The Svetitsa mound

         On 19^th August 2004 by the side of Shipka is found a Thracian Tomb of sacrophagus type. It is found in the Svetitsa mound. The grave is with measurements 178 to 316 sm .The very grave is covered with six enormous paving stones over 2m long and in the shape of a parallelipiped .It is enclosed by red-black curb stone, which probably represents a symbol of the borderline between life and death. The most interesting and intriguing , the  only one   for the present, is another gold utensil .This is phial , shaped like a human face  – a  mask. It  isn’t  made of  thin  foil  , but of  thick gold laminated iron and weighs 673  grams. The  face has individual features. The mask is made with perfectly  known to the Thracian master technics and artistic   devices – effusion,  forgement, widely using of  indented  lines, as  in this way  on the  other side there is an  image in negative.The stylistic  analysis of the  image   shows a comparatively early date in the middle of the 5^th  century B.C.

         Contrary to all expectations for the abundant grave, there aren’t  plenty of  ornamently objects. There is only one ring seal. It is, however, with properties  of  an exceptional work of art.The image shows an resting athlete. Over  a  segmented flatness  is seated  a naked man with  pronounced muscularity, with a very  long marked with two thin lines object – boat oars  or spears. 

         The  grave  in The Svetitsa  mound is described as one of the  earliest  and richest graves, found not only in the Thracian  Kings’ Valley, but in the south-east  Bulgaria. According to Dr. Kitov, director  of  the expedition,  the  findings  in the  grave give  arguments for the date of the funeral from the middle of the 5^th century  B.C. and its connection with the name of one of the mightiest  Thracian  kings -  tsar Teres.