Ilindentsi-Masovets Excavation Project

Magnetic gradiometer map of the site shows two anomalies in the southern and northern parts. Excavations in 2011-2017 revealed a system of concentric trenches around the Neolithic ditch (their purpose remains unclear) and a Neolithic well structure in the south. The cultural layer was rich with artifacts dated to the first half of 6th millennium BCE: white-on-red and red-on-red painted pottery, anthropomorphic figurines, stone and bone tools and esp. jewels (rings, necklace beads, and bracelets).

Although the possibility of acculturation of an indigenous population can not be completely disregarded at this stage, archaeologists assume that the settlement at Ilindentsi was established by a group of people from the neighboring Neolithic settlement of Kovachevo. The latter is the earliest and largest Neolithic settlement found in the Middle Struma Valley some 30km to the south of Ilindentsi. It was established by people of Anatolian origin (culture Hacilar VI-I) in the late 7th millennium BCE. These migration patterns trace the routes of European Neolithization and indicate multiple origins. Early farmers likely started moving to Europe for complex and varied reasons possibly related to social stress and climate change.