasure * Valchitran Treasure

Thracian treasures

References

External links

Panagyurishte Treasure

The Treasures of the Ancient Thracians

* http://www.archaeology.org/0503/abstracts/kitov.html * http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3999145.stm * http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=53342
Golden Thracian Mask, 5th century B.C.
{{Western art movements *

Treasure Treasure (from from Greek ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions legally define what constit ...

Treasure troves of classical antiquity

Thracian treasure hoards

Thracian treasures

See also

References

Further reading

External links