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The Social Context of the Emergence, Development and Abandonment of the Varna Cemetery, Bulgaria

Durham University, UK, j.c.chapman{at}dur.ac.uk

Tom Higham

University of Oxford, UK, thomas.higham{at}archaeology-research.oxford.ac.uk

Vladimir Slavchev

Varna Archaeological Museum, Bulgaria, vladosl{at}hotmail.com

Bisserka Gaydarska

Durham University, UK, b_gaydarska{at}yahoo.co.uk

Noah Honch

University of Oxford, UK, noah.honch{at}lincoln.ox.ac.uk

In this article we outline some of the key characteristics of the social structure of the Climax Copper Age in the eastern Balkans and the contributions of the Varna cemetery to those developments. We continue by examining the implications of the new series of 21 AMS dates from the Oxford Radiocarbon Laboratory, which represent the first dates for the Varna Eneolithic cemetery on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Representing the first phase of the AMS dating project for the Varna I cemetery, these dates have been selected to provide a range of different grave locations, ranges of grave goods, and age/gender associations. We conclude by addressing the question of the unexpectedly early start of the cemetery, as well as its apparently short duration and relatively rapid demise.

Key Words: AMS dates • Bulgaria • cemetery • gold • social structure • Varna

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