The Mogilan mound or Mogilanska mound is a
burial mound
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
in the center of
Vratsa
Vratsa ( bg, Враца ) is the largest city in northwestern Bulgaria and the administrative and economic centre of the municipality of Vratsa and Vratsa district. It is located about 112 km north of Sofia, 40 km southeast of Montana.
...
,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
.
During excavations in 1965–66, 3 tombs were found in it, built of stone. One of them - tomb No 2, was found intact and yielded a rich treasure-trove of artifacts.
Tomb No 2 consists of an anteroom and a chamber. In the anteroom there was a chariot and the remains of a sacrificed horse, whose ammunition has a complete set of silver decorations. In the chamber there was a funeral with many treasures: a gold wreath and earrings, a gilded silver knee pad with an image of the
great mother goddess
Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya'' "Kubileya/Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian ''Kuvava''; el, Κυβέλη ''Kybele'', ''Kybebe'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forer ...
, a set of magic figurines, as well as different vessels and objects made of silver, bronze and ceramics. Some vessels bear the name of the
Odrysian
The Odrysian Kingdom (; Ancient Greek: ) was a state grouping many Thracian tribes united by the Odrysae, which arose in the early 5th century BC and existed at least until the late 1st century BC. It consisted mainly of present-day Bulgaria and ...
ruler
Cotys I.
The other two tombs were looted in antiquity and yielded only a small amount of random objects – a gold and silver jug and others. It is likely that prominent members of the ruler dynasty of the
Triballi
The Triballi ( grc, Τριβαλλοί, Triballoí, lat, Triballi) were an ancient people who lived in northern Bulgaria in the region of Roman Oescus up to southeastern Serbia, possibly near the territory of the Morava Valley in the late Iron A ...
were buried in those tombs in the 4th century BC.
The artifacts are stored in the regional historical muzeum of Vratsa.
See also
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Thracian tomb of Aleksandrovo
The Aleksandrovo tomb is a Thracian burial mound and tomb excavated near Aleksandrovo, Haskovo Province, South-Eastern Bulgaria, dated to c. 4th century BCE.
On December 17, 2000 the tomb was accidentally uncovered by an earth-moving machine.W ...
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Thracian tomb Golyama Arsenalka
Golyama Arsenalka mound is a Thracian burial tumulus with a subterranean stone building near the Bulgarian town of Shipka. It dates from the end of 5th century BCE.
It is composed of a representative façade, a small antechamber and a domed ...
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Thracian tomb Griffins
The Thracian tomb Griffins, found in Bulgaria, has a façade decorated with plastic columns and with a pediment above them. The pediment`s ends are semi-palmettes, the lower leaves of which are elongated and look like heads of griffins. The temple ...
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Thracian tomb Helvetia
The Thracian tomb "Helvetia" mound near Shipka, Bulgaria, was built in the middle of the 4th century BC.
Construction
The walls of the tomb's entrance corridor are made of stone. After this corridor an antechamber is followed by a rectangul ...
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Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak
The Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak ( bg, Казанлъшка гробница, ''Kazanlǎška grobnica'') is a vaulted-brickwork "beehive" ( tholos) tomb near the town of Kazanlak in central Bulgaria.
The tomb is part of a large royal Thracian necropo ...
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Thracian tomb Ostrusha
The Ostrusha mound is a Thracian burial tumulus near the Bulgarian town of Shipka. It was constructed in the middle of the 4th century BCE. The stone structures under the more than 18 meters high mound form one of the biggest representative to ...
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Thracian tomb of Seuthes III
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Thracian tomb Shushmanets
The Thracian tomb at Shushmanets is a mound located in the Valley of the Thracian Rulers. It was built as a temple in the 4th century BC and later used as a tomb.
Architecture
The temple has a long and wide entry corridor and an antechamber, ...
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Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari
The Thracian Tomb of Svestari (Свещарска гробница, ''Sveshtarska grobnitsa'') is 2.5 km southwest of the village of Sveshtari, Razgrad Province, which is 42 km northeast of Razgrad, in northeast Bulgaria. The tomb is pr ...
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Valley of the Thracian Rulers
The Valley of the Thracian Rulers is a name which was made popular by the archaeologist Georgi Kitov and describes the extremely high concentration and variety of monuments of the Thracian culture in the Kazanlak Valley. It is believed that there a ...
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Roman Tomb (Silistra)
The Roman Tomb of Silistra ( bg, Римска гробница в Силистра, ''Rimska grobnitsa v Silistra'') is an Ancient Roman burial tomb in the town of Silistra in northeastern Bulgaria. Dating to the mid-4th century AD, the Roman To ...
Tombs in Bulgaria
Thracian sites
References
{{Vratsa-geo-stub
Tombs in Bulgaria
Thracian sites
History of Vratsa Province