5,000-Year-Old Prehistoric Rock Shrine with Huge Human Faces Hewn In Discovered in Bulgaria’s Rhodope Mountains

1/10. One of the total of three human faces hewn into the newly discovered prehistoric Eagles’ Rocks shrine in Mineralni Bani Municipality in Southern Bulgaria. This particular human side face profile is believed to represent a female face.

 
March 27, 2016. “Orlovi Skali" (meaning “Eagles’ Rocks"), a beautiful rock formation located near the town of Sarnitsa, Mineralni Bani Municipality, in Southern Bulgaria, has been identified as a prehistoric rock shrine from the 4th millennium BC, i.e. the Chalcolithic (Aeneolithic, Copper Age), after the accidental discovery of huge human faces hewn into the rocks.

The Mineralni Bani (“Mineral Baths") Municipality is located in Bulgaria’s Haskovo District, on the northern slopes of the (Eastern) Rhodope Mountains, which are known for both their magical natural landscapes and countless archaeological and historical monuments from all time periods.

The discovery of the prehistoric rock shrine has been made by accident by young Bulgarian photographer Miroslav Chobanov, 24, who noticed and photographed a human side face hewn high into the rocks at the Orlovi Skali (“Eagles’ Rocks”) formation.

Now his discovery has been examined and verified by two archaeologists specializing in Prehistory, and especially in the study of the numerous prehistoric rock shrines in Bulgaria’s mountains, Prof. Ana Raduncheva and Assoc. Prof. Stefanka Ivanova from the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. [...] archaeologyinbulgaria.com


Actualización: Prehistoric Rock Shrine with Giant Snake Heads Hewn In Discovered near Bulgaria’s Sarnitsa, Archaeologist Confirms – Archaeology in Bulgaria

1/8. Snake heads hewn in the rocks can be made out at the newly discovered prehistoric rock shrine near Bulgaria’s Sarnitsa. Photo: Ivan Manuilov / Mineralni Bani Municipality

A prehistoric rock shrine with giant snake heads shaped out of the rocks has been discovered near the town of Sarnitsa, Mineralni Bani Municipality, Haskovo District, in Southern Bulgaria, an archaeologist has confirmed.

The rock complex featuring what appear to be giant rock snake heads was first discovered a few weeks ago based on aerial photos of the area known as Dikilitash near Sarnitsa. The initial reports talked of the discovery of a rock city but it has now been established that the place was a prehistoric rock shrine.

Earlier in 2016, the rocks in the northern part of the Rhodope Mountains near Sarnitsa, Mineralni Bani Municipality, yielded another prehistoric archaeological discovery: the “Orlovi Skali" (meaning “Eagles’ Rocks") Shrine, also located in the Mineralni Bani Municipality, which features huge human faces hewn high into the rocks, and dates back to the 4th millennium BC.

According to Prof. Ana Raduncheva and Assoc. Prof. Stefanka Ivanova from the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology in Sofia, the “Eagle’s Rocks" shrine was the work of a prehistoric civilization which created an entire system of shrines in Bulgaria spanning what was a huge holy territory.

Later, the Ancient Thracians used parts of these shrines, though not the entire holy territory. In later periods, such as the Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the shrines were no longer used as originally intended, and a number of them were turned into fortresses.

The newly discovered shrine with the giant rock snake heads has actually been found when a group of journalists from the city of Haskovo decided to the take a trip to Eagle’s Rocks Shrine to see the rock hewn human faces. As part of the trip, they used a drone for aerial photographing. The photos their drone took, however, have revealed what seem to be rocks shaped as snake heads.

While the archaeological authenticity of the rock snake shrine was at first uncertain, it has now been confirmed by archaeologist Prof. Ana Raduncheva, an expert in prehistoric rock shrines, Mineralni Bani Municipality has announced.

Raduncheva is certain that the rocks near Sarnitsa were deliberately shaped as snake heads by humans...