Varna culture

The Varna culture belongs to the late Eneolithic of northern Bulgaria. It is conventionally dated between 4400-4100 BC cal, that is, contemporary with Karanovo VI in the South. It is characterised by polychrome pottery and rich cemeteries, the most famous of which are Varna Necropolis, the eponymous site, and the Durankulak complex, which comprises the largest prehistoric cemetery in southeastern Europe (1,200 graves: published), with an adjoining coeval Neolithic settlement (published) and an unpublished and incompletely excavated Chalcolithic settlement. Burial is normally flat on the back, sometimes covered with stones. Grave gifts include bracelets of Spondylus, carnelian beads, gold beads and pendants, and blades of blond balcanic flint. The culture seems to come to a sudden end around 4100 BC, which Henrietta Todorova explains with a dramatic climatic change.

References

• Khenrieta Todorova, The eneolithic period in Bulgaria in the fifth millennium B.C. Oxford : British Archaeological Reports , 1978. BAR supplementary series 49.
• Henrieta Todorova, Kupferzeitliche Siedlungen in Nordostbulgarien. München: Beck 1982. Materialien zur allgemeinen und vergleichenden Archäologie 13.