Out now: First volume of the YMPACT series published!

We are pleased to announce that our first volume of the YMPACT series has just been published with Archaeolingua. The book, authored by Ilija Iliev and Stefan Bakărdžiev, has the title "Kurgane der Frühen bis Späten Bronzezeit im Bezirk Jambol, Südostbulgarien" and was edited by Rudolf Echt, Volker Heyd, and Bianca Preda-Bălănică.

Volume 1 of the series 'The Yamnaya Impact on Prehistoric Europe' presents the results of the rescue excavations conducted by Ilija Iliev and Stefan Bakărdžiev from the Historical Museum in Yambol in five Bronze Age kurgans in this region in southeastern Bulgaria. These kurgans near the villages of Mogila, Drazhevo, Irechekovo and Boyanovo (two mounds) were excavated between 2004 and 2010. In total they contained more than 40 Bronze Age graves, which are presented in detail in the text, catalog and illustrations. The earliest, as in Mogila and Boyanovo Mound 1, date from the end of the 4th millennium BC. The next phase, from approximately 3000 BC to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC is associated with Yamnaya populations. Sixteen of their typical graves were also found in Mogila and Boyanovo Mound 1. The grave pits, covered with mats and wooden beams, and their deceased, covered with ochre, lying on their back with their knees raised, make them easily recognizable. Other contemporary kurgan burials show a mixture of local Ezero traditions from the Bulgarian Early Bronze Age II and steppe elements, as evidenced in graves from Drazhevo. Later, in the Middle and Late Bronze Age of the 2nd millennium BC, around 11 graves were placed in Mogila and Boyanovo Mound 1 as secondary or tertiary burials. However, new mounds continued to be built during the Middle Bronze Age, as shown by Irechekovo and Boyanovo Mound 3 with three graves each. The youngest burial horizon consists of Christian burials from Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, which, however, are not described in the book.