An archaeological team from the Regional History Museum in Vidin will resume excavations at Magura Cave near the village of Rabisha on Monday and continue until October 9, museum archaeologist and team leader Vanya Stavreva told BTA.
The research team also includes archaeologists Nikolay Aleksandrov and Emil Vankov. It will excavate the far end of the Triumphal Hall, immediately before the Rockfall. This section was not examined during archaeological excavations in the 1960s and 1970s and is the closest to the gallery of cave paintings.
“We will continue our research at the same site because there are still layers to uncover, date and interpret,” Stavreva said.
As in previous years, only archaeologists will take part in the excavations. The cave’s cultural layers are distinctive and very thin, requiring fine tools and precision. Involvement by non-specialists could disturb the layers and hamper subsequent interpretation of the finds.
Research in the cave is hampered by high humidity and the need for artificial lighting, but the team aims to establish a clearer chronology of its occupation. The archaeologists are also working to formulate testable hypotheses about the people who created the cave paintings.
Textile fragments around 5,000 years old were discovered during the previous archaeological season at Magura Cave. Laboratory analyses showed that the fabric was made of hemp, while the find was dated to the beginning of the Early Bronze Age. Research over the past three years has extended the known chronology of human occupation of the cave to include an earlier transitional period between the Copper Age and the Early Bronze Age. Finds from Magura Cave were displayed for the first time in the national exhibition Bulgarian Archaeology 2025 at the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Several days ago, members of the archaeological team visited the Camuno Centre for Prehistoric Studies in Capo di Ponte, Italy. The centre was founded by Emmanuel Anati, author of the first scholarly publication on the paintings in Magura Cave. The visit included discussions on future cooperation, including an exhibition about Magura Cave at the centre.
Vidin Archaeologists Resume Magura Cave Excavations THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-09-21 07:23:40
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