So you want to dig up this summer?

Well, the Vratsa Historical Muserum and the Bulgarian Archaeological Society "Ivan Venedikov" offer a unique opportunity at a summer field school in Vratsata, where you'll do just that and a whole lot more. You will have the chance to get your mind, hands, and shovels into the material vestiges of one of the most interesting significant sites.

The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes who spoke the Thracian language - a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family. Those peoples inhabited the Eastern, Central and Southern part of the Balkan peninsula, as well as the adjacent parts of Central-Eastern Europe. Thracians inhabited parts of the ancient provinces of: Thrace, Moesia, Macedonia, Dacia, Scythia Minor, Sarmatia, Bithynia, Mysia, Pannonia, and other regions on the Balkans and Anatolia. This area extends over most of the Balkans region, and the Getae north of the Danube as far as beyond the Bug.

The origins of the Thracians remain obscure, in absence of written historical records. Evidence of proto-Thracians in the prehistoric period depends on remains of material culture. Proto-Thracian tombs can be found dating back to 3000 BC, when what can be termed as 'proto-Thracian' culture began to form. It is generally proposed that a proto-Thracian people developed from a mixture of indigenous peoples and Indo-Europeans from the time of Proto-Indo-European expansion in the Early Bronze Age when the latter, around 1500 BC, conquered the indigenous peoples.

The first historical record about the Thracians is found in the Iliad, where they appear as allies of the Trojans, hailing from Thrace.

By the 5th century BC, the Thracian presence was pervasive enough to have made Herodotus (book 5) call them the second-most numerous people in the part of the world known by him (after the Indians), and potentially the most powerful, if not for their disunity. The Thracians in classical times were broken up into a large number of groups and tribes, though a number of powerful Thracian states were organized, such as the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace and the Dacian kingdom of Burebista. A type of soldier of this period called the Peltast probably originated in Thrace.

In that period, contacts between the Thracians and Classical Greece intensified which led to strengthening Greek influences in Thracian society, culture and handcrafts and vice versa. Because their language had no written tradition, in some regions the Thracian aristocracy and administration used the classical Greek and Thracian merchants utilised it as a 'lingua franca' in their contacts with other non Thracian tribes and peoples. As a result a level of Hellenization was observed in the following centuries which was more deeply imposed by the Macedonian conquests over the Thracian territory in 3rd century BC.

The archaeological research of the Thracian culture started in the 20th century and especially after World War II, mainly on the territory of Southern Bulgaria. As a result of intensive excavation works in the 1960s and 1970s a number of Thracian tombs and sanctuaries were discovered. More significant among them are: the Tomb of Sveshtari, the Tomb of Kazanlak, Tatul, Seuthopolis, Perperikon, the Tomb of Aleksandrovo, Sarmizegetusa in Romania, etc.

Also a large number of elaborately crafted gold and silver treasure sets from the 5th and 4th century BC were unearthed. In the following decades those were exposed in museums around the world, thus gaining popularity and becoming an emblem of the ancient Thracian culture.

The Rogozen collection is the richest Thracian treasure found so far. Unearthed in the period 1985 - 1986, it consists of as many as 108 phialae, 54 small jugs and 3 cups. The objects are mostly made of silver with gilt coating. They were collected during a period exceeding a century - from the beginning of the 5th century to the mid-4th century BC. Experts presume this splendid collection belonged to a local dynastic family.

The Rogozen treasure is a valuable source of information about Thracian culture and ancient art. The inscriptions engraved on some of the vessels provide unique knowledge of the mythology and royal ideology of the Thracians. The great number of well preserved small jugs and phialae allows investigators to study the typology and the spread of these two most common ancient vessels.

The Mogilanska Mogila mound was investigated in 1965-1966. The gifts found there indicate the existence of a royal burial dated from the 4th century BC.

The bigger chamber of the tomb housed a gold laurel wreath. It weighs 205 g and strikes with its particularly realistic workmanship. The decoration is complete with earrings of massive gold with sphinx images and floral ornamentation.

Among the objects found were also silver and bronze vessels, fragments of armour and a silver-and-gilt greave with a female face represented on it, probably one of a goddess. The abundance of serpentine elements emphasizes the significance of the image as a symbol of the king's authority over the territory of his kingdom.

The Iliad records that the Thracians from around the Hellespont and also the Thracian Cicones fought on the side of the Trojans.[12] The Odyssey records that Odysseus and his men raided Thrace on their way back home from war. Many mythical figures, such as the god Dionysus, princess Europa and the hero Orpheus were borrowed by the Greeks from their Thracian neighbours.

In book 7 of his Histories, Herodotus describes the equipment of the Thracians fighting under the Persians:

"The Thracians went to the war wearing the skins of foxes upon their heads, and about their bodies tunics, over which was thrown a long cloak of many colours. Their legs and feet were clad in buskins made from the skins of fawns; and they had for arms javelins, with light targes, and short dirks. This people, after crossing into Asia, took the name of Bithynians; before, they had been called Strymonians, while they dwelt upon the Strymon; whence, according to their own account, they had been driven out by the Mysians and Teucrians. The commander of these Asiatic Thracians was Bassaces the son of Artabanus."

In book 5, Herodotus describes the customs of various Thracian tribes:

"The Thracians who live above the Crestonaeans observe the following customs. Each man among them has several wives; and no sooner does a man die than a sharp contest ensues among the wives upon the question which of them all the husband loved most tenderly; the friends of each eagerly plead on her behalf, and she to whom the honour is adjudged, after receiving the praises both of men and women, is slain over the grave by the hand of her next of kin, and then buried with her husband. The others are sorely grieved, for nothing is considered such a disgrace."

"The Thracians who do not belong to these tribes have the customs which follow. They sell their children to traders. On their maidens they keep no watch, but leave them altogether free, while on the conduct of their wives they keep a most strict watch. Brides are purchased of their parents for large sums of money. Tattooing among them marks noble birth, and the want of it low birth. To be idle is accounted the most honourable thing, and to be a tiller of the ground the most dishonourable. To live by war and plunder is of all things the most glorious. These are the most remarkable of their customs."

"The gods which they worship are but three, Mars, Bacchus, and Dian. Their kings, however, unlike the rest of the citizens, worship Mercury more than any other god, always swearing by his name, and declaring that they are themselves sprung from him."

"Their wealthy ones are buried in the following fashion. The body is laid out for three days; and during this time they kill victims of all kinds, and feast upon them, after first bewailing the departed. Then they either burn the body or else bury it in the ground. Lastly, they raise a mound over the grave, and hold games of all sorts, wherein the single combat is awarded the highest prize. Such is the mode of burial among the Thracians."

In contrast, the Greek historian Strabo describes the Thracians living in twenty-two tribes.[13]

Josephus claims the founder of the Thracians was the biblical character Tiras, son of Japheth:

"Thiras also called those whom he ruled over Thirasians; but the Greeks changed the name into Thracians." - AotJ I:6