Prehistory

Welcome to the beginning of the journey. This part of the museum is dedicated to the prehistoric and antique periods of our human history. One of the earliest settlements in the Balkans happened in this region around 6500 BC when the first agricultural people sailed over the Aegean Sea and settled in today’s Greece. What’s unique is the high level of culture that thrived for its time, compared to the lack of such in some other parts of Europe. Here we see the clash of cultures from the south on one hand and from the northwest, today’s Serbia, on the other. The rivers in the region were natural communication paths that helped the exchange of material goods and diversified the local culture, establishing the unique characteristics of this region during the Hellenistic and Roman times.

This rare medical kit from the Roman Age was found in a grave near Bansko in the 2nd-3rd century. It contains a bronze medicine box and a spoon, as well as 20 pills. The pills are made of minerals such as zinc for example. The little boot that you see on the top shelf contains organic substances that were used for reducing fever or healing wounds. There are also little spoons made out of bones for dosage, a stone tile for grinding and mixing medicine, and items that were used in ancient medical treatments in one way or another. All of the findings are unique for their time and place.

The items you are looking at are called prehistoric anthropomorphic plastic. They are typical for the cultures in the Eastern Mediterrenian and you can barely find anything like them if you go to the West. The earliest ones appeared in 9000 B.C. in the Middle East along with the evolution of agriculture.

Something peculiar about most of the figures is their asexuality. They are neither female, nor male figures. However, in nearby settlements a great variety of figures with male sexual organs were also found. This breaks down the myth that only female bodies were worshipped back in the early civilizations. The bigger hips or chests and the phallic shapes on some of the small figures in front of you all symbolize fertility. 

On the third line on the left you’ll notice marble figures. The marble is typical for this region in 5000 BC. If you look close enough, one of them has a ram mask over its head. This is the earliest example of using animal masks on human faces, similarly to today’s Bulgarian kukeri traditions. The mystery goes on as we notice some of the cuts on the figures, much like resembling tattoos. Some believe they were made as rituals to separate the body from the soul. 

What were the figures used for? No one knows. Some of the theories suggest that the figures were used as icons in people’s homes to protect them from evil spirits or bring luck. They all show signs of being attached to something like a stick which probably means they were hanging on the walls. Others were used as necklaces or lids for pots. 

In the showcase on your right you can see a bigger box-like item. On the inside it has 16 slots and archeologists suppose it’s one of the earliest traces of gamble. Yes, gambling games may have existed in the Struma valley and northern Greece all the way back in 6000 BC! 

Next to it further on the right in the same showcase you will notice jewelry made of bones, jade and seashells. The strong trade and exchange operations with the south Balkans is evident and remarkable for its time.

We’ve now reached the Afterlife section. Here you can see some objects that were found in the top part of a necropolis that existed in this region. The objects include tools, food, jewelry, utilities, and weapons. Through Thracians’ burial practices we can notice their religious beliefs and cult to the afterlife. They left objects that were vital for the deceased and which they can take with them, as they pass on to a better place. 

Moving to the right there is a vast collection of marble tombstones. What’s curious about them is the engraved faces of different family members – the mother, the father, their children. Usually, the tombstones were ordered by wealthier families and created way before every member died. Such tombstones are typical of southwest Bulgaria during the Thracian-Roman period and give insight into the anthropological features of that time. 

Some items – like the urn down in the middle – were influenced by other cultures. Judging by its form and decorations, this urn was especially influenced by ancient Greece. It also shows that funeral practices did not include only burials, but also a cremation.  

But unlike most funeral practices now, back then people celebrated one’s passing away with lots of festivities because they believed the person’s journey to the afterlife is a new beginning. That is shown on some of the tombstones with engraved scenes of gatherings and feasts.

Apart from honoring the deceased, people used consecrated stones connected to occult practices. They portrayed their religious beliefs and worldview by engraving gods and goddesses, like the goddess Bendida, the hunter among the forest, Heracles with the lion skin and scepter. There’s also the Thracian horseman on a hunt and the three Moiras, each with a thread in her hand.