Thrace’s Gold Glimmers Anew

In 2004, Bulgarian archaeologists made an astonishing discovery near the ancient Thracian city of Seuthopolis.

While excavating a large burial mound called Golyama Kosmatka, they unearthed a bronze bearded head slightly larger than life size. The head, with its alabaster and four-colored glass paste eyes, bore a striking resemblance to King Seuthes III, whose portrait graced coins found around the area.

Seuthopolis itself, the only certainly identified Thracian royal capital, was discovered in 1948 during the construction of a dam and reservoir near Kazanlak in present-day central Bulgaria. Excavations of the city revealed fortifications, streets, houses, and a citadel with the king’s palace. However, much of the city was submerged in 1954 when the construction was completed.

These discoveries at Seuthopolis offer a glimpse into the rich and mysterious history of ancient Thrace, probably best known to modern people as homeland of the enslaved gladiator Spartacus. Thrace was shaped by peoples who migrated into the Balkans from regions further north and settled in what is now Bulgaria.

According to the exhibition’s curators, “a distinctive Thracian culture emerged by the Late Bronze Age (around 1500 BCE), then existed through the first centuries AD—with rich tumuli, buried chariots with horses, and the so-called Thracian horsemen, until about the fourth century AD, when the Christianization of the Eastern Roman Empire put an end to it.”

While it has remained more legend than history, archaeological discoveries like Seuthopolis and the king’s bronze head have brought this ancient civilization to light.

Thrace’s epic wealth

In the Iliad, Homer describes the mythical Thracian king Rhesos, whose golden armor is a “wonder to look at” and “for the immortal gods.” Homer’s Odyssey depicts the Thracian tribes who defeat Odysseus as rich in gold and silver. The wealth reflected in these descriptions, which namely reference the Bronze Age, is rooted in reality: The Valchitran treasure is a Late Bronze Age treasure hoard (pictured above) providing archaeological evidence of Thrace's gold riches. The hoard consists of 13 vessels comprising nearly 28 pounds of gold, and was discovered in 1924 by brothers Todor and Nikola Tzvetanov, while cultivating their vineyard in Valchitran, Bulgaria.

Two other esteemed hoards were discovered by accident: in 1949, brothers Pavel, Petko, and Mihail Deikov were digging clay to make bricks near Panagyurishte and discovered Bulgaria’s most famous Thracian artifacts, a set of gold vessels dating to the late fourth to early third century BCE. And in 1985, Ivan Dimitrov discovered a trove of silver in Rogozen while digging a trench in his garden. Eventually numbering 165 pieces, this collection dates from the sixth to the fourth century BCE.

Hoards like these differ from objects unearthed from burial mounds or ancient cities during excavations, which provide a clear archeological context. Hoards were intentionally gathered and buried in the ground in antiquity for safekeeping by their owners, who were ultimately unable to retrieve them. Their seemingly random placement often results in accidental discovery.

Among excavations, one of the most remarkable finds is Seuthes’s tomb, uncovered a couple of weeks after archaeologists found the king’s purported bronze head. Inside, archeologists found an impressive collection of opulent objects: a gold oak laurel wreath, gold-threaded armor, a gold-inlaid sword, a gold and silver drinking set, and over 70 other items. “These objects reflect the elite lifestyle of Thracian aristocrats who banqueted opulently, wore luxurious adornments, and rode lavishly bedecked horses,” say the exhibition’s curators. Such objects served as status symbols as well as stores of wealth.

The tomb of King Seuthes is just one of many burial mounds discovered in the Valley of the Thracian Kings near Kazanlak, an area known for its hundreds of mounds. More than a dozen of the mounds have revealed monumental tombs.

A dazzling display

Ancient Thrace and the Classical World opened at the Getty Villa on November 4, 2024 and featured over 200 extraordinary pieces found in Thracian lands. It was one of the first exhibitions to bring so many of these treasures together, and the first focused on ancient Thrace to take place on the West Coast.

Although the Palisades Fire forced the exhibition’s early closure, audiences will still have opportunities to learn more about the remarkable culture of Thrace. A video tour and a Google Arts & Culture exhibit exploring the details of the Panagyurishte Treasure are forthcoming. The richly illustrated exhibition catalogue, which provides an in-depth look at every object from the exhibition, is also available from Getty Publications.

Organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria and the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the exhibition was part of the Getty's Classical World in Context series, devoted to the diverse cultures that interacted with ancient Greece and Rome. It was supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.