that some graves contained no
skeleton at all, and these ‘symbolic
graves’ were the richest of them all
in terms of the amount of gold and
other treasures found within them.
Some of these symbolic graves, or
cenotaphs, also contained humansized masks made of unbaked clay
placed in the position where the
head would have been.
“These cenotaphs usually are
interpreted as symbolic graves of
community members who perished
far away from the community,”
said Dr Slavchev. “It seems probable that the religious beliefs in
the Chalcolithic period demanded
a ritual burial for the soul of the
deceased in the community cemetery, strictly observing all funerary
rituals aimed at sending the soul to
the underworld, where it was supposed to meet the members of its
family.”
It became apparent to researchers that the males and females were
laid out in different positions within
the graves – males were laid out
on their backs, while females were
placed in a foetal position. But most
surprising of all, was the discovery
The graves containing the clay
masks were also found to contain gold amulets in the shape
of women placed in the position
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