Solnitsata (, "The Saltworks") was a prehistoric town located in present-day
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
, near the modern city of
Provadia. It is the oldest salt production center in continental Europe (5500‑4200 BC). It was the first prehistoric urban center in Europe (4700‑4200 BC) consisting of a salt production center, Solnitsata was a fortified stone settlement - citadelle, inner and outer city with pottery production site and the site of a
salt
In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...
production facility approximately six millennia ago;
it flourished ca 4700–4200 BC. The settlement was
walled to protect the salt, a crucial commodity in antiquity.
Although its population has been estimated at only 350,
[ archaeologist Vassil Nikolov argues that it meets established criteria as a prehistoric proto-city.
Salt production drove Solnitsata's economy, and the town is believed to have supplied salt throughout the ]Balkans
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
. A large collection of gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
objects nearby has led archaeologists to consider that this trade resulted in great wealth for the town's residents — Varna Necropolis
The Varna Necropolis (), or Varna Cemetery, is a burial site in the western industrial zone of Varna, Bulgaria, Varna (approximately half a kilometre from Lake Varna and 4 km from the city centre), internationally considered one of the key a ...
.[ Nearby is the ancient Anhialos, whose livelihood was the extraction of sea salt. The extraction technology can be seen in the Salt Museum, Pomorie.
The town is believed to have been destroyed by an ]earthquake
An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
.
See also
* The Mask from Provadia
* Old Europe (archaeology)
* Durankulak (archaeological site)
* Tell Yunatsite
* Karanovo culture
* List of ancient cities in Thrace and Dacia
This is a list of ancient cities, towns, villages, and fortresses in and around Thrace and Dacia. A number of these settlements were Thracian and Dacians, Dacian, but some were Celtic, Ancient Greece, Greek, Roman Empire, Roman, Paeonian, or Per ...
* Perperikon
* Seuthopolis
References
External links
*
Ancient cities of the Balkans
Archaeological sites in Bulgaria
History of Varna Province
Destroyed populated places
Geography of Varna Province
Prehistoric sites in Bulgaria
Populated places established in the 5th millennium BC
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