Dolmens and other megalithic monuments in prehistoric Bulgaria. Presentation made for course "Megaliths in prehistoric Europe" Year III

1. Megalilthic
monuments in Thrace

2. 1849. Cyclops Christianus- by Algernon Herbert , contained
word megaliths
1872. Rude Stone Monuments in All Countries- by
James Fergusson
 European megalihts-from Neolithic to Iron Age
 Who and why?
Giants and dwarfs are building dolmen

4.  Origin of the word taol maen-Celtic (Breton) terms
 Other name: megalithic graves, graves closed type
 Dimensions: 2.80 x 2.40 (more or less), and height around 2 m or more
Sardinia
Ireland

5.  Funerary practice- Inhumation
 Religion characteristic-Sun and Earth (man and
female deity)
 Prerequisite for dolmen construction-
availability of rocks for splitting into slabs
(usually granitic rocks)

6. XII century-VII/VI c. BC
 Written source-Herodotus
 Orientation of dolmen entrance-mostly south
Grave goods

7.  Europe and Asia
 Scandinavia, Western Europa, Mediterranean,
India, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia

11.  New and old
P. Delev:
-solitary dolmen
-double dolmen
-cist like dolmen
Typology by Dimitriv Peev who divided dolmens in three different types:
1. dolmens with flat roof and rough plate. a) single chamber b) two chambers
2. dolmen-worked plates a) single chamber and sloping walls and a flat roof b) single
chamber and a gabled roof c) two chambers and gabled roof
3. a) double dolmens with two chambers b) cist like dolmen

12. Dolmen of “table type”
Dolmen of “camera type”

13.  Sakar mountain
 Strandzha mountain
 East Rhodope

17.  Chromlech-stone plates circles
 Menhir-standing stone
 Rock-cut graves, Rock-cut niches
 Beglik Tash-sanctuary
 Markov kamak-sanctuary

19. “Devtash” menhir-
evil stone-1905.

20. Second group
First group
First group
First group

23.  Markov kamak is new discovered sanctuary near Tsarev peak in southern part of
Rila mountain
 Discovered in 2006. during scientific expedition“Thracian sanctuaries”

25.  Фол, А. 1982. Тракийски паметници Том III, София.
 Glyn, D. 1980. Megalithic mounuments, Scentific American 243: 78-90.
 Iliev, S. 2008. Observations upon the constructional connections of the Dolmens in Bulgaria, in Geoarchaeology and
Archaeomineralogy : Proceedings of the International Conference (Eds. R. I. Kostov, B. Gaydarska, M. Gurova), 175-176. Sofia.
 Kolev, Dimiter, L. Tsonev, A. C. Gonzalez-Garcia, and V. Koleva. 2008. The orientation of Dolmens in Bulgaria, in
Geoarchaeology and Archaeomineralogy : Proceedings of the International Conference (Eds. R. I. Kostov, B. Gaydarska, M. Gurova),
169-174. Sofia.
 Markov, V. 2008. The ancient Thracian megalithic sanctuary “Markov kamak” at Tsarev Peak in Rila Mountain: Semantic
and functional analysis, in Geoarchaeology and Archaeomineralogy : Proceedings of the International Conference (Eds. R. I. Kostov,
B. Gaydarska, M. Gurova), 177-179. Sofia.
 Milovanović, D. 1988. Arhitektura megalita, Beograd.
 Nekhrozov, G. 2015. Dolmens and rock-cut monuments , in A Companion to Ancient Thrace, First Edition. Edited by Julia
Valeva, Emil Nankov, and Denver Graninger.,126-140. Published 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc
 Tomović, Miodrag, 1983. Umesto predgovora, u Megaliti, ur. Miodrag Tomović, 1-5, 22-23, 31, 49, 63. Beograd.
 http://www.burgasmuseums.bg/index.php?tab=arch&lang=en&page=encyc&enc=poi&eid=23