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Bulgaria Ynatsite Mound

A drone view of tell Yunatsite, near Pazardzhik in southern Bulgaria, some 100 km from the capital Sofia, Tuesday, 26 January, 2016. It is one of the biggest tells in Europe with a diameter of approximately 110 m and a height of 12 m above, rising above fields next to a small Bulgarian village by the same name - Yunatsite and located on the terrace of one arm of the old river bed Topolnitsa. The Tell, also known as The Flat mound, contains remains of an urbanized settlement dated at its earliest to the early fifth millenium BC. The resulting earliest city in Europe, called by archaeologists protograd (prototype of the modern city) dates to the mid 5 th century BC, which means that the village is 2,000 years older than the cities, known in Europe. They existed 2400-2000 BC. Archeologists have found numerous traces of the Chalcolithic period and evidence of what may have been Europe's first civilization at a site located near the town of Pazardzhik in southern Bulgaria. Excavations has yielded rich collections of archaeological materials, and the sterile soil has not yet been reached. There is a medieval cemetery (1200s-1500s CE) century at the top of the tell, followed in depth by Roman and early Byzantine periods (200s-500s CE) level, two Iron Age levels (800-600 BCE), a thick layer dated to the Early Bronze Age (EBA) (3100-2200 BCE), a hiatus (4100-3100 BCE) and finally a thick Copper Age (Chalcolithic) layer. It is unknown if the cultural history of the tell begins in the Chalcolithic period or whether older human occupation layers exist. The village hill is a sort of an open-air museum and is included in the system of international cultural tourism. Heavy winter conditions temporary stopped tourism and excavations in this region. Photo by: Petar Petrov /Impact Press Group/NurPhoto

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