The Preslav Treasure

The Project
The Preslav Treasure was found in winter 1978 by agricultural workers in the eastern Bulgarian town of Preslav, close to the former imperial palace. Comprising over 180 gold, silver, gold-plated and enamelled objects, the find was excavated and recovered by archaeologists. Now the find is to be researched as part of a Bulgarian-German cooperation project supervised by Prof. Falko at the Romano-Germanic Central Museum in Mainz. The partners are the National Archaeological Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the local museum Veliki Preslav, which have agreed to the treasure being temporarily moved to Mainz for specialist restoration work. The focus is on art-historical and cultural-historical examinations, scientific questions and questions relating to goldwork techniques. In addition to jewellery items, tiara plates, ball-headed buttons, small spindle-shaped and round pendants, a quartz seal in a gold setting and metal applications with eyelets for fastening on garments, the archaeologists also found silver parts of a vessel wall, two spoons and 15 silver coins from the time of Byzantine Emperors Constantine VII and Romanos II, who ruled jointly from 945 to 959. These coins indicate that the treasure was buried in the second half of the 10^th century.

Prof. Dr. Falko Daim

Mainz