Sarafova Mound

The Sarafova mound contains a domed funerary structure beneath a mound in Bulgaria's Stara Zagora Province, uncovered by the archaeologist Associate Professor Georgi Kitov in September 1995. The site lies 400 metres north of Kran and 4.3 km from Kazanlak, near national road I-5. The tomb occupies the southern part of the mound and includes a 7-metre-long dromos and two quadrangular chambers. The dromos is built of stone with coloured lime plaster. The ceilings of the chambers are also finished with lime plaster, painted white and pale pink. The complex is covered with well-made flat and curved roof tiles. The entrance to the burial chamber was barred with a massive stone door. Remains of a human skeleton were excavated, and the adjacent walls are decorated with various colours and textures. A variety of artefacts was discovered, including appliqués from vessel handles, gold flakes, pottery fragments and other objects. The archaeologist Georgi Kitov suggests that the burial chamber may have served as a store for valuable objects that were removed and used for various purposes connected with events such as the Macedonian military campaigns against the Odrysians or the beginning of the Celtic invasion of Thrace towards the end of the second decade of the 3rd century BC.