TREASURES AND EVIDENCE

Golyamata Kosmatka

Golyamata Kosmatka: the objects of a royal life

The tomb contained a gold crown, valuable vessels, weapons and horse ornaments.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

**PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ORIGINAL · CC BY 2.0 · NATIVE RESOLUTION 1024 × 768 PX**
Documentary original · Exact correspondence
Gold crown from the grave goods of Golyama Kosmatka, photographed in Kazanlak. A component is shown, not the entire funerary set. The original title mixes laurel and oak: do not establish the plant species from that title. Photograph preserved at native resolution of 1024 × 768 px; Limited detail when enlarged, without inventing or artificially increasing the resolution.
David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada · CC BY 2.0
Source and provenance ↗Terms of use ↗

History and context

A golden crown, vessels of precious metals, weapons and decorations for the horse made up the grave goods of Golyamata Kosmatka. Gathered in a tomb, these objects preserved an image of the deceased's rank: how an elite person adorned, drank, fought, and rode.

Three objects bear the name of Seuthes. This evidence, together with the coins and the portrait found near the entrance, has led to the complex being attributed to Seuthes III. The collection allows us to follow the social life of the court through specific objects, without reducing it to a single spectacular piece.

Evidence and interpretation

The name Seutes appears on three objects. The attribution of the set to Seuthes III brings together context, inscriptions and monetary comparison.

Catalogue facts

Date: End of the 4th century – beginning of the 3rd century BCE; ritual burial at the beginning of the III according to Iskra.
Location: Golyama Kosmatka · Shipka, Bulgaria

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

You are viewing

End of the 4th century – beginning of the 3rd century BCE; ritual burial at the beginning of the III according to Iskra.

Golyamata Kosmatka

Thracians

The full span of the 4th–3rd centuries BCE provides the outer bounds for chronological ordering; the record specifies the late 4th and early 3rd centuries. It does not imply that all the grave goods were made at the same time.

Current record

Funerary contexts54 dated objects

47 / 54In the centre: Golyamata Kosmatka

Also connected, without a comparable date (10)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

A Kerma vessel deposited at AbydosAncient Egypt · Second Intermediate Period
A vase travels; the rite changesIberians · No individual dating published on this record
CemeteryIndus civilisation · ca. 2600–1900 BCE
Daegok-ri grave goodsGojoseon and early Korea · from c. 5th century BCE
Four panopliesIberians · No individual dating published on this record
Livestock and moundsNubia, Kerma and Kush · c. 2050–1500 BCE
Shum LakaBantu-speaking worlds · c. 8,000 and 3,000 years before present
The quarry remained visibleGojoseon and early Korea · Mainly 6th–5th centuries BCE
Three hundred lives in the sandYayoi Japan · Mainly 4th century BCE–3rd century CE
Urns from AdichanallurVedic and later Indian worlds · Iron Age · samples towards 665 and 467 BCE

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Jewellery and adornment

Hohle Fels · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
'Jamila's' necklace · ≈7250–7000 BCE · Prehistory
The Gold of Varna · Towards 4600–4200 BCE · Thracians
Puabi headdress · ca. 2600–2450 BCE · Sumer
Cemetery R-37 · ca. 2550–2030 BCE · Indus civilisation
Carnelian beads · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Grave Circle A and Chrysolakkos · 18th–16th centuries BCE · Greek worlds
Burial at K IV · circa 1750–1550 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Tutankhamun's grave goods · death towards 1323 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Fu Hao’s burial goods · ca. 1200 BCE · Ancient China
Before the Iberias · Final Bronze, c. 1000 BCE · Iberians
Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi · c. 800 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Beads from Cerro de los Vientos · 8th–7th centuries BCE · orientalizing · Iberians
Gold at Kuntur Wasi · c. 800–550 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Regolini-Galassi tomb · ca. 675–650 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Condomina Earring · 6th century BCE · Iberians
Steppe kurgans · 7th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
Vix Tomb · c. 500 BCE · Celtic worlds
La Venta grave goods · ca. 600–400 BCE · Maya worlds
Ezerovo Ring · 5th century BCE · chronology discussed in the bibliography · Thracians
Grave goods of Baza and Toya · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
Treasure of Jávea · 4th century BCE · Iberians
Susa grave goods · c. 350 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Punic head pendant · Mid 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Treasure of Cheste · Jewellery from the 4th–3rd centuries BCE; concealment at the end of the 3rd century BCE. · Iberians
Marina Alta Hoard · Jewellery: 5th–2nd centuries BCE; concealment probably around 80–73 BCE. · Iberians
Golyamata Kosmatka · End of the 4th century – beginning of the 3rd century BCE; ritual burial at the beginning of the III according to Iskra. · Thracians — You are viewing
Mairena Hoard · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Chão de Lamas pectoral · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · concealed in the early 1st century BCE · Iberians
Fibula from Lancia · ≈300–100 BCE · Iberians
Northern mound · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Yayoi Japan
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians
Simancas-type belt buckle · Second half of the IV century–V century CE · Iberians
Pakal’s grave goods · sealed on 28 August 683 CE · Maya worlds
Missing grave goods · 13th–15th centuries according to the heritage overview · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Dressing to be seen · 6th–1st centuries BCE · Iberians

Vessels

Before Sumer · mid-6th–5th millennium BCE · Sumer
Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or · Early Neolithic · VI–V millennia BCE · Prehistory
Before Egypt · ca. 4400–3800 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Before Nubia · V–IV millennium BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Before Gojoseon · Middle Neolithic, c. 4000 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Bevel-rimmed bowl · ca. 3500–3000 BCE · Sumer
Uruk Vase · ca. 3300–3000 BCE · Sumer
Before Yayoi · Middle Jōmon, ca. 3000 BCE · Yayoi Japan
Vasiliki · ca. 2500–2200 BCE · Greek worlds
Before the Greeks · c. 2400–2200 BCE · Greek worlds
Before Ancient China · c. 2500–2000 BCE · Ancient China
Longshan · c. 2500–2000 BCE · Ancient China
Kerma vessel · c. 1802–1640 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Grave Circle A and Chrysolakkos · 18th–16th centuries BCE · Greek worlds
Before Vedic India · c. 1900–1300 BCE · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Jue · c. sixteenth century BCE · Ancient China
Pithos · c. 1450–1375 BCE · Greek worlds
Tutankhamun's grave goods · death towards 1323 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Stag Vessel · 14th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Valchitran · second half of the 14th century–beginning of the 13th century BCE, according to NAIM; other publications use wider intervals from the Late Bronze. · Thracians
Liding · 12th–11th centuries BCE · Ancient China
Before the Iberias · Final Bronze, c. 1000 BCE · Iberians
Grey bowl from Hastinapura · c. 1100–800 BCE in the classical sequence of Hastinapura · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Before Etruscans and Rome · ca. 850–800 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The urn under the helmet · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi · c. 800 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Regolini-Galassi tomb · ca. 675–650 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The great Greek krater of Vix · ≈530–500 BCE · Greek worlds
Scorțaru cauldron · 6th–5th centuries BCE · Thracians
Vix Tomb · c. 500 BCE · Celtic worlds
Orpheus among the Thracians · circa 440 BCE; attributed to the London Painter E 497. · Thracians
Twenty-six voiceless signs · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
Rogozen · mainly 5th–4th centuries BCE; The set has a history of accumulation, not a single manufacturing date. · Thracians
Grave goods of Baza and Toya · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
The Attic krater that took on a new life in Cástulo · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
The silver amphora of Chertomlyk · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
The Kul-Oba vase · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
Faces of the Steppe · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Scythians and Saka
Poroina Mare Rhyton · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Thracians
Borovo · 4th century BC C.; 350–300 BCE in the ISAW catalog. · Thracians
Leipzig Fish Plate · Last third 4th–early 3rd century BCE · Greek worlds
Golyamata Kosmatka · End of the 4th century – beginning of the 3rd century BCE; ritual burial at the beginning of the III according to Iskra. · Thracians — You are viewing
Panagyurishte · late 4th century – early 3rd century BCE, towards 300 BCE · Thracians
Dove of the Amarejo · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Mairena Hoard · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Vase from Chão de Lamas · Piece: III–II centuries BCE · concealment ≈110–76 BCE · Iberians
Vas dels Guerrers · 3rd–early 2nd century BCE · Iberians
Warriors' Vase · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Iberians
The dismantled cauldron · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Celtic worlds
Kalathos of Alcorisa · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Iberians
Patera from Perotito · Second half of the 2nd–beginnings of the 1st century BCE · Iberians
Urewe vessel · regional range c. 800 BCE–650 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds
Two rows of coffins · Mainly Middle Yayoi, 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Yayoi Japan
Ceramics that continued · Last third of the 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
Roman glass oinochoe · Late 1st century BCE–early 1st century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Gladiators Cup of Chavagnes · 25–75 CE · Etruscans and Rome
Egyptian oil lamp with a fish, held in Laon · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Ancient Egypt
Laon lamp with fish · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Etruscans and Rome
Water in a shell · 1816–1826 · San histories

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A Kerma vessel deposited at Abydos · Second Intermediate Period · Ancient Egypt
A tradition that invents · collected in 1993 or 1995 · Batwa / Twa histories
A vase travels; the rite changes · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians
Early pottery · before ca. 9400 cal BCE · Mande Worlds
Liédena Flask · Roman period · individual chronology not published in the entry · Etruscans and Rome
Made in Garama · I millennium BCE–I millennium CE · Garamantes
Oil in a calabash · ca. 1947 · Batwa / Twa histories
The unfinished gesture · 1947 · Batwa / Twa histories
Travelling objects · Mainly Roman period · Garamantes
Urns from Adichanallur · Iron Age · samples towards 665 and 467 BCE · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Vessels without a language · Urewe, broad regional range ca. 800 BCE–650 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds

Kingship and power

Narmer Palette · ca. 3100 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Puabi headdress · ca. 2600–2450 BCE · Sumer
Ur-Nanshe relief · Mid-3rd millennium BCE · reign of Ur-Nanshe · Sumer
Stele of the Vultures · Towards 2450–2425 BCE · Sumer
Akkadian sovereign head · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Naram-Sin Stele · Reign of Naram-Sin, 2254–2218 BCE · Sumer
Sumerian King List · Towards 1800 BCE · Sumer
Stele of Hammurabi · Towards 1750 BCE · Sumer
Grave Circle A and Chrysolakkos · 18th–16th centuries BCE · Greek worlds
Burial at K IV · circa 1750–1550 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Tutankhamun's grave goods · death towards 1323 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Fu Hao’s burial goods · ca. 1200 BCE · Ancient China
Tribute to Assyria · c. 848 BCE · Phoenicians
Black Obelisk · 825 BCE · Sumer
Lamassu of Khorsabad · Reign of Sargon II · 721–705 BCE · Sumer
Kushite king · c. 721–664 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Stele of Esarhaddon · 7th century BC C. · 671 campaign BCE · Sumer
Ashurbanipal Hunt · 645–635 BCE · Sumer
Ishtar Gate · 7th–6th centuries BCE · work of Nebuchadnezzar II · Sumer
Twenty-three delegations · 6th–5th centuries BCE, mainly under Darius and Xerxes · Achaemenid Persia
Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar · first quarter of the 5th century BCE · Phoenicians
The archer in gold · Type introduced from the late 6th century; specimen from the 4th century BCE. · Achaemenid Persia
Susa grave goods · c. 350 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Golyamata Kosmatka · End of the 4th century – beginning of the 3rd century BCE; ritual burial at the beginning of the III according to Iskra. · Thracians — You are viewing
Denarius of Carisius · ≈25–23 BCE · Iberians
The date of 292 · 292 CE · Maya worlds
Pakal’s grave goods · sealed on 28 August 683 CE · Maya worlds
Catalan Atlas · after 1375 and before November 1380 · Mande Worlds
Kuba ndop · ca. 1760 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Before Persia · Central core c. seventeenth century BCE; Neo-Elamite additions between the ninth and sixth centuries BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Cyrus speaks as king of Babylon · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Rome learns in terracotta · End of the sixth century BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The Banquet of Seuthes II · Towards 400 BCE. Anabasis episode · Thracians

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 2 sections. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

Objects that accompanied the rank

A gold crown and cup accompanied decorations for the horse, a sword with its scabbard, greaves, spearheads and other containers. The grave goods brought together different attributes of rank: personal appearance, participation in the banquet and the status of horseman or warrior. His funerary deposit preserves a selection of that social identity.

Museum · Iskra Museum: Golyamata Kosmatka and its trousseauAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.
Museum · Getty: Thrace's Gold Glimmers AnewAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

From a name to an attribution

The bronze helmet, a silver jug and a silver cup preserve ΣΕΥΘΟΥ, the name Seutes in Greek. The coins and the portrait found near the access provide other evidence to attribute the tomb to Seuthes III. Identification comes from relating objects, inscriptions and context, not from a written account of the funeral.

Museum · Iskra Museum: Golyamata Kosmatka and its trousseauAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Location and territory

APPROXIMATE LOCATION

Golyama Kosmatka · Shipka, BulgariaMonument marker; does not locate a personal identity of the deceased.

Where it is held

Iskra Historical Museum Kazanlak

Item or group in the record · Documented collection

Golyama Kosmatka grave goods. The bronze head is kept separately at NAIM, Sofia.

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?

Your opinion helps us improve the museum. You can change it whenever you like.

Loading your rating…

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Golyamata Kosmatka

Brno II Articulated Figure

'Jamila's' necklace

The Gold of Varna

El Miradero spatula-idols

Guadancil idol-plaque

Staff of Anta 4

Abydos Boats

Queen's Lyre

Puabi headdress

Standard of Ur

Cemetery R-37

Kerma vessel

Grave Circle A and Chrysolakkos

Burial at K IV

Before Vedic India

Osmankayası and Ilıca

Tutankhamun's grave goods

Fu Hao’s burial goods

The voice of Ahiram

Before Etruscans and Rome

The urn under the helmet

Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi

Beads from Cerro de los Vientos

Ceramic stand 1010

Regolini-Galassi tomb

Shabti of Psamtek

Two voices in an urn

The great Greek krater of Vix

Steppe kurgans

Vix Tomb

La Venta grave goods

Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar

Banquet under leopards

Twenty-six voiceless signs

The oldest knotted carpet

The statue was the urn

Grave goods of Baza and Toya

The Attic krater that took on a new life in Cástulo

The silver amphora of Chertomlyk

The Kul-Oba vase

Susa grave goods

Faces of the Steppe

Lady of Ibiza

453 astragali from Alarcos

Lady of Ibiza

Falcata from Almedinilla

Golyamata Kosmatka

The blade became straight

Geometry in very fine lines

Northern mound

Two rows of coffins

Kabusanza, ca. 400

Pakal’s grave goods

Missing grave goods

A closer look

Objects that accompanied the rank

From a name to an attribution

Location and territory

Where it is held

Iskra Historical Museum Kazanlak

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?