Golden ox figurine found in Maykop kurgan/mid-3rd millennium BC., Hermitage Museum & 3000 B.C(!?!), golden figurine of the Beddeni Culture, Alazani Valley in Georgia.
Extraordinary kurgan burial shines new light on Sarmatian life, of the Early Iron Age, in the 1st millennium BC. More than one thousand artefacts were recovered from a tomb in the Orenburg region / Russia’s Southern Ural steppes, in 2013. ”Nomadic” culture in steppes. pasthorizonspr.com/sarmatian-life
Scythian gold zoomorphic handle from southern Urals, 4th century BC & Gold plaque of a deer, dated from the 5th century B.C. It was found in Kul Oba Barrow, near ancient Crimea, Ukraine. (excavations by P.A. Debrux, year 1830).
Plaque of a Scythian horseman, gold 4th century BC & Omphalos-Schale (Phial) Gold, Scythian culture from late 5th – early 4th century B.C., Dnieper Area, Zaporozhye Region Russia (now Ukraine) / State Hermitage Museum.
Barbarians? Look at their jewelry art! 8th century BCE pin from tumulus near the village of Vilshana, Cherkasy Region – Excavations 1984 . Scythian Diadem with a dimensions 8,1×12,3 cm. Diadem with a knot of Hercules. Dated from the 3rd century B.C.
A prehistoric cult* complex which is about 7,500 years old, i.e. dating to the Chalcolithic, as well as what has been described as “possibly Prehistoric Europe’s largest stone building”, have been discovered by the archaeologists who have resumed the excavations of the Paleolithic and Neolithic settlement on the Big Island in the Durankulak Lake in Bulgaria’s northeastern-most corner. The excavations of the 
Paleolithic and Neolithic settlement on the Big Island in Bulgaria’s Durankulak Lake first started in 1970s, with the discovered Paleolithic finds dating back to around 10,000 BC; and a Neolithic settlement dating back to between 5500-5400 BC and 5100-5000 BC. The settlement, which created what is said to be Europe’s first stone city, belongs to Blatnitsa, the earliest phase of Europe’s Late Neolithic Hamangia-Durankulak Culture (whose remains are found in today’s Black Sea regions of Bulgaria and Romania). The Big Island in the Durankulak Lake, a 3.4 square km lagoon, is known as the Lake City or the “European Troy”. It features prehistoric remains from what is said to be the first sedentary agricultural culture in Europe, which created Europe’s first stone architecture. The people who lived in this place were not just excellent builders but they were also among the first people in the world who started to smelt metals such as native copper and native gold, to forge jewels out of them, and to trade with them as far as the Mediterranean coast. archaeologyinbulgaria.com/durankulak
aleximreh.wordpress.com/2016/01/09/marija-gimbutas-the-kurgan-saga-collision-amalgamation The First Wave of Kurgans Into East-Central Europe c. 4400-4300 BC and Its Repercussions. The Cucuteni civilization survived the first wave of Kurgan incursions intact. there evidence of amalgamation of the two groups throughout these approximately 800 years of coexistence, at least not until the mid-4th millennium BC. The Displacement and Amalgamation of the Varna, Karanovo, Vinca, and Lengyel Cultures. For the Karanovo-Gumelnita civilization, the Kurgan incursions proved catastrophic. The small farming villages and townships were easily overrun, and Karanovo groups must have fled from the Lower Danube basin westward. In the first half of the 4th millennium BC, the Black Sea coastal Varna culture was replaced, in east Romania and Bulgaria, by a Kurganish complex designated as Cernavoda I. The fortified Cernavoda sites, in contrast to the Karanovo-Gumelnita and Varna settlements on the open plain, were strategically located on high river terraces. The archeological results have parallels throughout the Kurgan expansions. The process came to us as series of exogamic marital unions, where Kurgan people, each tribe and subdivision separately, seeks and joins a permanent marital partner, we have examples from every place that had annalistic records. The Kurgan disruption of Varna, Karanovo, and Vinca jolted a succession of dislocations in Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and as far west as the Upper Danube, Upper Elbe, and Upper Oder basins. Cultural boundaries disintegrated as elements of Vinca populations moved into western Hungary (to eventually become the “Balaton” complex), and into Croatia, Bosnia, and Slovenia (to become the “Lasinja” group). 31 The Lengyel people migrated west and north along the Upper Danube into Germany and Poland. Furthermore, sites of the probable Vinca refugees are also found in regions where no human community had settled since Paleolithic times, such as the eastern Alps and the central part of Slovenia and Croatian Karst. By the end of the 5th millennium BC, the Vinca traditions with their temples, figurines and exquisite pottery are no longer found. There is no continuity of habitation on the Vinca mound after c. 4300 BC. The Tiszapolgar complex, an offshoot of late Tisza, emerged in northeastern Hungary, eastern Slovakia, and western Transylvania. The continuity of their settlement to the mid-4th millennium BC indicates that these people survived and did not merge with the Kurgan culture. While the civilization of Old Europe was agricultural, matricentric, and matrilineal, a transformation took place around 4000 BC to a mixed agricultural-pastoral economy and a classed patriarchal society which I interpret as a successful process of Indo-Europeanization. There was a considerable increase in husbandry over tillage. The change of social structure, religion, and economy was not a gradual indigenous development from Old Europe, but a collision and gradual hybridization of two societies and of two ideologies. Fortunately for us, we can trace these Kurgan people by the emergence of their genetical markers from the center of Asia to N.Pontic, and to Europe, with their Kurganization of Europe, which initiated eastward migration of somewhat Kurganized Europeans all the way to India.
Probably the best model is the expansion of the Slavs into the Eastern Europe, a creeping phased process that starts on a small scale into vacant niches and achieves accommodation with the local population, then a development into symbiotic syncretic phase along the old lines of command, and culminating with either a rise of the local rulers, or the pre-existing local or nomadic rulers claiming suzerainty over independent communities. Though conflicts are unavoidable, the process is generally bloodless, but the combat capacity is greatly enhanced with acquisition of cavalry and methods of mobile warfare. None of the premises constituting M.Gimbutas Kurgan theory appear to have solid grounds at the most critical time of switching from the Old Europe to Kurganization: mythological Sun cult is ethereal, pronounced militancy absent, patriarchy ethereal. The demographic ratio points to insignificant linguistic influence, mostly limited to new toponyms, horse husbandry terminology, and religious and societal terminology, i.e. the spheres that were affected the most. Not all of central Europe was converted to the Kurgan way of life as an outcome of Wave No. 1, but it is clear that most of the Danube basin began to be ruled from hill forts. It took many successive generations for the Old European traditions to become gradually replaced. The indigenous populations either coexisted but remained separate from the Kurgan immigrants or were overrun and subjected to domination by a few Kurgan warriors. A considerable number of Old European culture groups — the Cucuteni, TRB, and the western portion of the LBK — continued their existence throughout the first half of the 4th millennium BC or even longer. An increased Kurganization occurred during the second half of the 4th millennium BC, which is treated in the section below.
The Second Wave, c. 3500 BC, and the Transformation of Central Europe After the Middle of the 4th Millennium BC. This period of transformation coincides with changes in metal technology and the beginning of the Early Bronze Age in the circum-Pontic region. The new metallurgy is characterized by bronzes of copper and arsenic, copper and tin, and copper with arsenic-tin (As, Sn, As-Sn bronze) which replaced the pure copper metallurgy of the Old European Copper Age. Tests made on arsenical bronze prove it to have been reasonably hard and durable, but a side effect must have been the slow and sure poisoning of the smith. The complex of tools and weapons that emerged north and west of the Black Sea — daggers, knives, halberds, chisels, flat axes, shafthole axes — does not show a continuity from Old European local types. Rather, the shapes of bronze artifacts have analogies in the north Caucasus, in Transcaucasia, and the Near East. The Source: The North Pontic Maikop Culture – R1b. Hill forts with enormous fortifications and outstanding kurgans, including exceptionally well-built tombs of stone slabs, suggest a hierarchic society of consolidated tribal units ruled by leading families. The similarity of fortified settlements, burial rites, and ceramic, stone, and metal artifacts recovered northeast and northwest of the Black Sea suggests the unification of this region, not only by commercial contacts but also by political power. The North Pontic region had at this stage diverged from its Kurgan cousin of the Volga. The Kurgan elements that appear west of the Black Sea are clearly connected with the North Pontic, not with the Volga Steppe and have analogies in the Kuro-Araks valley of Transcaucasia. Royal burials and hoards of the late Maikop culture in the River Kuban basin, northwestern Caucasus, express the fabulous riches of tribal leaders and their contacts with Mesopotamia in the early 3rd millennium BC.
An Amalgam of Kurgan and Cucuteni Traditions: The Usatovo Complex Northwest of the Black Sea. Outstanding sites are Usatovo near Odessa 59 and Tudorovo in Moldavia. The richest graves were those of the leading member of the tribe and his suttee while graves of other adults and children were contrastingly poor. Near the settlement and kurgan at Usatovo there is a contemporaneous cemetery of the indigenous Cucuteni culture consisting of simple, unmarked (flat) pit graves, arranged in rows. Contrasting burial rites of the Cucuteni and Kurgan populations are paralleled by differences in their respective habitation sites. Cucuteni dwellings were on wide river terraces, while the Kurgans located their semisubterranean dwellings on spurs, dunes, and steep hills along rivers.
A Kurgan-Influenced Culture in East-Central Europe: The Baden-Vucedol and Ezero Groups. The second Kurgan infiltration headed south from the North Pontic region toward the Lower Danube area and beyond. At the fortified hill at Cernavoda, in Dobruja, radiocarbon dates from the second phase of the hill give the age as c. 3 400-3 200 BC.62 By that time, a chain of acropolises (citadels) along the Danube, in the Marica (Bulgaria) plain, and in the area north of the Aegean, reflected the spread of a ruling power. The finest recently excavated tells, converted to hill forts, are at Ezero in central Bulgaria, 63 and Sitagroi on the Drama Plain of Greek Macedonia. 64 In the Lower Danube, Marica, and Macedonian plains, many Karanovo tells indicate that the indigenous occupation of these sites was disrupted, and many were surmounted by fortifications (such are the Ezero, Sitagroi IV, Karanovo VII, Nova Zagora, Veselinovo, and Bikovo). In other areas, steep river banks and almost inaccessible promontories were selected as seats of the ruling class.
An Amalgamation of the Old European and the Kurgan Cultures. During the second half of the 4th millennium BC, the new regime seems to have successfully eliminated or changed whatever remained of the old social system. Hill forts were the centers of power and cultural life, while the surrounding area supported either pastoral or agricultural populations, depending on the environment and the numbers of indigenous people who remained. Villages were small, the houses usually semi subterranean. But in the economy, an amalgamation of the Old European and the Kurgan cultural systems is clearly evident. In some areas, such as in central Bulgaria, cultivation of emmer, barley, vetch, and pea continued intact, probably carried on by the remaining indigenous population. In other territories, seasonal camps of a pastoral economy prevailed. The Old European symbolism largely vanished from popular artifacts, giving way to the ubiquitous solar design. Toward the end of the 4th millennium BC, only isolated islands of the Old European tradition persisted. Such was the Cotofeni complex in the Danube valley in Oltenia, western Muntenia, southern Banat, and Transylvania. The Cotofeni were sedentary agriculturalists, living in solidly built houses, using copper tools, and still producing burnished red and white painted ceramics. Large numbers of bird-shaped vases attest the continuing worship of the Bird Goddess.
The Baden-Vucedol Culture in the Middle Danube Basin. The Baden complex, composed of indigenous and alien elements, covered the Middle Danube basin, with northern limits in Bohemia and southern Poland. In the south, it is known in the Morava-Vardar valleys of Yugoslavia, Bosnia, and even Albania.68The available radiocarbon dates range between the 34th and 29th centuries BC. From the sparse analyses of the oldest kurgan burials we can anticipate that the males in the Baden kurgan burials had a mixture of predominant R1a and lesser R1b haplogroups, brought over from the Central Asia, and vanishingly small traces of the Q and K haplogroups. In the later kurgan burials, such as Scythian, the proportion of the R1b, Q and K may be higher, and possibly appear C and N haplogroups. The Old Europe males are anticipated to belong to the I and J haplogroups. Most of the metallurgical activities took place in these fortified locations.
The Ezero Culture in Bulgaria, the Northern Aegean, and Western Anatolia. The continuity of this remarkable civilization, as we have seen in chapters 2 and 3, is well attested for almost two thousand years, c. 6000-4200 BC. Then, as a result of Kurgan Wave No. 1, the continuity of the Karanovo life was truncated. After a hiatus, a hybrid culture emerged which was an amalgamation of Old European traditions overlayed with new Kurgan influences.
Herodotus thought the Cimmerians and the Thracians closely related, writing that both peoples originally inhabited the northern shore of the Black Sea, and both were displaced about 700 BC, by invaders from the east. Whereas the Cimmerians would have departed this ancestral homeland by heading west and south across the Caucasus, the Thracians migrated southwest into the Balkans, where they established a successful and long-lived culture. It is conceivable that a small-scale (in terms of population) 8th century “Thraco-Cimmerian” migration triggered cultural changes that contributed to the transformation of the Urnfield culture into the Hallstatt C culture, ushering in the European Iron Age. romanianhistoryandculture.com/cimmerians
As his uncle Organa took Kubrat as a child to the capital of Byzantium, Constantinople, he lived there for a couple of years and came to know Byzantine culture and way of life. He became friends with the future emperor Iraclius and this friendship lasted till his death. On returning to his homeland, Kubrat spearheaded the battle of 
his people against the Avars. After driving them away, he created about the year 630 the state of Great Bulgaria, which he ruled almost 30 years. After his death his sons buried him with great ceremony and soon separated as the state fell under the rule of the Hazars. His third son headed for the Danube where he founded a state, which is a continuation of the traditions of the old Bulgaria… great state of Kubrat disintegrated after his death under the strong pressure of the Hazars. His five sons separated and took in different directions. Only Asparuh succeeded in fulfilling the goal of his father on the Balkan Peninsula. The Pereshchepina Treasure is not an ordinary treasure. Its historic importance is invaluable as information about the first years of the Bulgarian state. http://www.goldensands.bg/cultural/treasure-pres.asp
In ~660, the Khazars, another federated people freed from the yoke of the Western Turkic Khaganate, attacked Bulgaria from the east and captured Phanagoria and its Black Sea holdings up to the Dnieper. Although it was originally believed that the entire state was wiped out by the attack, 7th century chroniclers mention no such dissolution, 
and a treasure trove near Poltava believed to house Kubrat’s tomb seems to have been erected in 665 at a time of peace, implying that Kubrat had repelled the Khazars and still held territory in present-day Ukraine at the time of his death. The destruction of Old Great Bulgaria and the scattering of the four brothers may in fact have been the Khazars merely conquering an important part of the country and severing the territorial links between its outlying provinces. So Asparukh inherited, rather than wandered into, the lands north of the Danube after the death of his father, and his brother Kotrag inherited, rather than reaching, what would later become Volga Bulgaria. blazingbulgaria.wordpress.com/origins_of_bulgaria
The First Bulgarian Empire (modern Bulgarian: Първo българско царство, Parvo Balgarsko Tsarstvo) is the historiographical term for the khanate founded by the Bulgars circa 681, when they settled in the northeastern Balkans, subdued or drove out the Byzantines and made the South Slavic settlers their allies. Capital Pliska (681–893), Preslav (893–972), Skopje (972–992), Ohrid (992–1018). It evolved into a principality in 864 and an empire around 913-927. At the height of its power Bulgaria spread from the Danube Bend to the Black Sea and from the Dnieper River to the Adriatic Sea. 
As the state solidified its position in the Balkans, it entered on a centuries-long interaction, sometimes friendly and sometimes hostile, with the Byzantine Empire. Bulgaria emerged as Byzantium’s chief antagonist to its north, resulting in several wars. The two powers also enjoyed periods of peace and alliance, most notably during the Second Arab siege of Constantinople, where the Bulgarian army broke the siege and destroyed the Arab army, thus preventing an Arab invasion of Southeastern Europe. Byzantium had a strong cultural influence on Bulgaria, which also led to the eventual adoption of Christianity in 864. After the disintegration of the Avar Khaganate, the country expanded its territory northwest to the Pannonian Plain. Later the Bulgarians confronted the advance of the Pechenegs and Cumans, and achieved a decisive victory over the Magyars, forcing them to establish themselves permanently in Pannonia. During the late 9th and early 10th centuries, Simeon I achieved a string of victories over the Byzantines, and was recognized with the title of Emperor, and expanded the state to its greatest extent. After the annihilation of the Byzantine army in the battle of Anchialus in 917, the Bulgarians laid siege to Constantinople in 923 and 924. The Byzantines eventually recovered, and in 1014 under Basil II, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Bulgarians at the Battle of Kleidion.[10] By 1018, the last Bulgarian strongholds had surrendered to the Byzantine Empire, and the First Bulgarian Empire had ceased to exist.[11] It was succeeded by the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1185. en.wikipedia.org/First_Bulgarian_Empire
The golden age of Bulgarian culture and the beginning of Bulgarian culture influence over Slavonic world. Tsar Simeon I the Great /893-927/. Simeon was the third son of knays Boris and was called “a child of peace” i.e Simeon is the first of the Boris’ children who was educated as a true Christian. Simeon was the third child and according to Bulgarian tradition only the first and second child could be inheritors of the throne. Because of this it was judged to him to take the church career. After graduated his secondary education at Pliska he was sent to Magnur school at Constantinople, where “learn to perfect classic Greek literature, astronomy, arithmetic and all philosophic arts”. A half century later byzantine diplomacy continued to called him “a half Greek”. After this according to chroniclers “he left his scientific occupations and devoted himself to church „ Probably Simeon came back to Bulgaria around 886 when the students of Cyril and Methodius had been already arrived at Pliska. There was an opinion that Simeon was called back by his father according to his plans to spread around Bulgarian the Christianity and the new Slavonic script. Then by Climent of Ohrid and Naum Simeon received his first lessons of Slavonic alphabet.
Soon the events in Bulgaria took dramatic change. The new knyas Vladimir tried to restore the old believes. The Bulgarian source without doubt says that no one but Simeon was the initiator of Vladimir’s dethroning. “By the God’s blessing and Boris’ desires Simeon dethrone Vladimir and took his place”. On the church council in Preslav was decided that the new knays should be Simeon, the greek clergy was banished from Bulgaria. Then in a fervid speech Boris threatened Simeon that if he devoted himself to old Gods he would follow his brother. Actually that was a warning to Vladimir’s supporters, because that there is not doubts that Simeon would follow the Christians’ dogma.
The reaction from Byzantium didn’t late. Emperor Leo VI Philosopher moved the Bulgarian market-place from capital to Thessaloniki and put harder duties to Bulgarian traders. When Simeon learnt about this he announced the emperor Leo. “Blinded by his partialities the emperor considered this for oddments. This made Simeon angry and he launched a campaign against empire.” Someone consider this for first economic war in Europe. Anyway the main battle was in Thrace and “byzantine army was defeated and most of their commanders were killed”. The taken captive emperor Guards’ were sent to Constantinople with cut noses for “shame of the byzantines”. Because the emperor Leo VI was engaged with a war with Arabs, byzantine diplomacy made the impossible and “by the price of big gifts the Magyars agreed to attack Bulgaria”. At 894 Byzantine fleet appeared at Danube and unloads there a big Magyar army. This surprised Simeon because all his armies were on the south front with Byzantium. Counting on this Byzantines started peace negotiations, but after “ruined north Dobrudja the Magyars went north undisturbed”. Using that Simeon threw the messengers into jail and sent armies to north and blocked Danube with iron chains. Unfortunately byzantine fleet managed to pass through the chains and once again surprised Simeon, which armies were defeated and “alone Simeon succeed to reach in safety Dorostorum“. After Magyars passed again north Simeon pretended to want peace and byzantine messengers arrived at Preslav led by Leo Hristophactous who have to negotiate the conditions. Meanwhile Simeon attracted to his side the Pechenegs and with “their help pounced on Magyars and because they didn’t received any help by Byzantines stayed unprepared and were perfectly defeated as most of them were killed”. “As came back prouder from the victory he /Simeon/ became much more haughty” stopped all peace negotiations and with all his armies rushed into Thrace. Understanding about this Byzantines moved all their armies from Mala Asia to Balkans. The battle between two armies was near Bulgarofigonus /today Baba Esky/ where the imperial armies were totally defeated. – summer of 896. Simeon continued his march to Constantinople, but was stopped by an army of Arabian hostages. On the next year Simeon attacked southwest regions on the Balkans and “included those towns in Bulgaria”. At the beginning of X century Bulgarians besieged of Thessaloniki and as a result the border was drawn on 20 km north of the town.
The following years of peace were used by Simeon to create a strong base which had to give him the superiority over the empire. To the political prestige of Byzantium Simeon 
has to work out his own platform which aim was to create an empire worthy enough to overshadow the Byzantine empire and to become a corner-stone of the future Slavonic culture. He started with building of the new capital – Veliki Preslav /translated something near to Great Glory/. As a student of Magnur school Simeon became well acquainted with Constantinople and he wanted to build a city similar to it. And did it, his contemporaries described impressive patriarchal cathedral and Palaces decorated with gold and silver, streets made from marble and colorful buildings around. The constructions of the capital took 28 years. Together with this Simeon continued the unfinished work of his father. He “built many churches, ordained many bishops and spread the Christianity around Bulgaria in his pure dogmas”. Moreover Simeon became the soul of intellectual circle which put the beginning of a new culture which base was Slavonic script. The two academies in Preslav and Ohrid were engaged to translate all known books using Slavonic script. While head of the Ohrid academy became Kliment of Ohrid, the head of Preslav’s one became Simeon. The knyas won the admiration of all his contemporaries, who called him “a famous book lover” who “studied all old and new books, canonical and non-canonical, and most of all the Holy writ and understanding all customs and rituals to all of his teachers, the pious knyas Simeon was impressed by the words of John Chrysostom. After read all his books he understood all of them and wrote a book which called Zlatostrui /understand – “a stream of golden words”/. Together with Climent of Ohrid, Naum of Preslav, John Exarch, presbyter Constantine and Chernorizets Hrabar created many books which protects the thesis that every one nation has the right to build his own culture and language. “All they were sure that their act would influence not only Bulgaria, but all Slavonic nations”.
Thus the first 20 years of his reign. Simeon made this personal prestige that made him one of the most educated and remarkable persons of his time. Simeon had not only the power of the sword but also the power of the word. He considered himself not only equal to emperor, but also that he would be that man who would lead out Bulgaria from the shadow of Byzantine Empire.
On may 912 emperor Leo VI Philosopher died, he left only one successor – the juvenile Constantine VII. The authority was taken by the regent Alexander – Leo’s brother. Soon after Simeon send messengers to Constantinople who had to renegotiate the peace. “Blinded by foolishness Alexander went back messengers and insulted Simeon”. The challenge was more than welcome and a war started. With the difficult aim “to stop this madness was asked the patriarch Nikolaou Mystiques” who send several letters to Simeon but without success. Soon at Constantinople arrived rumors that Simeon prepared himself to conquer Constantinople and whole European part of the Empire. Followed up more letters of the patriarch but again didn’t change anything. “So on august 913, Simeon, the ruler of Bulgaria launched a campaign against the Romans and with big armies besieged Constantinople” Soon after the negotiation started and on a short: Simeon’s desires were two: he to be crowned as an emperor /tsar/ of Bulgaria and the young emperor Constantine VII to be merried for his daughter. Without doubt Bulgarians celebrated fully victory – on a ceremony Simeon was announced for an emperor and engagement was announced, thus after Simeon titled himself as “tsar of all Bulgarians and Greeks”.
At the beginning of 914 at Constantinople a coup d’état was accomplished. The old regent government was replaced by new one led by empress Zoya – Constantine’s mother. Her first step was to annul the engagement. The clash between the two empires was unavoidable. Byzantium didn’t want to step back, neither did Simeon was agreed with the new situation. The roman diplomacy made the impossible and a peace with Arabs was concluded, but fell with its task to find an ally in the Bulgarian back. Knowing well the byzantine tactic Bulgarians anticipated them. Simeon managed to put on the Serbian throne his protégé and about Pechnegs – “who were great care for Bulgarians, because they wanted to married their children to Bulgarians and this way to conclude peace with them”. It’s became clear that everything would be decided on the battlefield in Thrace.
Byzantines inspired from their recent victory over Arabs wanted “once for all to get rid of Bulgarian threat and to restore the Danube border” so they transferred all armies from the east front. After “their commanders sworn in the Holy cross that would die but not surrender, the whole byzantine army /around 62 000 men/ rushed into Bulgaria”. Simeon also prepared himself well and “after took all his allies went against them” with an army around 60 000 man. The battle became on 20.08.917 near small river of Achelous, today Bulgaria near Sunny beach. Most details of the battle are given by the historian Scillica. The Byzantines hit the wings, because wanted to cut off way of Bulgarians toward mountain. Bulgarians wings “started fleeing back, but not disorderly and soon among Romans fear and hesitation were spread”. Tsar Simeon who was observing the battle from near hills waited for the best moment and personally led the hidden in ambush Bulgarian cavalry. “The Romans who already have been fallen spiritual stayed completely surprised; they turned back, and started fleeing”. Such bloodshed wasn’t seen for centuries – “part of the Romans were killed by sword, other have drown in the sea, third have died crushed by the running horses and people or other violence but every one found his death in a different way”. The historian Leo Deacon says “And even now there could be seen piles of bones at Anchialus, where the fleeing army of the Romans was disgracefully slain.” This victory made of Simeon master of the situation and he rushed to Constantinople, near the capital defeated another byzantine army and when way to the capital was clear surprisingly turned back and attacked Serbians who revolted inspired by Byzantines. On the next year Simeon attacked Hellas and “ruined its towns and incorporated its lands into Bulgarian empire”. Meantime another coup d’état happened in Constantinople. This time empress Zzoya was replaced by Roman Lapkis who married his daughter to Constantine VII. It seemed that the luck once again challenged Simeon who immediately “announced that Roman must refuse the throne and leave the kingdom which already has belonged to Bulgarians”. On autumn 920 Simeon found himself on another campaign against empire. This time he managed to conquer Dardanelles, his plans were to block the navy entrance to the capital. The initiative form peace once again was taken by patriarch Nikolaou Mystique, who confessed that “those people, which madness was motivated by the Devil and gave a reason for war are not important now“. The patriarch also proposed a wedding between the Lapkis’ son and the Simeon’s daughter. This wasn’t in Simeon’s plans that already have seen himself as a “father of Constantine”. The negotiation was interrupted and on 921 Bulgarian army once again was under wall of Constantinople. This time Byzantines mustered courage and met Bulgarians on the battlefield but when “they /Bulgarians/ appeared, making terrible noises and powerfully attacked Romans all commanders /Byzantine/ threw weapons and started fleeing”. Then followed such “slaughtering that cannot be described”. And this time the empire once again was saved by the Serbians, who again revolted. Around 923 after stabilized the situation on all fronts Simeon undertook another campaign against Byzantine empire. Before this he announced himself as tsar of all Bulgarians and Romans which openly demonstrated the main aim of his political program. Under the wall of Constantinople Simeon insisted for personal meeting with patriarch Nikolaou Mystique and Roman Lapkis. On 9.09.923 “Simeon arrived on a head of big army, which was separated on many squads. One of them were wearing golden armours and pikes, other silver’s, third iron painted in different colors. Then they as put Simeon between them, welcome him on Greek language as an emperor of all”. The conditions were two: Constantinople to open its gate to Simeon and he to be announced for tsar of the whole West i.e. tsar of Bulgarians and Romans. The answer of the emperor that is impossible on earth to have two emperors and after “received big gifts and more lands Simeon concluded peace because of the west Serbians again revolted”. This time in a single campaign in the end 924 Simeon liquidated Serbian state and incorporated it finally into Bulgaria. Simeon died from heart attack on 27.05.927 on 63 years old.
The opinions of the Simeon’s contemporaries about him are strongly contradictory while Romans blamed Simeon for the death of thousand soldiers and many ruined towns, Bulgarians sources compares him with the great persons of the time – “he similar to tsar David was playing on harp with golden strings”, with “golden pen wrote his Zlatostui”, “he build the patriarchal golden church in Preslav – one architectural jewel of the epoch”, “on his throne room Simeon was sitting on a golden throne”. The time of tsar Simeon stayed in Bulgarian history as a peak of development of the country. After Simeon all Bulgarian rulers should be called tsar, Bulgaria – an empire. The Simeon’s golden epoch put one strong base for the further influence of Bulgarian culture over other Slavonic nations.
allempires.com/forum
The Second Bulgarian Empire (Bulgarian: Второ българско царство, Vtorо Bălgarskо Tsartsvo) was a medieval Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1396 or 1422.[2] A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. It was succeeded by the Principality and later Kingdom of Bulgaria in 1878. Until 1256, the Second Bulgarian Empire was the dominant power in the Balkans. The Byzantines were defeated in several major battles, and in 1205 Emperor Kaloyan defeated the newly established Latin Empire in the Battle of Adrianople. His nephew Ivan Asen II defeated the Despotate of Epiros and made Bulgaria a regional power again. During his reign, Bulgaria spread from the Adriatic to the Black Sea and the economy flourished. However, in the late 13th century, the Empire declined under constant invasions of Mongols, Byzantines, Hungarians, and Serbs, as well as internal unrest and revolts. Despite a strong Byzantine influence, the Bulgarian artists and architects created their own distinctive style. In the 14th century, during the period known as the Second Golden Age of Bulgarian culture, literature and art flourished.[3] The capital city Tarnovo, which was considered a “New Constantinople”, became the country’s main cultural hub and the centre of the Eastern Orthodox world for contemporary Bulgarians.[4] After the Ottoman conquest, many Bulgarian clerics and scholars emigrated to Serbia, Wallachia, Moldavia, and Russian principalities, where they introduced Bulgarian culture, books, and hesychastic ideas.[5] en.wikipedia.org/Second_Bulgarian_Empire
Bellow Reconstruction of the face of Caloiohannes Imperator Bulgarorum et Blachorum unveiled in 2008, based on his skeleton found in 1972 in the Forty Holy Martyrs Church in Veliko Tarnovo.
The Balkan–Danubian culture[1][2] was an early medieval archaeological culture which emerged in the region of the Lower Danube in the 8th century and flourished until the 11th century. In Romania it is called Dridu culture, while in Bulgaria it is usually referred to as Pliska-Preslav culture. It is better represented on the territory of modern-day Northern Bulgaria although its spread north of the Danube is also well attested due to the continuous extension of the First Bulgarian Empire over the territory of present-day Romania.[4] The Balkan–Danubian culture is described as an early Slavic-Bulgarian culture,[5] but besides Slavic and Bulgar elements it possesses also some Romance components, all of them under a Byzantine influence.[6] en.wikipedia.org/Danubian_Culture
The approximate distribution of Y-DNA haplogroups among the Bulgarian people runs as follows: 16% E1b1b, 1% G2a, 3% I1, 20% I2a (very common among South Slavic peoples),
1% I2b, 20% J2, 1% Q, 18% R1a, 18% R1b, 1% T. Phylogenetic and correspondence analyses showed that Bulgarians are more closely related to Macedonians, Greeks, and Romanians than to other European populations and Middle Eastern people living near the Mediterranean. We found that the Y-chromosome gene pool in modern Bulgarians is primarily represented by Western Eurasian haplogroups with ~ 40% belonging to haplogroups E-V13 and I-M423, and 20% to R-M17. Haplogroups common in the Middle East (J and G) and in South Western Asia (R-L23*) occur at frequencies of 19% and 5%, respectively. Haplogroups C, N and Q, distinctive for Altaic and Central Asian Turkic-speaking populations, occur at the negligible frequency of only 1.5%. (i) R-L23* is present in Eastern Bulgaria since the post glacial period; (ii) haplogroup E-V13 has a Mesolithic age in Bulgaria from where it expanded after the arrival of farming; (iii) haplogroup J-M241 probably reflects the Neolithic westward expansion of farmers from the earliest sites along the Black Sea. On the whole, in light of the most recent historical studies, which indicate a substantial proto-Bulgarian input to the contemporary Bulgarian people, our data suggest that a common paternal ancestry between the proto-Bulgarians and the Altaic and Central Asian Turkic-speaking populations either did not exist or was negligible. khazaria.com/genetics/bulgarians
Haplogroup R1a1a, also referred to as haplogroup R-M17 or R-M198, is a Y-DNA haplogroup defining one of the most common human male lines found in modern Eurasia. It is defined by the SNP mutation M17, and is particularly common in a large region extending from Central Europe and Scandinavia to South Asia and 
Southern Siberia. In Afghanistan, R1a1a is found at 51.02% among the Pashtuns who are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, 50% among the Kyrgyz and 30.36% among the Tajiks. The Shimar (Shammar) Bedouin tribe in Kuwaitshow the highest frequency in the Middle East at 43%. In India, high frequencies of this haplogroup is observed in West Bengal Brahmins (72%)(Sengupta 2005) to the east, Konkanastha Brahmins (48%) (Sengupta 2005) to the west, Khatris (67%)(Underhill 2009) in the north and Iyenger Brahmins (31%)(Sengupta 2005) in the south. Studies have found 20.3% R-M17* among Kurdish samples which were taken in the Kurdistan Province in western Iran, 12.8% among Persian and 17.6% among Zoroastrians in Yazd, 18.2% among Persians in Isfahan, 20.3% among Persians in Khorasan, 16.7% Afro-Iranians, 18.4% Qeshmi “Gheshmi”, 21.4% among Persian Speaking Bandari people in Hormozgan and 25% among the Baloch people in Sistan and Baluchestan Province (Grugni 2012).
In Europe, the R1a1 sub-clade, is found at highest levels among peoples of Eastern European descent (Sorbs, Poles, Russians and Ukrainians; 50 to 65%) (Balanovsky 2008, Behar 2003, and Semino 2000). In the Baltic countries R1a1a frequencies decrease from Lithuania (45%) to Estonia (around 30%) (Kasperaviciūte 2005). Levels in Hungarians have been noted between 20 and 60%.
Balkan ‘Aryan’ waves: 2800-2500bc R1b Troy, 2000-1500bc R1a Macedonians/Ionians/Micenians, 1200BC – R1b Dorians
eupedia.com/R1b The first forays of steppe people into the Balkans happened between 4200 BCE and 3900 BCE, when cattle herders equipped with horse-drawn wagons crossed the Dniester and Danube and apparently destroyed the towns of the Gumelnita, Varna and Karanovo VI cultures in Eastern Romania and Bulgaria.
A climatic change resulting in colder winters during this exact period probably pushed steppe herders to seek milder pastures for their stock, while failed crops would have led to famine and internal disturbance within the Danubian and Balkanic communities. The ensuing Cernavoda culture (Copper Age, 4000-3200 BCE), Coțofeni culture (Copper to Bronze Age, 3500-2500 BCE) and Ezero culture(Bronze Age, 3300-2700 BCE), in modern Romania, seems to have had a mixed population of steppe immigrants and people from the old tell settlements. These steppe immigrants were likely a mixture of both R1a and R1b lineages, with a probably higher percentage of R1a than later Yamna-era invasions. This precocious Indo-European advance westward was fairly limited, due to the absence of Bronze weapons and organised army at the time, and was indeed only possible thanks to climatic catastrophes which reduced the defences of the towns of Old Europe. The Carphatian, Danubian, and Balkanic cultures were too densely populated and technologically advanced to allow for a massive migration. In comparison the forest-steppe R1a people successfully penetrated into the heart of Europe with little hindrance, due to the absence of developed agrarian societies around Poland and the Baltic.
Around 3000BCE ‘Transylvania’ becomes the starting platform from where Western Europe will be conquered by R1b. The great Greco-Macedonian 1900BC wave is R1a coming from the N of the Carpathians.The W of Europe becomes ”totally red” -celtic R1b. The final wave in 1200BC is the south migration of R1b, the explosion of the Hallstatt culture.
Old Europe 
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