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The Valley of the Thracian Rulers is a popular name which was made public by the archaeologist Georgi Kitov and describes the extremely high concentration and variety of monuments of the Thracian culture in the Kazanlak Valley. It is believed that there are over 1500 funeral mounds in the region, with only 300 being researched so far. The Kazanlak Tomb was discovered in 1944. Between 1948 and 1954 the ancient town of Seuthopolis was studied. Between the 1960s and the 1980s people made researches of the mound necropolis which belonged to residents of Sevtopolis. Another two brick tombs were found there. The Maglizh and Kran tombs were discovered in 1965. The 60s also marked the research of Thracian tombs from the Roman era in the regions of the villages of Tulovo and Dabovo, made by Prof. L. Getov. During the 70s M. Domaradski, Ph. D., researched a habitation and its surrounding necropolis in the Atanastsa region, village of Tazha. The period between 1992 and 2006, with short interruptions, marked the research made by Senior Research associate G. Kitov, Ph. D., and the expedition TEMR (Thracian Expedition for Mound Research) led by him. As a result of their activity over 200 mounds, which represent funeral practices of the Thracians during the Iron and Roman Eras in the Kazanlak Valley, were studied. Among all the monuments one can distinguish over 15 tombs in a different stage of preservation, 3 masonry graves, a lot of rich funerals, etc. In recent years, work by archaeologists has been going on successfully with the research of tombs near the villages of Dolno Izvorovo and Buzovgrad. == Seuthopolis == (詳細はTundzha river which surrounded it to the South and South-West, while the town was surrounded to the East by the Goliama Varovita river, a feeder of the Tunzdha river. Sevtopolis was found during construction works of the Koprinka dam (former Georgi Dimitrov dam), with research taking place between 1948 and 1954. Excavation works were led by Prof. D. P. Dimitrov and Prof. M. Chichikova. Sevtopolis has an irregular pentagonal form and is situated over a surface of 50 decares. Its fortress wall is 890 meters long with rectangular towers and bastions being located along it, mainly to the North-West and North-East. The wall is 2 meter thick with a fundament of crushed stones, while the superstructure was made of adobe leveled by wooden beams. The town construction was done at a single stage while preserving the principles of orthogonal design (the so-called “Hippodamus system”). The two gates were located to the North-West and South-West and represented a starting point of the main streets which crossed each other under right angle at the square (the “Agora” Greek άγορά). Another street was used to pass through the inner side, along the whole fortress wall. The town was equipped with a water and sewerage system while several wells satisfied the citizens’ needs for fresh water. The Agora took central place and, according to Sevtopolis’ sign, Dionysius’s sanctuary was situated there. All important social buildings were situated around the Agora. The Northern sector of the town contains the citadel, surrounded by an independent fortress wall, also reinforced by towers. A monumental entrance – propylon (Greek πρόπυλον) represented the transition to the inner yard. To the far side of the yard there was a representative building which was identified as one of the King’s residences. It had a wide antechamber, probably with a colonnade, behind which there was a big hall of rendering, colored in the so-called “structural style”, and residence sectors. It is believed that ordinary citizens lived beyond the fortress walls where workshops were also located. An indirect proof of that are numerous artifacts found during the excavation works of the town – ceramic materials, various instruments for stone processing, wood processing and metal processing. A significant portion of all goods were imported – amphora tare, imported Greek ceramics, luxury goods, coins, etc. The most common were stamps from Thassos island, followed by stamps from Sinope, Rhodes and Chios. Black-firnis ceramics are a proof of connections to the coastal areas. As far as coins are concerned – they represented Macedonian rulers (Philip II, Alexander III, Cassander, Lysimach, etc.) together with single coins from towns such as Messambria, Apollonia Pontica, Enos, Lysimachia. The town’s coin production is entirely dynastical, i.e. it belongs to the town’s founder Seuthes III. The small par of the coins is a proof that they served the local coin circulation, while the range in which those coins were used, defines the territories controlled by Seuthes III. The town existed for a relatively short period of time – from the beginning of the last quarter of the 4th century BC to the middle of the 3rd century BC, while there is also some evidence that its existence continued a little longer. Simultaneously with the research of the town, excavation works of the nearby mound necropolis in the Nine Mounds area and partial excavation works of the surrounding flat necropolises were also performed. Results from those excavation works provide important evidence about specific features of the Thracians’ funeral rituals, in particular – about the funeral rituals of Sevtopolis’ inhabitants. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Valley of the Thracian Rulers」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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