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Geoarchaeology and Archaeomineralogy (Eds. R. I. Kostov, B. Gaydarska, M. Gurova). 2008. Proceedings of the International Conference, 29-30 October 2008 Sofia, Publishing House “St. Ivan Rilski”, Sofia, 180-184. PREHISTORIC ROCK SANCTUARIES IN THE EASTERN RHODOPES AND SOME OTHER MOUNTAIN REGIONS IN BULGARIA Ana Raduncheva National Institute of Archaeology and Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1000 Sofia ABSTRACT. The aim of the present paper is the study of the period of the establishment and the period of the most intensive use of the rock sanctuaries in the Neolithic and the Chalcolithic in THE Eastern Rhodopes (Southern Bulgaria) and some other mountain regions in Bulgaria. Attention is drawn on some elements of the sanctuary plan and interior as well as some aspects of the ritual practices. The prehistoric rock sanctuaries form a dense network notwithstanding the fact that they consisted of identical or covering the high parts of the mountains. In few cases, in the similar elements. The various components comprising the plan planes, they are located on rocky hills. Until recently it was of the temenos area have been chosen according to the cult believed that the network of rock sanctuaries has covered only practices and the rituals performed there. As I have mentioned the Eastern Rhodopes Mountain but we already know that they many times, the religious beliefs defined the type of the rock were situated on the summits and the slopes of the entire effigies and the way they have been made. In some cases the Rhodopes Mountain and almost on all mountains at the Central natural curves of the rocks have been used, sometimes they Balkans – the Sredna Gora Mountains, the Stara Planina needed additional modification and have been slightly cut in Mountains, etc. Each site had a different plan of the temenos order to be given a shape required by the ritual, and area, which was closely related to the specific rituals and the sometimes monumental sculptures have been made from religious beliefs (Raduncheva, 2003, 79-138). The rock rocks and rock pieces. In the sanctuary on the Harmankaya sanctuaries also met certain requirements for astronomic peak near the Gassak neighbourhood in the village of Dolna observations, which were an extremely important part of the Chobanka, the anthropomorphic effigies were made of larger rituals performed there. The sanctuaries were situated on or smaller pieces of rocks, which were carefully arranged to fit places where magnetic anomalies have been found and the each other (Fig. 1). In most cases the cuts and the reliefs were rock thrones and basins were situated on the spots of the made on the horizontal as well as on vertical rocks. Both, the anomalies, a circumstance that had influence on the quality of sculptures cut into the rocks and the carvings, find parallels the water in the basins. It probably had an influence over the among the Neolithic and the Chalcolithic finds discovered reactions of the people who stood for a long period near the during excavations of prehistoric settlements. thrones or were seating on them (Stoev, Muglova, 1996). The elements forming the prehistoric rock sanctuaries consisted of anthropomorphic images or substantial parts of them, human heads mainly; animal figures – lions, leopards, bears, horses, serpents, tortoises and hedgehogs; birds – eagles and swans; various thrones and altars, ritual pits carved into the rocks, natural caves or caves cut into the rocks, stairways leading to nowhere or should we say to heaven, water reservoirs (wells and basins cut into the rocks) and water sources (springs or small streams) flowing through the territory of the sanctuary, niches cut into the rocks, etc. There are Fig. 1. Human’s head made of rock pieces cut to fit each other (right); effigies of suns and moons in various phases as well as parallel image from Israel (left) syncretic effigies of creatures having both anthropomorphic and zoomorphic features – sphinxes, sirens-birds with human The time when the rock cult places and sanctuaries were faces or sculptures of mythological creatures with human faces established has become a constant research issue in the and serpent’s bodies. The combination of different elements recent years and by default they are dated to the Thracian resulted in a great variety of rock sanctuaries. Today we are period. The fact that the type of Neolithic and Chalcolithic finds aware of the fact that all sacred places differ from each other from prehistoric settlements precisely correspond to the type of 180 structures cut into the rocks, provide a reason to date the the villages of Nochevo and Angel Voyvoda, Kardjali Region, establishment of the entire sanctuary network to the Neolithic at the Bosilkovo neighbourhood in the village of Davidkovo, and the Chalcolithic. Here are some arguments supporting the Smolyan Region, at the village of Dolno Dryanovo, proposed date. Blagoevgrad Region and in the sanctuaries in the Sredna Gora Mountains (at Buzovgrad, near the village of Karnara on the The following sequence has been observed in the Stryama River, in the Turchov Kamak locality (Kitov, 1979), a sanctuaries under research: various effigies were cut into the dozen of sites near the town of Strelcha (Vasilev, 2007) as well main rocks and were covered after that by layers yielding as in the Stara Planina Mountains (at the village of Gortalovo, pottery and finds dated mainly to the second half of the Pleven Region (Mikov, 1982; etc.). To give the reader only a Chalcolithic and in a few cases – to the Neolithic. This fact clue for the number of the rock sanctuaries one can mention provides ground to date the majority of the rock structures and that only in the Momchilgrad Region their number exceeds 100 sanctuaries to the final Late Chalcolithic. After the end of the and each survey adds new sites to the map. The Chalcolithic, these cult places were abandoned for a period of archaeological excavations at the Arkata locality at the village ca. 2000 years. It was as late as the Late Bronze Age when of Oreshare made by S. Ivanova in 2008 supported the human activity is recorded again although the newcomers used stratigraphic observations of the sanctuaries listed above. only certain sectors from the old temene . Sectors from the About 80% of the sherds collected during the surveys and the prehistoric settlements continued to be used in the Early Iron excavations are dated to the Late Chalcolithic; certain ritual Age as well. objects such as ceramic and triangular bone figurines as well as small ritual arrows made of flint and agate are also dated to This chronological pattern is recorded everywhere – in the the same period. Large size stone tools (axes and adzes) used sanctuaries of both the Eastern and the Western Rhodope probably for cutting the soft rocks at the sanctuaries have also Mountains (Belantash near the village of Vrata, Assenovgrad been found. It is worth mentioning that 90% of the finds yielded Region, Perperek near the village of Gorna Krepost, Kardzhali by the large pits cut into the rocks of the sanctuary near the Region, Tatul near the village of Dolna Chobanka, Raven- village of Pchelarovo, Haskovo Region are dated to the end of Center, Raven-North, Raven-West, Adzhioluk, Kazan Beyug, the Late Chalcolithic. The finds comprise complete and Chukovo, Chomakovo, Momchilgrad Region, Fotinovo and fragmented ceramic vessels, marble (Shukerova, 1985) and Benkovski, Kirkovo Kale locality, “the Tower of Babylon” and clay figurines as well as stone tools. These finds were found in Uch Kale near the town of Dzhebel, Adata, Krumovgrad pits whose depth sometimes reached several metres. The Region, Pchelarovo, Haskovo Region, at Dzhambaz Tepe in tradition of the ritual pits came from the Early Neolithic and Plovdiv, the numerous cult places along the Borovitsa and survives through the entire Chalcolithic period. Dazhdovnitsa Rivers, at the village of Dzhanka, Zhenda near Fig. 2. Tatul sanctuary, view from the West. 181 The type of stone sculptures that have close parallels to Paleolithic art (Drossler, 1967, 199, Abb. 92). Here it is worth Neolithic and Chalcolithic finds both from Bulgaria and the mentioning that stone sculptures almost 2 m high are situated adjacent areas are essential for the identification of the exact on the bank of the Stryama River near the village of Karnare time span of the emergence and most intensive use of the and they are replicas of the type which was most common in prehistoric rock sanctuaries. The notorious trapezoidal the Neolithic and the Chalcolithic. The rock structure called structure known as “Orpheus’s grave” at the sanctuary at the “The Gate of the Goddess” in the sanctuary near Buzovgrad, Vezhnitsa neighbourhood of the village of Tatul finds a close Kazanlak Region has very close parallels to Chalcolithic and parallel in a ceramic object discovered during the excavations even Paleolithic effigies (Drossler 1967, 222, 90). The main of the Chalcolithic shrine complex near the village of rock structures listed above and many others, which are not Dolnoslav, Plovdiv Region (Raduncheva, 2003, 283, 129) and presented in the current paper, reveal that the emergence of it is my deep believe that it was not related to Orpheus at all. the peak sanctuaries started as early as the Early Neolithic and The more important thing is that the same structure exists at continued till the end of the Late Chalcolithic. As I already the site of Tatul and it is hard to believe that it can be mentioned above, 2000 years later the Thracians having kings, interpreted as the second grave of the same mythological treasures and architectural skills reused sectors of the person, who is not even supposed to have a grave as told by sanctuaries for a short period.

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