Novi Pazar
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Novi Pazar
Novi Pazar
an early medieval (second half of the eighth century) burial ground in northeastern Bulgaria, in Shumen District. Novi Pazar was investigated in 1948 and 1949. Forty-two burials, two of which contained the remains of cremated bodies, were uncovered in rectangular pits. The inventory was rich and diversified, especially in the graves of the men. Preserved were bronze buttons, clasps, rings, belt buckles, and remnants of linen clothing. Weapons included an early type of saber, iron battle-axes, spears, and the remains of a bow. Ornaments were few and included temporal rings of copper wire, earrings, and glass beads.
The pottery was made on a potter’s wheel. Especially characteristic were glazed gray pitchers, resembling the pottery of the Saltovo-Maiatskoe culture. Skeletons of horses and the bones of domestic animals and poultry were also found in the graves. The burial ground was left by Turkic-speaking proto-Bulgarian tribes, who maintained ties with the peoples of the Azov Sea area and the northern shore of the Black Sea and had assimilated a number of Sarmatian-Alani cultural traditions.