Contemporary Copper Age Burials From the Varna Mortuary Zone, Bulgaria
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8883418 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bisserka Gaydarska (0000-0002-6236-872X, corresponding author), Alex Bayli (0000-0003-2782-1979, University of Stirling), Alex Bayliss, Vladimir Slavchev (0000-0002-6369-4527) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 101 |
| Pages | 1-15 |
| Publication date | 2021-06-04 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Antiquaries Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-5815 • E-ISSN: 1758-5309 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0003581521000032 |
| OpenAlex | W3171796115 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 22 |
The Copper Age cemetery in Varna, Bulgaria, is famous for the earliest known, massive deposition of exquisite golden artefacts. Radiocarbon dating of the Varna i cemetery, excavated in the period 1972–91, places it in the mid-fifth millennium bc and suggests a duration of c 225 years from c 4550 to c 4325 cal bc . Construction work in the adjacent area (2.5 km to the east of Varna i cemetery) in December 2017 led to the discovery of sixteen new graves, whose characteristics are identical to the burials in the cemetery investigated in the last century. This article discusses the AMS dates of ten newly discovered inhumations. The results match well the existing cemetery chronology, showing that the new graves start slightly later and end earlier than Varna i and have a shorter duration of probably no more than a few decades. It is demonstrated for the first time that some areas of burial on the terrace were in continuous use for one or two generations only, suggesting multi-focal depositional activities as opposed to expedient and opportunistic spatial utilisation
Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Chronology · Geography · Period (music · Radiocarbon dating · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · History · Marine and environmental studies
Varna and the emergence of wealth in prehistoric Europe
The genomic history of southeastern Europe
The Social Life of Things
Chronology and development of the Chalcolithic necropolis of Varna I
A palaeodietary investigation of carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N) in human and faunal bones from the Copper Age cemeteries of Varna I and Durankulak, Bulgaria
Lifeway Interpretations From Ancient Diet in the Varna Cemetery
Towards High-Precision AMS
Marine20—The Marine Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0–55,000 cal BP)
Recent and Planned Developments of the Program OxCal
Dealing with Outliers and Offsets in Radiocarbon Dating
Bayesian Analysis of Radiocarbon Dates
AMS Dating of the Late Copper Age Varna Cemetery, Bulgaria
Extended 14 C Data Base and Revised Calib 3.0 14 C Age Calibration Program
Current Pretreatment Methods for AMS Radiocarbon Dating at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (Orau)
Discussion Reporting of 14 C Data
The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0–55 cal kBP)
Procedures for Comparing and Combining Radiocarbon Age Determinations
The Lost World of Old Europe
The social context of the emergence, development and abandonment of the Varna cemetery, Bulgaria
New perspectives on the Varna cemetery (Bulgaria) - AMS dates and social implications
| Citations per year | 0.75 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |