Varna Necropolis

The Varna Necropolis archaeological sites in world prehistory. a oldest gold treasure & jewelry in the world, dating from 4,600 BC to 4,200 BC, was discovered at the site. Several prehistoric Bulgarian finds are considered no less old – the golden treasures of Hotnitsa, Durankulak, artifacts from the Kurgan settlement of Yunatsite nearly Pazardzhik, the golden treasure Sakar, as well as beads together with gold jewelry found in the Kurgan settlement of Provadia – Solnitsata “salt pit”. However, Varna gold is nearly often called the oldest since this treasure is the largest and most diverse.

Museum exhibitions

The artifacts can be seen at the Varna Archaeological Museum and at the National Historical Museum in Sofia. In 2006, some gold objects were planned in a major and broadly advertised national exhibition of antique gold treasures in both Sofia and Varna.

The Varna gold started touring the world in 1973; it was forwarded in "The Gold of the Thracian Horseman" national exhibition, proposed at numerous of the world's leading museums and exhibition venues in the 1970s. In 1982, it was exhibited for 7 months in Japan as "The Oldest Gold in the World – The first European Civilization" with massive publicity, including two full length TV documentaries. In the 1980s and 1990s it was also produced in Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and Israel, among others, and featured in a proceed story by the National Geographic Magazine.

The Varna necropolis artifacts were shown for the first time in the United States in 1998 and 1999 as part of a major Bulgarian archaeological exhibition, Thracians' Riches: Treasures from Bulgaria. In 2009–2010, several artifacts were shown at the New York University Institute for the analyse of the Ancient World in a joint Bulgarian-Romanian-Moldovan exhibition entitled The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley, 5000–3500 BC.