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Some observations about the discovered human skeletons at Rousse tell

The overall study of the Rousse tell is the reason for it to be one of the important prehistoric archaeological sites of the Balkan Peninsula. One of the main problems is the discovery of skeletons in the outlines of the settlement. The various attempts for explanation and interpretations are the reason for passionate discussions. The lack of scientific solution of the problem is a consequence of the insufficient informativeness of the publications as well, where not all the “graves” are presented. The purpose of this report is to make an attempt to bring some clarity on the issue by including all discovered human remains on the basis of available documentation and publications made, which is to entered into scientific circulation and become the basis for new research and conclusions. In 1904, the Shkorpil brothers conducted the first archaeological excavations of the tell. Two drilling excavations were accomplished in the southeast part, and archaeological materials of bone, ceramics, copper and others were found. Two human skeletons were found on the site of the prehistoric settlement before the time of the Shkorpil brothers' research. The excavations which followed are related to a local archaeological association. They were conducted in 1921 and 1922 by Dimitar Kostov, a teacher at the Boys' High School, under the direct observation of Rafail Popov, head of the prehistoric department of the Archaeological Museum in Sofia. With the help of students from the High School and citizens, 2 drill-holes with a total length of 28.5 m and a width of 8 m in the north periphery of the tell were conducted, without respecting the stratigraphic principles, and the material was collected in order to fill up the museum collection. 7 human skeletons were found. Between 1948 and 1953 an overall study of the site was conducted by G. Georgiev and N. Angelov. The tell was divided into a Western and an Eastern sectors by a control profile. In 1948/1949 there was work in the Eastern sector and about 5 m of cultural stratification were taken off, which were differentiated into 10 construction horizons (G. Georgiev, N. Angelov 1952, p. 119-194). The Western sector is excavated in 1950/1953, and 11 distinct construction horizon were differentiated. In the 1948-1949 period, 45 human skeletons were found, all of them with a different degree of preservation. 44 human skeletons were found at different depths in the Western sector. 6 human skeletons has been discovered in the period 1986-1988. The revealed 104 human skeletons belong to the cultural complex Kodzhadermen Gumelniţa Karanovo VI. Based on the available archaeological data, the following conclusions can be extracted: 1. In the Chalcolithic layers of the Rousse tell the largest number of skeletons studied by all such situations was found (104 preserved) in comparison to other objects. This is due to the fact that the tell was excavated completely unlike the other sites with “intramural burials” found. 2. Part of the human skeletons in the Rousse tell are the result of deliberate “burials”. Another part of them are due to extraordinary circumstances which caused the death of people in the settlement. 3. The discovered human skeletons do not belong to the last construction horizon and are not the result of the final enemy invasion, which led to the conquest and the devastation of the settlement. The following facts are arguments to be thought in this direction: 1 they are found at different depth within different construction horizons; 2 intact skeletons are not registered in the uppermost horizons, perhaps because it was destroyed by later interventions during the Iron and Roman eras. If there was a so-called final devastation of the settlement and people, who were killed during its defense, their remains should have been found in the last construction horizons, and we have no archaeological evidence for that. The thesis of the three consecutive enemy invasions, which have led to the capture and burning down of the settlement, based on the grouping of skeletons in three basic levels, is also considered unsatisfactory. Assuming there's a reliable distinction of construction horizons by the researchers, it is from the 6 down to 13 and 15 that preserved human skeletons were found. Assuming the fact that the found skeletons are an indicator for enemy attacks, the number of invasions exceeds 9. 4. There is a possibility that some of the burned houses and the discovered skeletons among their destructions are not the result of violent burning due to enemy attack or natural disaster. 5. Some of the found skeletons, grouped in several sectors, might be part of the extramural necropolis, which belongs to the second tell. It is not excluded that for a certain period of time the area of the huge tell was uninhabited and might have been used for a necropolis. Another argument for this conclusion is that it is located in the southwest direction from the small tell (the destination, in which a large part of the necropolis from the Gumelniţa culture are located). 6. With a view to the lack of relation and common trends between them, specified above, the found skeletons, which we assume are the result of deliberate burials, do not set up the so-called “intramural * Rousse Regional Museum of History, 7000 Rousse, Bulgaria, 3 Batenberg square; dpristensis@yahoo.co.uk Studii de Preistorie 7, 2010, p. 145-183.