“Grave 2, Eneolithic necropolis – Varna” Photo credit: Varna Regional Museum of History is licensed under CC-BY-SA-3.0
women and children who received
the most elaborate burials. Marija
Gimbutas, a Lithuanian-American
archaeologist, who was well-known
for her claims that Neolithic sites
across Europe provided evidence
for matriarchal pre-Indo-European
societies, suggested that it was the
end of the 5th millennium BC when
the transition to male dominance
began in Europe. Indeed, in the
Varna culture, it was observed that
around this time, men started to
get the better posthumous treatment.
Complex Funerary
Rites
The burials in the Varna necropolis have also offered a lot more than
the precious artifacts found within
them and discoveries relating to
social hierarchies; the features of
the graves have also provided key
insights into the religious beliefs
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Grave 2, Symbolical Burial
Eneolithic necropolis – Varna
and complex funerary practices of
this ancient civilization.