The Old Bulgaria Museum Collection / Стара България Музейна Сбирка

This bilingual (English and Bulgarian), richly illustrated book presents a selection of finds from the Stara Bulgaria Collection, offering a wealth of new source material for the study of Balkanic connections of the archaeological legacy of the Avar period and the 10th–11th centuries of the Carpathian Basin, the comparison of the metalwork from the Carpathian Basin and Bulgaria, and their the cultural implications.

The Stara Bulgaria Collection is made up of 4210 items, most of which are belt fittings, costume accessories, horse gear fittings and buckles. Most of these objects date from the 6th–11th centuries, with some coming from earlier periods (Scythian, Thracian, Roman and early Migration period) and some from later ages (12th–18th centuries). Even though the exact findspots remain unknown, most are known to have come to light somewhere in north-eastern Bulgaria.

The Collection is the fruit of an almost one and a half decades long collecting activity. Our research group did not undertake to present the entire collection; however, the 2557 pieces described and published in the present volume offer a representative selection of the finds, with a focus on the early medieval period.