An elite burial at Varma on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, dating to 4700-4200 BC, of a high-status male 40 to 50 years old. Clearly a man of great prestige, in his right hand he holds a sceptre, a highly polished symbolic battle-axe on a gold shaft; note also the gold penis sheath. He was also provided with stone and copper axes and other tools.
There were 990 gold objects in this spectacular grave, an astonishing total of 1.5 Kg of gold. The total amount of gold from the 294 graves in the Varna cemetery weighed over 6 Kg!
Discovered by accident in 1972, 30% of the Varna Necropolis area still remains to be excavated.
Peter Ghiringhelli