Georgi Nekhrizov | National Institute of Archaeology and Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (original) (raw)
Papers by Georgi Nekhrizov
Reinhard Jung – Hristo Popov (Eds.) Searching for Gold. Resources and Networks in the Bronze Age of the Eastern Balkans, 2024
The question about the cultural contacts and interchange has always provoked interest among those... more The question about the cultural contacts and interchange has always provoked interest among those attempting to elucidate them from different perspectives. The answers suggest a general picture of the trade or economic life, and allow inferences to be drawn regarding the political relations in the specific period. The possibilities of such reconstructions for Late Bronze Age Thrace are limited and based mainly on material evidence. Several imported finds – pottery, weapons and oxhide ingots – are already well known and integrated in the analysis of the Thraco-Mycenaean connections. Other small finds – marble pommels of Mycenaean swords – add some new aspects to the picture of these contacts. Two such finds originate from excavations of LBA sites in the Eastern Rhodopes – Ada Tepe near Krumovgrad and Aul kaya near Dolno Cherkovishte (Haskovo region). Their presence at particular sites in the mountainous region once more poses questions about the type of contacts and the role of Thrace within the entire Mycenaean network in the eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans. The stereotypical picture of Thrace provided by written sources emphasizes its pastoralism. However, recent archaeological research into LBA gold mining in Bulgaria suggests that gold was the most wanted natural resource here. Such an assumption is possible as long as we accept the existence of (market?) specialization within the Mycenaean world. The consequent question is what Thrace received in return for its gold. The find types listed above, as well as their quantity do not demonstrate wide variety or luxury, leaving the impression of an unequal exchange relationship between Thrace and Mycenae.
СБОРНИК ДОКЛАДИ В ДНИТЕ НА БЪЛГАРСКАТА НАУКА, 2014
Кратко представяне на развитието на Археологическа карта на България до 2014 г.
Journal of archaeological science: Reports/Journal of archaeological science: reports, Sep 1, 2024
Conservation Biology
Civilizations, including ancient ones, have shaped global ecosystems in many ways through coevolu... more Civilizations, including ancient ones, have shaped global ecosystems in many ways through coevolution of landscapes and humans. However, the cultural legacies of ancient and lost civilizations are rarely considered in the conservation of the Eurasian steppe biome. We used a data set containing more than 1000 records on localities, land cover, protection status, and cultural values related to ancient steppic burial mounds (kurgans); we evaluated how these iconic and widespread landmarks can contribute to grassland conservation in the Eurasian steppes, which is one of the most endangered biomes on Earth. Using Bayesian logistic generalized regressions and proportional odds logistic regressions, we examined the potential of mounds to preserve grasslands in landscapes with different levels of land‐use transformation. We also compared the conservation potential of mounds inside and outside protected areas and assessed whether local cultural values support the maintenance of grasslands on...
Проблеми и изследвания на тракийската култура, 2023
The article presents the achieved level of knowledge about the megalithic monuments in Thrace. It... more The article presents the achieved level of knowledge about the megalithic
monuments in Thrace. It provides an overview of the state of research on
dolmens and the main hypotheses about their occurrence in the southeastern parts of the Balkans. The dependence on the distribution of the dolmens on the nature of the geological base and the presence of suitable rocks for splitting and forming large stone slabs is substantiated.
Historia naturalis bulgarica
The faunal remains recovered from the Gluhite Kamani site offer the unique opportunity to explore... more The faunal remains recovered from the Gluhite Kamani site offer the unique opportunity to explore the consumption patterns of the Early Iron Age communities inhabiting the Rhodope Mountains. While a lot high-altitude and rock-cut sanctuaries have been registered within the Rhodope Mountains, this is the only site yielding a larger assemblage (n = 3160) from a stratigraphic sequence dating to the Late Bronze Age - Early Iron Age transition and the Early Iron Age. Domestic animals dominate, with sheep/goat being the main exploited species through all stratigraphic layers. The results show that the percentage of represented domestic animals is relatively continuous, while the number of wild animals seems to vary throughout the different periods., As the site is regarded as a sanctuary during the Iron age, the extent to which we can identify any ritual activity from the osteological assemblage is commented on in the discussion regarding the cull patterns observed, and taphonomy.
Mineralogical characteristics of pigments in paints and plasters from the Thracian tomb (3rd century BC) near the village of Dolno Lukovo, Southeast Bulgaria, 2020
The technologies used for laying plasters and coloring them in ancient tombs are a valuable sourc... more The technologies used for laying plasters and coloring
them in ancient tombs are a valuable source
for our knowledge for the craftsmanship and way
of life of Thracian society during the Early Hellenistic
era. The Thracian tomb (3rd century BC) near
the village of Dolno Lukovo, Ivailovgrad Municipality,
Haskovo region.
The dolmens of the Balkans, 2022
In the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, where Europe almost touches Asia, there is a small g... more In the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, where Europe almost touches Asia, there is a small group of dolmens. Their geographical context places them between the Western European dolmens and those in the Caucasus. Previous studies place their origin and development at the beginning and in the first half of the st millennium BC, which makes them the latest known European representatives of this type of monuments. This paper is an attempt to present and partially analyse the available data on the dolmens in the Balkans. Such a review of the information collected after more than a hundred years of research concerning the dolmens in Southeast Europe is overdue. Writing the words that follow, we have a clear awareness that we are speaking on behalf of many authors whose opinions on certain issues often differ. We should also emphasize that the various constructions in several geographical areas have been studied to different degrees.
Civilisations including ancient ones, have shaped the global ecosystems in many ways through a co... more Civilisations including ancient ones, have shaped the global ecosystems in many ways through a co-evolution of landscapes and humans. However, the cultural legacies of ancient and lost civilisations are seldom considered in conservation. Here using a continental-scale dataset containing over 1,000 data records on the localities, land cover, protection status and cultural values related to ancient steppic burial mounds (so-called ‘kurgans’), we evaluated how these iconic and widespread landmarks can contribute to grassland conservation in the Eurasian steppes, which is one of the most endangered biomes on Earth. By using Bayesian logistic generalized regressions and proportional odds logistic regressions, we aimed to reveal the potential of mounds in preserving grasslands considering landscapes with different levels of land use transformation. We also compared the conservation potential of mounds situated inside and outside protected areas and assessed whether the presence of cultura...
Science
Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asi... more Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, people in the central area of the Urartian Kingdom around Lake Van lacked the steppe ancestry characteristic of the kingdom’s northern provinces. Anatolia exhibited extraordinary continuity down to the Roman and Byzantine periods, with its people serving as the demographic core of much of the Roman Empire, including the city of Rome itself. During medieval times, migrations associated with Slavic and Turkic speakers profoundly affected the region.
Science
We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern... more We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq), Cyprus, and the Northwestern Zagros, along with the first data from Neolithic Armenia. We show that these and neighboring populations were formed through admixture of pre-Neolithic sources related to Anatolian, Caucasus, and Levantine hunter-gatherers, forming a Neolithic continuum of ancestry mirroring the geography of West Asia. By analyzing Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic populations of Anatolia, we show that the former were derived from admixture between Mesopotamian-related and local Epipaleolithic-related sources, but the latter experienced additional Levantine-related gene flow, thus documenting at least two pulses of migration from the Fertile Crescent heartland to the early farmers of Anatolia.
Sustainability
As a distinctive component of the cultural landscape in Eurasia, burial mounds are well known for... more As a distinctive component of the cultural landscape in Eurasia, burial mounds are well known for their historical value. Recently their role as biodiversity hotspots, especially in the homogenous agricultural landscape, has become particularly important. Archaeological excavations, although necessary, are destructive to the natural elements on the mounds. Restoration and vegetation recovery after such disturbances are needed for the preservation of biodiversity and for the cultural landscape integrity. In this study, we aimed to find out how effective is the natural vegetation recovery on the mounds after archaeological excavations. Successional stages between 2- and 30-years post-excavations have been studied. Vegetation sampling was performed on 15 mounds within 300 plots (1 × 1 m). Spontaneous succession was found to start immediately, and during the first decade, anthropophytes prevailed. In the subsequent years, their cover significantly decreased at the expense of species typ...
The proceedings of the Seventh Anatolian Iron Ages Colloquium held at Edirne, 19 - 24 April 2010, 2012
The Tundzha Regional Archaeology Project, 2018
Plants, 2022
This work represents the first study of the floristic diversity on Bulgaria’s ancient mounds. The... more This work represents the first study of the floristic diversity on Bulgaria’s ancient mounds. The objective of this research was to assess the importance of the mounds for the preservation of the native vascular and cryptogam flora. Our sampling design included 111 ancient mounds distributed throughout the country. We recorded a total of 1059 vascular plants, 58 bryophytes and 61 lichen taxa. Despite their small area, the mounds were shown to preserve nearly a quarter of the Bulgarian flora. The vegetation cover on the mounds included 61% perennials indicating a long-term persistence and stability. The majority (98%) of the established vascular plants were native species. Although the conservation significance of the vascular plant species were not common, we recorded 2 critically endangered, 9 endangered and 14 Balkan endemics during the present study. The lichen Arthopyrenia salicis was recorded for the first time in Bulgaria and a new locality of the rare bryophyte Ceratodon coni...
Българско е-Списание за Археология, 2018
The article presents the results of the "Archaeological Map of Bulgaria" – project of t... more The article presents the results of the "Archaeological Map of Bulgaria" – project of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences carried out in 2017 and 2018. The main activities of the project include field surveys for the completion of the database of Archaeological map of Bulgaria (AMB), airborne laser scanning of micro-regions with high concentration of significant archaeological sites and development of new GIS software for the needs of AMB. The project involves scientists from five institutes, part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, who contribute to the improvement and software development of the AMB Information system.
Reinhard Jung – Hristo Popov (Eds.) Searching for Gold. Resources and Networks in the Bronze Age of the Eastern Balkans, 2024
The question about the cultural contacts and interchange has always provoked interest among those... more The question about the cultural contacts and interchange has always provoked interest among those attempting to elucidate them from different perspectives. The answers suggest a general picture of the trade or economic life, and allow inferences to be drawn regarding the political relations in the specific period. The possibilities of such reconstructions for Late Bronze Age Thrace are limited and based mainly on material evidence. Several imported finds – pottery, weapons and oxhide ingots – are already well known and integrated in the analysis of the Thraco-Mycenaean connections. Other small finds – marble pommels of Mycenaean swords – add some new aspects to the picture of these contacts. Two such finds originate from excavations of LBA sites in the Eastern Rhodopes – Ada Tepe near Krumovgrad and Aul kaya near Dolno Cherkovishte (Haskovo region). Their presence at particular sites in the mountainous region once more poses questions about the type of contacts and the role of Thrace within the entire Mycenaean network in the eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans. The stereotypical picture of Thrace provided by written sources emphasizes its pastoralism. However, recent archaeological research into LBA gold mining in Bulgaria suggests that gold was the most wanted natural resource here. Such an assumption is possible as long as we accept the existence of (market?) specialization within the Mycenaean world. The consequent question is what Thrace received in return for its gold. The find types listed above, as well as their quantity do not demonstrate wide variety or luxury, leaving the impression of an unequal exchange relationship between Thrace and Mycenae.
СБОРНИК ДОКЛАДИ В ДНИТЕ НА БЪЛГАРСКАТА НАУКА, 2014
Кратко представяне на развитието на Археологическа карта на България до 2014 г.
Journal of archaeological science: Reports/Journal of archaeological science: reports, Sep 1, 2024
Conservation Biology
Civilizations, including ancient ones, have shaped global ecosystems in many ways through coevolu... more Civilizations, including ancient ones, have shaped global ecosystems in many ways through coevolution of landscapes and humans. However, the cultural legacies of ancient and lost civilizations are rarely considered in the conservation of the Eurasian steppe biome. We used a data set containing more than 1000 records on localities, land cover, protection status, and cultural values related to ancient steppic burial mounds (kurgans); we evaluated how these iconic and widespread landmarks can contribute to grassland conservation in the Eurasian steppes, which is one of the most endangered biomes on Earth. Using Bayesian logistic generalized regressions and proportional odds logistic regressions, we examined the potential of mounds to preserve grasslands in landscapes with different levels of land‐use transformation. We also compared the conservation potential of mounds inside and outside protected areas and assessed whether local cultural values support the maintenance of grasslands on...
Проблеми и изследвания на тракийската култура, 2023
The article presents the achieved level of knowledge about the megalithic monuments in Thrace. It... more The article presents the achieved level of knowledge about the megalithic
monuments in Thrace. It provides an overview of the state of research on
dolmens and the main hypotheses about their occurrence in the southeastern parts of the Balkans. The dependence on the distribution of the dolmens on the nature of the geological base and the presence of suitable rocks for splitting and forming large stone slabs is substantiated.
Historia naturalis bulgarica
The faunal remains recovered from the Gluhite Kamani site offer the unique opportunity to explore... more The faunal remains recovered from the Gluhite Kamani site offer the unique opportunity to explore the consumption patterns of the Early Iron Age communities inhabiting the Rhodope Mountains. While a lot high-altitude and rock-cut sanctuaries have been registered within the Rhodope Mountains, this is the only site yielding a larger assemblage (n = 3160) from a stratigraphic sequence dating to the Late Bronze Age - Early Iron Age transition and the Early Iron Age. Domestic animals dominate, with sheep/goat being the main exploited species through all stratigraphic layers. The results show that the percentage of represented domestic animals is relatively continuous, while the number of wild animals seems to vary throughout the different periods., As the site is regarded as a sanctuary during the Iron age, the extent to which we can identify any ritual activity from the osteological assemblage is commented on in the discussion regarding the cull patterns observed, and taphonomy.
Mineralogical characteristics of pigments in paints and plasters from the Thracian tomb (3rd century BC) near the village of Dolno Lukovo, Southeast Bulgaria, 2020
The technologies used for laying plasters and coloring them in ancient tombs are a valuable sourc... more The technologies used for laying plasters and coloring
them in ancient tombs are a valuable source
for our knowledge for the craftsmanship and way
of life of Thracian society during the Early Hellenistic
era. The Thracian tomb (3rd century BC) near
the village of Dolno Lukovo, Ivailovgrad Municipality,
Haskovo region.
The dolmens of the Balkans, 2022
In the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, where Europe almost touches Asia, there is a small g... more In the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, where Europe almost touches Asia, there is a small group of dolmens. Their geographical context places them between the Western European dolmens and those in the Caucasus. Previous studies place their origin and development at the beginning and in the first half of the st millennium BC, which makes them the latest known European representatives of this type of monuments. This paper is an attempt to present and partially analyse the available data on the dolmens in the Balkans. Such a review of the information collected after more than a hundred years of research concerning the dolmens in Southeast Europe is overdue. Writing the words that follow, we have a clear awareness that we are speaking on behalf of many authors whose opinions on certain issues often differ. We should also emphasize that the various constructions in several geographical areas have been studied to different degrees.
Civilisations including ancient ones, have shaped the global ecosystems in many ways through a co... more Civilisations including ancient ones, have shaped the global ecosystems in many ways through a co-evolution of landscapes and humans. However, the cultural legacies of ancient and lost civilisations are seldom considered in conservation. Here using a continental-scale dataset containing over 1,000 data records on the localities, land cover, protection status and cultural values related to ancient steppic burial mounds (so-called ‘kurgans’), we evaluated how these iconic and widespread landmarks can contribute to grassland conservation in the Eurasian steppes, which is one of the most endangered biomes on Earth. By using Bayesian logistic generalized regressions and proportional odds logistic regressions, we aimed to reveal the potential of mounds in preserving grasslands considering landscapes with different levels of land use transformation. We also compared the conservation potential of mounds situated inside and outside protected areas and assessed whether the presence of cultura...
Science
Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asi... more Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, people in the central area of the Urartian Kingdom around Lake Van lacked the steppe ancestry characteristic of the kingdom’s northern provinces. Anatolia exhibited extraordinary continuity down to the Roman and Byzantine periods, with its people serving as the demographic core of much of the Roman Empire, including the city of Rome itself. During medieval times, migrations associated with Slavic and Turkic speakers profoundly affected the region.
Science
We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern... more We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq), Cyprus, and the Northwestern Zagros, along with the first data from Neolithic Armenia. We show that these and neighboring populations were formed through admixture of pre-Neolithic sources related to Anatolian, Caucasus, and Levantine hunter-gatherers, forming a Neolithic continuum of ancestry mirroring the geography of West Asia. By analyzing Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic populations of Anatolia, we show that the former were derived from admixture between Mesopotamian-related and local Epipaleolithic-related sources, but the latter experienced additional Levantine-related gene flow, thus documenting at least two pulses of migration from the Fertile Crescent heartland to the early farmers of Anatolia.
Sustainability
As a distinctive component of the cultural landscape in Eurasia, burial mounds are well known for... more As a distinctive component of the cultural landscape in Eurasia, burial mounds are well known for their historical value. Recently their role as biodiversity hotspots, especially in the homogenous agricultural landscape, has become particularly important. Archaeological excavations, although necessary, are destructive to the natural elements on the mounds. Restoration and vegetation recovery after such disturbances are needed for the preservation of biodiversity and for the cultural landscape integrity. In this study, we aimed to find out how effective is the natural vegetation recovery on the mounds after archaeological excavations. Successional stages between 2- and 30-years post-excavations have been studied. Vegetation sampling was performed on 15 mounds within 300 plots (1 × 1 m). Spontaneous succession was found to start immediately, and during the first decade, anthropophytes prevailed. In the subsequent years, their cover significantly decreased at the expense of species typ...
The proceedings of the Seventh Anatolian Iron Ages Colloquium held at Edirne, 19 - 24 April 2010, 2012
The Tundzha Regional Archaeology Project, 2018
Plants, 2022
This work represents the first study of the floristic diversity on Bulgaria’s ancient mounds. The... more This work represents the first study of the floristic diversity on Bulgaria’s ancient mounds. The objective of this research was to assess the importance of the mounds for the preservation of the native vascular and cryptogam flora. Our sampling design included 111 ancient mounds distributed throughout the country. We recorded a total of 1059 vascular plants, 58 bryophytes and 61 lichen taxa. Despite their small area, the mounds were shown to preserve nearly a quarter of the Bulgarian flora. The vegetation cover on the mounds included 61% perennials indicating a long-term persistence and stability. The majority (98%) of the established vascular plants were native species. Although the conservation significance of the vascular plant species were not common, we recorded 2 critically endangered, 9 endangered and 14 Balkan endemics during the present study. The lichen Arthopyrenia salicis was recorded for the first time in Bulgaria and a new locality of the rare bryophyte Ceratodon coni...
Българско е-Списание за Археология, 2018
The article presents the results of the "Archaeological Map of Bulgaria" – project of t... more The article presents the results of the "Archaeological Map of Bulgaria" – project of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences carried out in 2017 and 2018. The main activities of the project include field surveys for the completion of the database of Archaeological map of Bulgaria (AMB), airborne laser scanning of micro-regions with high concentration of significant archaeological sites and development of new GIS software for the needs of AMB. The project involves scientists from five institutes, part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, who contribute to the improvement and software development of the AMB Information system.
Археологически открития и разкопки през 2006 г., София, 2007, 180-183. , 2007
Археологически открития и разкопки през 2007 г., София, 2008, 260-264.
Археологически открития и разкопки през 2007 г., София, 2008, 159-162.
Археологически открития и разкопки през 2007 г., София, 2008, 130-134.
Археологически открития и разкопки през 2008 г., София, 2009, 266-271.