Bisserka Gaydarska: The Varna cemetery

The Varna cemetery – recent advances in archaeological science

Bisserka Gaydarska (Durham Univeristy, United Kingdom)

21 March, 14:30 CET

The lecture takes place onsite in the Library of the Institute of Archeology in Prague (Letenské 4, Praha 1), and online via Zoom (https://cesnet.zoom.us/j/97940238426 | passcode: 551525).

Abstract:

The Varna cemetery, on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, is one of the most extraordinary mortuary congregations in prehistoric Europe. Yet, more than 50 years after its discovery, we are still far from understanding the social practices and structure out of which the cemetery grew. In the first series of archaeological science research in the 2000s, our team managed to provide a preliminary AMS-based chronology for Varna, as well as a series of isotopic dietary analyses. The discovery of a new cluster of Chalcolithic graves in 2017 led to a opportunity for renewed scientific analyses, aided by the development of the FRUITS technique of dietary analysis and a new AMS calibration curve. In this research seminar, I present the new results of the 2020s analyses and propose a different understanding of the cemetery.