page_title: Valley of the Thracian Rulers
section_title: Griffons’ mound
hierarchical_section_title: Valley of the Thracian Rulers / Griffons’ mound
caption_attribution_description: English: view from inside
context_page_description: The Valley of the Thracian Rulers is a popular name which was made public by the archaeologist Georgi Kitov and describes the extremely high concentration and variety of monuments of the Thracian culture in the Kazanlak Valley. It is believed that there are over 1500 funeral mounds in the region, with only 300 being researched so far.
  The Kazanlak Tomb was discovered in 1944. Between 1948 and 1954 the ancient town of Seuthopolis was studied. Between the 1960s and the 1980s people made researches of the mound necropolis which belonged to residents of Sevtopolis. Another two brick tombs were found there. The Maglizh and Kran tombs were discovered in 1965. The 60s also marked the research of Thracian tombs from the Roman era in the regions of the villages of Tulovo and Dabovo, made by Prof. L. Getov. During the 70s M. Domaradski, Ph. D., researched a habitation and its surrounding necropolis in the Atanastsa region, village of Tazha.
  The period between 1992 and 2006, with short interruptions, marked the research made by Senior Research associate G. Kitov, Ph. D., and the expedition TEMR led by him.
context_section_description: The Griffons’ (Greek γρύφων) mound is located 0.5 km southeast of the town of Shipka. The tomb was discovered on 18.08.1996 during regular archaeological excavations led by Senior Research Associate Georgi Kitov, PhD.
  It consists of a long corridor and two chambers, has an imposing façade and fake raised pediment located above the entrance to the first chamber. The façade is facing to the South-East, its lateral edges are hidden by additional clinging of the corridor's sides, which shows two construction periods. During these periods it was opened, over the façade there was a shed or a hood, made from flat and curved tiles.
  The first chamber is rectangular with a double-pitch coverage, while the second one is round with a dome-shaped coverage. The entrances to both chambers are equipped with outward opening double-wing stone doors. The floors of both rooms are covered with thick lime plaster.
  In the round chamber there are large plates on the floor towards the side walls - platforms. The stone ritual bed is made precisely and on the front plate there is a plastically represented wedge. In front of the bed there is a rolling stone block with a profiled face.
  The facility was robbed in ancient times. During the excavations two gold beads and unusual fragments, made of silver and bronze, were found. It dates back to the 4th century BC.
caption: Griffins - entrance to the tomb
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