Karanovo Settlement Mound

Karanovo’s settlement mound accumulated through repeated construction, occupation and destruction of houses. Cultural deposits reach approximately 12.4 metres and cover the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. Investigation of their sequence produced the Karanovo chronological system, used to compare prehistoric cultures. Pottery, tools, figurines and objects bearing incised signs provide material for studying economy, crafts and symbolic practices. Those signs, however, do not automatically constitute a deciphered writing system. The exposed archaeological section explains the site’s importance: successive layers represent different stages of occupation rather than one enormous dwelling. This prehistoric settlement mound must also be distinguished from Karanovo’s separate Eastern Mound, which contains a burial complex of the Roman period.