Sedlari, Eastern Rhodopes

The book presents the results of archeological studies along the left bank of the Varbitsa River, a tributary of the Arda River in the Eastern Rhodopes. The area lies along an ancient road through the Makaza Pass connecting the Aegean to the interior of the Balkans. This road has been used since the Prehistory ages to date, now reconstructed.The site is multilayered. The cultural strata are considered sequentially - Medieval (late 10th - early 13th c.) and Late Antiquity (4th - early 6th c.). The Medieval layer contains ritual pits, the only ones known so far on the territory of Medieval Bulgaria. Their interpretation has been sought in folklore texts from Bulgaria, the Balkans and other ancient socially related communities.The main focus is on the pottery. Along with the shapes and technologies known from other sites on the Balkans, two groups of vessels are specially discussed. The first group coming from the Late Antiquity bears some features of the Late Iron Age tradition. The vessels of the second group contain talc in the clay they are made of. This element is a novelty in production defined so far and is known only from the Rhodopes.