Archaeologists Lyuben Leshtakov and Nikolay Ovcharov, from the Sofia Archeology Museum, discovered in mid-2016 in the Rhodope Mountains, in southern Bulgaria, a tomb containing the remains of a Thracian woman dismembered according to Orphic rituals .
The remains of the woman, of noble origin, since a rich funerary trousseau of some 60 pieces of silver and other bronze jewelery such as rings, a diadem, earrings, pearls and necklaces was found next to her, date from the century IV BC , around the time Alexander the Great reigned.
The grave, which was found near the town of Benkovski , is excavated inside a rock that could have been used as a mausoleum, and it is not ruled out that more tombs appear in it.
The rich trousseau that accompanies the remains, one of the richest found in tombs from the same period, suggests that it is the burial of a Thracian princess .
The burial is located just 4 meters from an altar discovered a few months ago, and which archaeologists believe to be part of a cult complex that could also include a temple.
The most significant thing about the finding is that the woman's body was dismembered into five parts before her burial, which coincides with what is known of Orphic rituals, similar to how Orpheus was dismembered by the Bacchae.
This ritual was only performed with people who were upper class in the Thracian society of the time, such as nobles and priests. What is not yet known is how the dismemberment was carried out.
In the case of the burial found now, it is known that the ritual was applied because the dismemberment was carried out before the soft tissues began to deteriorate. Once done, the five parts were placed in different sections of the stone tomb, and the skull was propped up with two stones, possibly to hold it in a certain position.
As for the jewels, the 11 rings found stand out, 6 silver and 5 bronze, all of them with engraved images of deities such as Nike, the goddess of victory.
Inside the tomb, archaeologists also found a silver coin, a tetradrachm from the ancient Greek polis of Maronea, located on the Aegean coast about 100 kilometers away. This would be the obol , the coin that was placed under the tongue of the dead, to pay the ferryman of Hades, Charon, the transit to the other world.