Archaeology: 2014 excavation season opens in Bulgaria’s Plovdiv
The public will be able to get a glimpse of the work being done in the centre of Bulgaria’s second city of Plovdiv as the area being excavated near the central Post Office will no longer be completely concealed behind solid screens.
This emerged as the 2014 archaeological season in Plovdiv was formally opened.
Work this year will include part of the Roman Forum and the area being excavated will be extended to the north-east.
In 2013, three columns were found at the Roman Forum site, and there is an idea for these to be restored and incorporated into a future design of the central square in the city.
Plovdiv mayor Ivan Totev and archaeological site manager Elena Kesyakova briefed reporters on the new archaeological season, saying that new discoveries of artefacts were expected.
Archaeologists have already reached the oldest period of the Forum site, which dates back between the first century BCE to the end of the first century CE.
Important finds so far include coins minted during the reigns of Augustus, Claudius and Vespasian. Another was a sword of the Gladius type, adopted by Rome from Iberian tribes. Significant evidence had been found of medieval Plovdiv, from the end of the 12th century, when the Forum was destroyed, as well as Turkish kilns from the 17th and 18th century.
Glass partitions will be installed on the eastern side of the site to enable passersby and tourists to see the site.
(Photos: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
