1 Thracian sanctuary-fortress at the village of Strashimir – The Middle Rhodopes1 Damyan Damyanov The present paper presents the findings of the archaeological excavation work carried out by the author throughout 20072 referring to the period between 12th - 9th centuries BC. The archaeological site is located in Gradishte area situated north-west of the village of Strashimir, Municipality of Zlatograd, Smolyan region. It spreads along the mountain ridge oriented southwest – northwest and on the south end of Zhulti Dyal hill, in the east part of the Middle Rhodopes3. Nowadays the hill, rising to a maximum height of 1241 m above the sea level, serves as the administrative border between the municipalities of Zlatograd – in the east and Madan – in the west. A magnificent view opens from it in all directions. It is about 160m long. Three mound-like heights stand out clearly– one rising on the southwest end and two more- close one to the other – on the northeast end of the hill. Before the excavations started the field was overgrown with deciduous beech trees, which, to some extent, brought about the destruction of the architectural remains; although the continual activities of treasure – hunters carried out in Gradishte area have been far more destructive. The archaeological excavations were carried out in three sections encompassing the three heights (culminations) along the ridge, named, according to location, respectively Southeast, Central and Northeast, Fig. 2. There is evidence that the ridge was inhabited in the Late Stone-Copper Age but, at this stage of the research and the present archaeological situation, we cannot be certain that there existed sanctuaries or habitations during the late Chalcolithic. It is possible that the thorough examination of the site would present data in support of such finding, taking in consideration the fact that there is evidence of inhabitance of ridges during the Late Stone- Copper Age in the Middle Rhodopes: to the northwest of Adata area near the village of Paspal, municipality of Ardino;4 to the north in Chukarya area near the village of Bosilkovo5 and at Svoboda peak, Municipality of Banite; to the west at Suhiya vryh (Dry peak) at the village of Beden, Municipality of Devin,6 Fig. 1. During the Late Bronze Age there existed a Thracian sanctuary at the peak. It belongs to the sanctuary-on-the-peak type – one without any architectural structure. The fragments of cult ceramics, richly decorated, were excavated mainly on the three heights, Fig. 2 Similar to the above mentioned sanctuary are some Thracian sanctuaries familiar to the archaeological science and belonging to the Late Bronze Age- in Belite kamuni area, near the village of Startsevo, Municipality of Zlatograd;7 on the peak Kostadin/Aladak (1241 m), Municipality of Nedelino;8 in Chukarya area near the village of Bosilkovo,9 on Svodboda peak (1943 m), Municipality of Banite; at Zagradski Kamuk (1416 m) near the village of Zaburdo, 1 Статията е публикувана в Thracia, 2009, 18, 451-467. 2 Дамянов 2008b: 134-137. The archaeological site has been examined in the implementation of the project “ The Thracian Trail” on the PHARE program and the Trans-Border Cooperation Project “ The encouragement of the development of the culture, tourist and human resources in a trans-border region” implemented by the municipality of Zlatograd. 3 The Middle Rhodopes are the territory of today’s Smolyan administrative region. 4 Бориславов 2002: 44-45. 5 Радунчава 1998: 9-19; Радунчева, Камарев, Вълчанова 2007: 95-98. 6 Дамянов, Бояджиев 2006: 276-279. 7 Вълчанова 1986: 67-84. 8 Лещаков 1990: 1-17. 9 Радунчева 1998: 9-19; Радунчева, Камарев, Вълчанова 2007: 95-98. 2 Fig.1. Thracian sanctuaries and fortresses in the Middle Rhodopes (by A.Kiryakov) Fig. 2. Plan of the uncovered in Gradishte area near the village of Strashimir (by I.Sarov) 3 Municipality of Chepelare;10 at Kom peak (1569 m) near the village of Sivino;11 at St.Nikola/Sakarka peak (1518 m), near the village of Sokolovtsi; at Sv.Atanas peak in Momchilovtsi,12 Gradishte area near the village of Podvis (1215 m); Popovitsa area near the village of Strazha – Municipality of Smolyan, Fig. 1. The end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age were marked by the arrival of settlers who invaded territories previously inhabited by indigenous population; they took their sanctuary, fortified and controlled it for some time. Later on only the southwest height was used as a sanctuary and the central and the northeast ones - as the ground for two mound burials. The southwest height is dome-shaped and is separated from the others by a saddle back. The examination of 120 square meters of its highest part shows that it had been used only as a sanctuary. No architectural tools were uncovered; neither were there any traces of working on the basic rock. The culture layer is thin and uneven – ranging from 0.05 m to 0.25 m on the north and south slopes. On the north slope, about 3 meters away from the peak, a fireplace with a diameter of 2.50 meters was uncovered. The layer of soil and coal in it is black. The soil looks greasy from the organic components in it. On the east end of the fireplace the only metal finding in this sector was uncovered – a ring (loop-shaped) from 3rd- 4th centuries. Ceramic pieces on the southeast peak are densely concentrated, especially along a stretch 3 meters wide passing through the center of the height with a north-south orientation. One cannot put together whole vessels. It is apparent that after being used, they were broken and thrown down the slope because only few pieces from a vessel can be found on the peak. The ceramics fragments are comparatively small and had been broken by people marching on the field. One of the reasons for this is the location of the southeast height – the most convenient way to the peak. The dating of the ceramics shows that Southeast height was used as a sanctuary during the whole period - from the 16th century BC to the 5th century AD. The area where the fragmented vessels were uncovered is a circle with a circumference of 10 meters in length. Beyond that parameter ceramic findings are very scarce or non-existent. The central height is the highest of the three. Its examination - an area of 200 square meters- resulted in the uncovering of the base of a wall, passing across the ridge, Fig. 3. The maximum height of the preserved pieces is 0.70 m. At the corners only one layer of the masonry of the base was preserved or it is missing. The north wall is 2.70 m thick and the thickness of the south-east one going down the slope of the field increases to 3.60m. The outer side of the wall was preserved in one or two rows of stones. It is not perpendicular but slightly slanting to the inside. The base of the wall was not dug in; it was built directly on the field (on top of the fragmented vessels). It was built from crude stones and united by mud, Fig. 4. One cannot help noticing that the stones are comparatively small, easy to carry by one man – unlike the stone blocks used for building the walls of the Thracian fortresses – sanctuaries at the villages of Gela, Municipality of Smolyan and Pavelsko, Municipality of Chepelare, Fig. 5 and Fig. 6.13 The unstable base – made without digging into the field and the usage of mud for welding had led to the movement and sinking of the masonry: also the result of the wetting and gliding of the construction after the rains or the melting of the snow and ice. It can be seen on the inner side, which in the course of time bent changing its slant alternatively to the inside to the outside till it had been completely destroyed. The usage of mud as uniting material had facilitated the penetration of the roots of the trees into the inside of the wall, which on its turn had led to its additional dislocation and deformation. 10 Кисьов 1990: 64-74. 11 Георгиева 1982: 65-102. 12 Field work of D. Damyanov – RMH – Smolyan. 13 Петрова 1975: 91-93; Koleв 1985: 251-253. 4 Fig. 3. Plan of the west fortress wall (by I.Sarov) 5 Fig. 4. The inner side of the fortress wall north-east view (photo by D.Damyanov) Fig. 5. West wall of the Thracian fortress at the village of Gela, Smolyan region (photo by D.Damyanov) 6 The westward fortress wall is 19.50 m long. Its northwest corner has been completely destroyed. One can trace only one row of stone masonry on the outer side which follows the wall at the northwest corner; the north wall started there and continued to northeast and along the ridge. Excavation word on the southwest corner led to the uncovering of a south fortress wall which is preserved to one or two layers of stone masonry. As it was built on the slope ending with the ridge its base was broadened - to be made stable- to 3.60 m. A possible reason for that change was the fact that a higher wall would make the access to the fortress along the more accessible slope, really difficult. Fig. 6. West wall of the Thracian fortress Zarenitsa at the village of Pavelsko, municipalityof Chepelare (photo by D.Damyanov) After the destruction material had been cleared, we uncovered a yet unknown for this region (the Rhodopes) construction type of fortress wall.