Thracians come to life in 24-century old frescoes

Nedjalka Filipova,

"Everything that we knew about the Thracians, appeared now in pictures in the tomb near (the village) of Aleksandrovo", exclaimed yesterday for the "Trud" newspaper the archaeologists of the "TEMP" expedition, headed by Dr. Georgi Kitov from BAS.

At 2 pm on Sunday the researchers checked a dig/excavation in the place called Kaleto about 2 km away from the village (of Aleksandrovo), Haskovo district, and discovered the find by accident. First, they descended into a 4-metre deep ditch dug by an earth-moving machine. At the bottom they found the spare/duplicate entrance to a tomb chamber. An amazing sight followed.

Nobody knows when the treasure-hunters have broken into the tomb. According to the locals this place has been searched since the last century. Somebody has entered the tomb in a rude manner and has probably plundered it. The archaeologists found (inside) a piece of wood and pottery shards. A part of the unique murals is also damaged.

The murals of the Thracian tomb near the village of Aleksandrovo, Haskovo district, are older and brighter than those of the Kazanluk tomb.
 

"This is a Thracian beehive tomb from the beginning of the IV c. BC and its murals are more interesting than those of the Kazanluk tomb", said Dr. Kitov. Built of enormous ashlars, the tomb consists of two rooms - a rectangular entryway and a round chamber with a two men high dome cover. Both rooms are covered with murals: men, animals, plants and geometric motifs. "We see for the first time murals with topics, known until now from Thracian golden and silver objects", explained Dr. Kitov.

Starting from the entrance room, with the help of a flashlight we see hunting scenes. In the chamber are scattered stone blocks, probably the work of treasure-hunters. It is assumed that they come from the bed/couch of the Thracian leader. Around 1 metre above the ground there are drawn geometric figures, animals, plants and fully-armed warriors.

The figure of a horseman, piercing a boar, occupies a central place on the dome of the tomb. It is a new confirmation that the hunt was a favourite occupation of the Thracian kings.

"After the Kazanluk tomb, discovered in 1944, this is the second tomb from our lands, depicting humans", confirmed Dr. Kitov. The pictures are painted in red, blue, yellow, black, but the predominant colour is that of a brick/tile. The images are a little bit more primitive than those of the Kazanluk tomb, which, according to the archaeologists, shows that this tomb is older. The images, it is said,  have nothing in common with the Greek art of painting, which means that they were the work of local Thracian masters. These murals categorically prove that the Kazanluk images were also the work of Thracians, something debatable/under question until now.

Notwithstanding the joy, the archaeologists are worried. Yesterday, early in the morning, even before the arrival of the archaeologists, two men in a jeep arrived to the tomb and insisted to enter the tomb, said the guard/warden. He succeeded in stopping them from entering. As early as yesterday Dr. Kitov had a meeting with the major of Haskovo, looking for assistance in the preservation of the unique find.

This time there shouldn’t be any clumsiness

Dr. Bozhidar Stojanov

Perfectly preserved frescoes are found once in a century even in Greece or Italy. The emergency (and after that - the permanent) conservation of the Aleksandrovo frescoes will be expensive. But we immediately have to build an impenetrable chamber around the tomb. And a small group of conservation workers has to start working at once.

Frankly, I am worried because of the inaction/inertness of the Ministry of Culture. These murals do not allow the well-known clumsiness. This time the institutions have to act immediately.

[Index]