site.btaCeremonial Breastplate from Tsviatkova Mound Tomb on Display at Kazanlak Historical Museum

A breastplate made of precious metals, discovered in the tomb in the Tsviatkova Mound near Shipka, is now on display at the Iskra Historical Museum in Kazanlak, the cultural institution told BTA. The artifact, part of the collection of Bulgaria’s National History Museum (NHM), will remain in Kazanlak until mid-October 2025.

The breastplate was unearthed during the 1995 archaeological excavation of the tomb in the Tsviatkova Mound, part of the Kosmatkite necropolis in the Shipka–Sheynovo area. The dig was led by Dr. Georgi Kitov and Gavril Lazov.

The piece is part of a set of ceremonial protective armour. Its discovery, alongside numerous other finds such as a spear, arrowheads, knives, a horse skeleton, harness fittings, silver fragments, and decorative elements, supports the hypothesis that the burial belonged to a high-ranking nobleman who lived in the second half of the 4th century BC.

The Kazanlak museum team voiced their gratitude to Assoc Prof Boni Petrunowa and her colleagues at the NHM for their cooperation, noting that the artifact’s appearance in Kazanlak was made possible through the initiative and support of Dr. Petranka Nedelcheva.