Apollonia Pontica Excavation Season in 2014 is Over

The fourth season of Apollonia Pontica Excavations project by the Balkan Heritage Field School is over. The last two archaeological field seasons on the small Black sea island St. Kirik near Sozopol, Bulgaria, were quite successful. In the previous years the archaeological team of Dr. Krastina Panayotova excavated there parts of the sacred precinct (temenos) of the Ancient Apollonia Pontica or Magna. The most important discoveries in 2013 and 2014 were two ritual pits (bothroi) with numerous precious artefacts deposited as donations to Apollo Iatros (the Healer), the Deity - patron the town. Among them were several precisely elaborated aribaloi (small pottery containers for perfumes and make up) some of them shaped as a bullhead, a ram, warrior heads, Goddess Artemis, etc; several alabastroi (pottery and alabaster containers for perfumes), bronze phiale (libation bowls), an iron sword, numerous pottery vessels, bone artefacts, etc. The collection of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic aribaloi, unique for the Ancient Greek Archaeology, was a milestone in the exhibition of the most impressive discoveries of the Bulgarian Archaeology in 2013. One of the finds - a pottery shard with inscribed dedication to Apollo is currently exhibited in the Louvre along with other representative artefacts from Bulgaria. In 2014 near the bothroi were excavated parts of the foundations of monumental buildings. What were their date and function are some of the questions before the archaeological team for season 2015.