Above: An iron collar, its surface silvered with traces of gilding, from the Mal-tepe tumulus, Mezek. W. 29 cm. Probably of Bosporan manufacture, similar ones have been found elsewhere in east Bulgaria and in the Great Tumulus at Vergina.

Left: A bronze helmet with cheekpieces, from Kovachevitsa, east of the upper Nestos valley. Ht overall 39 cm, helmet only 23.7 cm. The form follows the style of Thracian leather headgear, perhaps a legacy of the Otomani flame symbol.

Bronze bridle frontlet from Orizovo, near Chirpan. L. 4.8 cm; Ht 3 cm.

Centre left: Bridle strap ornament from Orizovo. L. 7 cm. The highly stylized zoomorphic decoration has the characteristic Thracian hatched outlines. With the frontlet, these may be forest-steppe or local work.

Centre right: Silver bridle strap ornament from Brezovo depicting a recumbent horse. Max. diam. 5 cm.

Below: Detail of the Lovets silver belt. Ht 4 crn. Overall L. 31 cm. Divided into three zones, both the outer zones portray a mounted hunter and attendant archer. A dog runs below one horse, a corresponding object shown here may be an animal's head. In the central zone two boars, one already speared, race towards a lotus tree of life. An early South Thracian attempt to use Greco-oriental models to depict a native theme.

Silver-gilt plaque from the Letnitsa hoard. Ht 5 cm. As on the Oguz plaque, the artist has difficulty in showing the - probably - male figure in profile. The scene is variously interpreted, but the resemblance to the combat between the hero and a demon, part man and part triple-headed monster, on the Hasanlu gold bowl may reflect Iranian influences on Thracian mythology received possibly during the Late Bronze Age.

One of four silver tetraskele bridle-strap ornaments from the Loukovit treasure. Ht 10.3 cm. Similar tetraskeles, with the characteristic Thracian hatching, occur in the Kaloyanovo burial and the 'Craiova treasure'.

Late 6th or early 5th-century handmade clay urn from Dobrina. Ht 48.5 cm. With rounded biconical body, high cylindrical neck and everted mouth, it is a new version of an old Carpatho-Balkan form. Besides burnt human remains it contained bronxe and shell ornaments. Offerings in a second urn nearby included a lightly burnt iron knife, suggesting a husband and wife burial.

Ground plan of a chiefs tumulus burial at Kaloyanovo.

Silver bridle ornament from Vratsa. Diam. 8.5 cm. In an inscribed triskele of three animal heads around a central boss or sun-disc, three unidentifiable beasts fill the empty spaces. An oval pair from die same bridle combines these elements in a different manner. A third pair has a lion attacking another animal, heads simplified to jaw and eye but, unlike the Scythian taste, portrayed in natural attitudes.

Silver bridle ornament from Vratsa, Diam. 7 cm. The most stylized of the four pairs, they are triskeles of rosette-like griffon heads. A less skilfully executed example, perhaps a copy, was foud at Aghighiol.

Silver-gilt greave from Vratsa. Ht 46 cm. The workmanship, at least of the head, is Greek, probably Bosporan. The gilded bars across part of the face are repeated on a silver vase from Mastyugin in the Voronezh district. The zoomorphic decoration, unquestionably Thracian in spirit, may have been executed by Bosporan Thracians.

A clay figurine, possibly prehistoric, in a collection of magical objects near the wife's skeleton in the second Vratsa grave. Ht 6.5 cm.

Small gold jug from the third Vratsa grave. Ht 9 cm. Considered to represent a double version of Apollo in his chariot, it illustrates Greek influence on Thracian work during the latter part of the 4th century.

The cheekpiece, showing a mounted chief, of a partly gilded silver helmet from the Agighiol tumulus. Ht of helmet 27 cm.

Silver beaker from Agighiol. Ht 18 cm. The Agighiol beakers and another recovered near the Danubian Iron Gates illustrate the Thracian 'tooth and claw' view of the animal world although stags and goats are shown at peace. A traditional line of tangented circles outlines the bottom register of this and the Iron Gates beaker, but the top register of all three has the Otomani-Wietenberg running flame transformed into bird heads. This similarity with the Mecklenburg decoration suggests interaction of Thracian and Celtic influences along the lower Danube.

Bronze matrix from Gurchinovo. L. 29 cm. To decorate such objects as beakers, ceremonial helmets and plaques a matrix was hammered on to sheet metal.

Silver rhyton from Poroina. Ht 27 cm. As gold or silver rhyta were generally used by Thracians wealthy enough to obtain Greek imports, locally manufactured ones are rare. The stiff and formless figures present a strong contrast with Greek examples. The animal's horns are now missing, but on its forehead is a whirling sun-disc, identically repeated on bull-head bridle ornaments of the 'Craiova treasure'.

Silver plaque from Panagyurishte. Ht 27 cm. This waisted plaque and five round ones with similar beaded borders were recovered after the looting of a tumulus near Panagyurishte. In the upper register Herakles holds a tiny Nemean lion, in the lower a figure with claw feet and a bird - or fishtail carries a kithara. Possibly all decorations of a shield, three round plaques, diam. 8-9.5 cm, have vegetal ornament; two show affronted boars, between them a palmette, recalling the Lovets belt, and behind them a bird.