282
Documenta Praehistorica XLIV (2017)
Chronology and development
of the Chalcolithic necropolis of Varna I
Raiko Krauß
1
, Clemens Schmid
2
, David Kirschenheuter
1
, Jonas Abele
1
,
Vladimir Slavchev
3
and Bernhard Weninger
4
1 Institute for Early and Prehistory and Medieval Archaeology, Tübingen University, Tübingen, DE
raiko.krauss@uni-tuebingen.de
2 Institute of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology, Kiel University, Kiel, DE
3 Regional Historical Museum Varna, Varna, BG
4 Institute for Early and Prehistory, Köln University, Köln, DE
ABSTRACT – In the following paper, we present the main results of our now completed studies of the
Varna I cemetery, based on the excavations undertaken by Ivan Ivanov in the years 1972–1991.
The richness of the assemblages is singular in Old World prehistory. To tackle the question of its inter-
nal, chronological development, we applied correspondence analysis (CA) to a newly created data-
base that includes the inventories of all presently known graves, symbolic burials and find deposits.
The rank order of the seriated inventories was used to establish a CA-based 
14
C-age model for wiggle
matching. In combination with topographic observations and social network analysis (SNA), our
studies provide a new understanding both of the chronological and spatial distribution of the graves
and burial goods, as well as new insights into the social structure, gender roles, individual relation-
ships and ritual practices of the Chalcolithic community.
IZVLE∞EK – V ≠lanku predstavljamo glavne rezultate zaklju≠enih ∏tudij grobi∏≠a Varna I, ki temeljijo
na izkopavanjih Ivana Ivanova. Ta so potekala v letih 1972–1991. Bogastvo najdb je edinstveno v
svetovni prazgodovini. Pri analizi podatkov, ki vklju≠ujejo inventar vseh trenutno znanih grobnih ce-
lot, simboli≠nih pokopov in drugih najdb smo uporabili koresponden≠no analizo (CA), s pomo≠jo
katere smo ugotavljali notranji kronolo∏ki razvoj na grobi∏≠u. Uporabili smo vrstni red zbirov v
seriaciji, da bi s pomo≠jo »wiggle matching« metode vzpostavili radiokarbonski model, ki temelji na
koresponden≠ni analizi. Na∏a ∏tudija nudi nove razlage tako kronolo∏ke kot prostorske razporedit-
ve grobov in grobnih pridatkov na podlagi zdru∫evanja topografije in analize socialnih omre∫ij
(SNA), kar vodi tudi v nova spoznanja o dru∫beni strukturi, vlogi spolov, individualnih odnosih in
ritualnih praksah v tej bakrenodobni skupnosti.
KEY WORDS – Varna cemetery; radiocarbon dating; correspondence analysis; social network analysis;
Chalcolithic
KLJU∞NE BESEDE – grobi∏≠e Varna; radiokarbonsko datiranje; koresponden≠na analiza; analiza social-
nih omre∫ij; bakrena doba
Kronologija in razvoj
bakrenodobne nekropole Varna I
DOI> 10.4312\dp.44.17 

Chronology and development of the Chalcolithic necropolis of Varna I
283
ly connoted, and allows us to reconstruct the per-
sisting memory of a traditional funeral ritual. Finally,
we describe the two main chronological components
of the Varna cemetery: (1) the archaeological con-
tents and statistical properties of the CA, and (2) the
absolute age-calibration of the CA. Based on a large
number of seriated 
14
C-ages, the cemetery begins at
4590 cal BC and ends at 4340 cal BC. Due to the me-
thodology applied, we achieved a precise dating for
all the graves included in the CA, whether directly
14
C-dated, or not. The period of 
~
250 years for the
cemetery, when compared with the overall sum of
270 burials, provides us with guidelines as to the
role of the Varna burial ground in its wider histo-
rical-cultural context: The proportion of burials in
comparison with the large number of symbolic bu-
rials indicates that Varna I quite probably contains
the burials of individuals from different settlements.
We should therefore perceive Varna I as a prominent
burial site within the larger settlement area of the
Kod∫adermen-Gumelnita-Karanovo VI Complex, and
which will certainly encompass the known tell set-
tlements in the hinterland of the western coast of
the Black Sea.
Statistical analysis
The cemetery master-database is a simply structured
table containing 316 rows which represent the com-
plete set of individual burial contexts (in a wider
sense: mainly burials, but also including symbolic
graves, and material deposits) of the Varna necrop-
olis, and 193 columns, which contain the entire set
of attributes associated with the burial contexts (for
example: site-coordinates, dimensions of the grave
pit, manner of burial or deposit, burial goods etc.).
This cemetery master-database was constructed at
the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen in the
course of two seminars on statistical methods in the
years 2012 and 2013. Additional classification of the
individual grave goods is due to the (still now to
some extent) preliminary work of several colleagues.
At this point, we would like to emphasise the alto-
gether quite profound extent of the Varna project,
which covers (and still now involves) the support of,
and explicit data entry by, many different experts.
In brief, the analysis of the copper tools, weapons
and jewellery is in the hands of Kalin Dimitrov (So-
fia) taking advantage of older results (Todorova
1981; Dimitrov 2002). The anthropological data is
provided by Steve Zäuner (Tübingen). Verena Leusch
Introduction
To begin, we would like to mention that a longer
paper with a more complete presentation of the ap-
plied methods and investigations as well as the com-
plete master-database has been submitted for pub-
lication to the Eurasia-Department of the German
Archaeological Institute
1
, whereby the additional
data obtained and the results will be printed in com-
bination with a complete catalogue of all the exca-
vated Varna graves. While awaiting this later publi-
cation of the cemetery, we are extremely grateful to
Mihael Budja and his editorial team for the chance
to present and discuss some of our most important
results already here. We chose to focus on the inter-
nal chronological development of the burial site. To
this end, in the following, we describe the two main
chronological components of the Varna cemetery,
namely – first – the archaeological contents and sta-
tistical properties of the correspondence analysis
(CA), and – second – the absolute age-calibration of
the CA, which is now based on a large number of ra-
diocarbon dates (filtered: N = 38; unfiltered: N = 78).
All other aspects, such as the role of gender and age,
social inequality as well as kinship, have been dealt
with previously. Hence, in the present context, these
facts will be considered to some limited extent only.
The focus here is on aspects which we consider rele-
vant to the chronology of the burial ground.
Overview of the approach taken
In brief, our approach will be as follows. By includ-
ing the graves of the Varna II cemetery in the CA-
analysis of Varna I, we create clear evidence for the
chronological validity of the CA. With the application
of social network analysis (SNA), we undertake stu-
dies that are focused on unravelling the strongly co-
herent network between the graves, a circumstance
that demonstrates the profound community charac-
ter of the Varna cemetery. The SNA is of particular
use in understanding the unique position of Grave
43 on the CA-curve. Essentially, its position is due to
the many close connections with the similarly fur-
nished Graves 1, 3, 4, 15, and 97, all of which date
to the younger end of the CA. In parallel to some
few conservative elements that are operating next
to the generally high degree of connection, Grave 43
displays a broad cross-section of the grave goods
found in funerary rituals. The specific proximity of
Grave 43 to certain older graves is most likely social-
1 R. Krauß, J. Abele, D. Kirschenheuter, C. Schmid and B. Weninger. Statistische Auswertung und interne Chronologie der kupfer-
zeitlichen Bestattungen aus Varna I. Submitted in September 2016.

Raiko Krauß, Clemens Schmid, David Kirschenheuter, Jonas Abele, Vladimir Slavchev and Bernhard Weninger
284
(Mannheim) has developed a new typology of the
gold objects based on the existing classification un-
dertaken by Henrieta Todorova and Ivan Vajsov
(2001). For the stone tools and weapons, as well as
for the ceramic vessels, we developed our own clas-
sification. Based on all the available information, as
presently stored within the master-database, but
which is even now being extended to enable step-
wise publication of successive Varna volumes, a wide
range of studies has been possible from fields such
as artefact description, bi- and multivariate analysis
of the find contexts; definition, visualisation and
mapping of the different cemetery phases etc. In the
present article, we put focus on the results of CA and
SNA, and their implications for the relative chrono-
logy of the cemetery. We also note that, although an
earlier published CA of all graves and attributes dis-
played a rather indifferent statistical distribution of
the graves and their inventories (Krauß et al. 2014),
in the meantime we recognised that a determined
and systematical data reduction (both in terms of
graves and variables) allowed us to significantly en-
hance both the archaeological comprehensibility of
the seriation, as well as the achieved temporal reso-
lution. Before continuing, we comment briefly on
some of the underlying (general) properties of the
Varna cemetery as seen from the perspective of the
present master-database.
One of the main factors influencing the database is
the highly unequal distribution of the objects among
the graves. For example, when examining only gold
objects, already one third of all finds originate from
the particularly richly furnished Grave 43, and a
further third are divided between the rich symbolic
graves and deposits 1, 4, 36, 41, and 63a. In addition
to the gold objects, stone beads and jewellery made
from mussel and snail shells are also extremely un-
evenly distributed among the graves. What compli-
cates matters, if only from the chronological perspe-
ctive, is that such differences in furnishing primari-
ly reflect social aspects, whereby such ritual prac-
tices contribute little to the targeted chronological
order of the graves. On these grounds, when ap-
proaching the chronological dimension, we found
it useful to work with a carefully binarised data set,
which uses only presence-absence relationships. Note
that this applies only to the multivariate statistical
analyses, not to the contents of the master database
itself. With this approach, but as we learnt only after
many experiments, even applying a limited amount
of data filtering was sufficient to achieve the target-
ed ‘ideal’ shape for the CA, in which the factor-scores
for the database-rows (graves, symbolic burials, de-
posits) and for the columns (attributes) are arranged
along a parabola-shaped regression curve (Fig. 1 and
Tab. 1). During the experiments that finally led us
to establish this (altogether quite satisfactory) result,
filtering was executed manually by implementing
archaeological considerations with respect to the sig-
nificance of the individual grave goods under study
2
.
Looking critically at the achieved CA, we note that
the applied manual optimisation method of ‘selec-
tive sampling without later replacement’ may have
introduced some unrequested bias (towards certain
grave goods, and away from others), but which was
unavoidable due to the huge amount of possible per-
mutations. In this respect, the CA results may be im-
proved in the future by applying some kind of auto-
mated outlier analysis. For the moment, we are sati-
sfied that the CA achieved thus far is a step forward in
comparison to our initial seriation attempts (Krauß
et al. 2014).
The next (immediately following) question is now,
of course, which end of the CA represents the earli-
est burials and which are the latest? Assuredly, the
wrong way to answer this question is to look at the
available 
14
C-dates, but this may not be immediate-
ly obvious to all readers. We will return to this ques-
tion below. As a perhaps more viable alternative, we
have applied an easy-to-install archaeological me-
thod, which is to include in the CA the three graves
from Varna II, which count as the predecessors of
Varna I (Ivanov 1978), and have a quick look at
which end of factor 1 the corresponding CA-scores
come to lie (Fig. 2). Naturally, the results remain to
be independently confirmed. Most striking are the
numerous grave goods from Grave 3 (Varna II 3),
which, in addition to pottery, contains vessels, stone
tools and an antler pick, various items of jewellery
from various minerals, spondylus, and dentalium, as
well as metal objects, namely a copper armlet, a cop-
per finger ring, and 31 beads of convoluted gold
plate. The pottery vessels from Varna II are clearly
typologically earlier than those from Varna I. A sin-
gle carbon date from a red deer tooth from Grave 1
(Varna II 1) independently confirms this (OxA-X-
2414-52: 5934±33 BP). Within the CA, Graves 1 and
3 from Varna II lie close to each other at the same
end of the curve. On the basis of their inventory,
they can be placed in Phase IV of the Hamangia and
Sava culture. But what does it mean that the two
graves can be included in the CA of Varna I? The link
2 In this way, 59 artefacts and 33 graves were removed from the analysis step by step.

Chronology and development of the Chalcolithic necropolis of Varna I
285
results mainly from the copper and spondylus jew-
ellery, as well as an antler hoe and the stone adzes,
hence grave goods which mostly disappear in the
later phases of Varna I. They do not, however, give
any information about the real age of these finds, but
merely confirm that the CA begins at this end with
the earliest graves. On account of its scanty burial
goods, Grave 2 from Varna II anyway could only be
passively included in the CA, and hence it remains
meaningless regarding questions of chronology. Mo-
Fig. 1. Varna I. CA-results based on the filtered data-subset of graves (N = 177) and artefacts (N = 80),
with 13 
14
C-dated graves added to the initial selection. Main graph: the CA point cloud is approximated
by a parabolic regression curve, with six visually defined phases shown by their borderlines set perpen-
dicular to the parabola. Cross symbols on the curve represent the exact scaling positions of perpendicu-
larly shifted – ‘projected’ – grave points. Lower: a comparison of the two barcode plots (labelled ‘Pro-
jection’ and ‘Factor 1’) illustrates the enhanced phase-separation achieved by projecting grave scores
onto the parabola. Their vertical projection onto Factor 1 is associated with increased phase-overlap. The
small white triangles indicate graves with radiocarbon dates. Top Left: the stacked bar chart displays the
number of graves per phase with and without radiocarbon dates (grey = 
14
C-dated graves; black = un-
dated). The density plot below shows the date distribution along the x-axis obtained via projection (stan-
dard deviation of the smoothing kernel = 0.1).

Raiko Krauß, Clemens Schmid, David Kirschenheuter, Jonas Abele, Vladimir Slavchev and Bernhard Weninger
286
Fig. 2. Varna I and Varna II. CA based on the filtered data-subset (as in Figure 1 but without the 13 ad-
ditional graves), with two graves from Varna II added in order to identify the older and younger ends
of the CA. The Varna II graves are numbered 1 and 3. Result: knowing that Varna II is older than Var-
na I, the chronological order represented by the CA plot becomes clear.
reover, the sequence obtained for the Varna I ceme-
tery shows a sensible development of the ceramic
vessel shapes (see below). Indeed, in the case of the
specific stands and profiled pots, the development
corresponds in detail to that known from tell settle-
ments in the region.
The arrangement of the graves and their inventories
shows a linear succession along the CA, which is
most likely due to the equally linear sequence of the
graves themselves. A bipolar interpretation of the
grave succession, for example male-female, is equal-
ly unlikely and can actually be excluded altogether,
due to the known CA location of many of the anthro-
pologically determined burials. Similarly, the diffe-
rent anthropologically determined age groups are
also spread quite evenly over the CA. Furthermore,
if the CA shape were mainly due to social differ-
ences (e.g., quality or choice of the burial goods),
then we would expect the observed linear structure
only under the condition that the differences between
the poorest and richest burials were similarly gradu-
ated. In this case, the richest graves would have been
grouped in one part of the CA curve and the poor
ones in an opposite part, with the area in between
showing a tendency from ‘rich’ to ‘poor’. But such
bi-polar distinction is clearly not the case: even if
one end of the CA does indeed show some exceptio-
nally rich tombs, especially many symbolic tombs,
the rich graves occur in all sections of the CA, and
the poorer graves are also spread relatively evenly
over the curve. A potential CA-bias due to family re-
lationships is also ruled out, since what we observe
is a continuous spread of the graves and their inven-

Chronology and development of the Chalcolithic necropolis of Varna I
287
tories, and this is unlikely to have been caused by
family structures, at least not over the entire course
of the CA. On the other hand, given the total dura-
tion of the cemetery of some 250 years, as already
indicated by the 
14
C-dates prior to any kind of chro-
nological conditioning, it would be anachronistic to
assume no internal development of funeral rituals
or grave artefacts. It is precisely this long develop-
ment that can be perceived as representing a linear
trend and which, in addition, shows neither a deci-
sive interruption, nor any other kind of discontinuity
for that matter. Of course, it is to be expected that
existing kinship and other social relations are some-
where reflected in the CA. These relations alone,
however, are not sufficient to substantiate the speci-
fic position of any of the graves within the CA. The
grave position is instead due to the wider and much
more elaborate sum of all its relations with all the
other graves (see below), and this total relation will
naturally be much stronger for burials that are clos-
er together in time than those far apart. Taking all
these arguments together, we may finally expect all
existing gender, kinship and other social relations to
merge together and be henceforth visible, although
not separately, and indeed only under statistical con-
ditions; but in combination they represent the most
important CA factor, which is calendric time.
To evaluate the CA curve shape as a chronological
sequence, two different methods are available, which
may also be called different perspectives: one is to
analyse the sequence of individual (one-by-one) find
Fig. 3. Varna I. Topographic map of the Varna cemetery, with graves (labelled by numbers) plotted as
dots that have variable greyscale intensity. The grey-scale intensity is digitally calibrated (see inlay) from
‘old’ (light grey) to ‘young’ (dark black) according the rank order of each specific grave on the CA para-
bola (shown in Figure 1). Bottom Right: the small map shows the position of the center points by CA-phase,
whereas the center is calculated as the median of the coordinate values and the whiskers display the in-
terquartile range.

Raiko Krauß, Clemens Schmid, David Kirschenheuter, Jonas Abele, Vladimir Slavchev and Bernhard Weninger
288
contexts according to their position on CA factor 1;
the other is to define a number of discrete sections
on the parabola into which the find contexts can
then be grouped. This second method is better suit-
ed to describing the overall development of forms
within the burial ground, since the subdivision of
the parabola into discrete sections enables a compa-
rison of conceived phases. In addition, it is easier to
visualise existing gaps and discontinuities between
the (2-D) grave clusters on the CA-parabola itself,
not by their (1-D) projection onto factor 1. In com-
parison, any existing differences in rank order are
better visualised in (1-D) barcode plots. We show
the existence of major differences between the two
methods in Figure 1, where the upper barcode graph
(named ‘Projection’) presents the clearly discrete CA
clusters as they appear in their arrangement along
the parabola, while the lower barcode graph (named
‘Factor 1’) displays only their partly overlapping or-
der according to the factor 1 projection (Tab. 1). Fi-
nally, in order to describe the beginning, middle, and
end of any chronological development, it may seem
natural simply to choose the corresponding tripartite
division. Instead, we decided upon a division into six
phases, whereby it is possible to uniquely identify
graves which are transitional between the three
parts and to achieve a higher resolution for further
observations. Based on the radiocarbon analysis, to
be described below, we may assume a total duration
of Varna I in the order of 250 years, so the average
phase duration amounts to 42 years. Although the
respective CA positions and lengths of the six phases
proposed here follow to some extent naturally from
the course of the CA parabola, due to given varia-
tions in the density and clustering properties of the
CA, the chosen six-fold subdivision nevertheless re-
sults in a somewhat uneven distribution of the graves
in terms of their targeted uniform assignation to the
beginning, middle and end of the cemetery. This
could indeed reflect the actual chronological dyna-
mics of the burial sequence. As shown in the bar chart
in the upper left of Figure 1, the number of graves
assigned to each of the six phases varies between 14
and 44.
Topographic development of the graves and
burial rites
As a result of the chronological arrangement of the
graves that is now available thanks to the CA appli-
cation, we are immediately provided with some very
welcome insights into the topographic (on-site) de-
velopment of the burial sequence. As can be taken
from Figure 3, the burials show a clear tendency to
spread over time from the northwest to the south-
east parts of the cemetery, in other words from high-
er to lower ground, and always in towards the bank
of Lake Varna. This general trend can also be seen in
the sequence of the CA phases’ geographic centers
(bottom right of Figure 3), which leads us to the
interpretation that the first burials were situated in
the northwest. Then, during the extensive use of the
burial ground, the burials spread widely over the
entire space, but mainly in direction of the Lake.
This is most evident in the large whiskers of phases
3–5 in Figure 3. At the end period of the necropolis,
Fig. 4. Varna I. 1 Flat-pressed clay head of an anthropomorphic half life-size figurine from Grave 2. 2
Analogy of such a clay head from Lake Varna at Ezerovo-Arsenala (from Slav≠ev et al. 2016.Figs. 8, 14).

Chronology and development of the Chalcolithic necropolis of Varna I
289
a line of very richly furnished symbolic graves and
deposits appears that are most clearly distinguish-
able in the southwest part of the cemetery, and
which simultaneously characterise the end of its oc-
cupation. Beyond this, as with the centre of the ce-
metery, there is a slight scattering of graves with no
clear topographic tendency. Furthermore, for a num-
ber of burials in both the northern area and south-
ern part, no exact sequence from young to old (or
vice versa) can be discerned. This topographic struc-
ture of the cemetery would have been even more
pronounced if we had included in the phase mapping
the many graves which were removed from the CA
as outliers due to their scanty burial goods.
These specific inventories were deposited in the
ground in a number of rituals over a possibly longer
time span, but in each case – due to their quite un-
usual quality – we can clearly identify the demarca-
tion line between the living and the dead. The three
symbolic Graves, 2, 3 and 15, each contain depictions
of a human head. These depositions mark a promi-
nent section along the line of graves, which itself ap-
pears to represent an entrance to the burial ground.
As shown by computer tomography (Slavchev et al.
2016), there is no evidence for ‘mask graves’ (as was
previously assumed). What we instead see in these
graves are round plastic figures crushed by the pres-
sure of earth (Fig. 4.1). A parallel might be found in
the head that was salvaged from the dredging of
Lake Varna at Ezerovo-Arsenala (Fig. 4.2). What we
can now safely reconstruct as a component of the
Varna Group is the existence of roughly half life-size
figures with clay heads, which were deposited in this
section precisely when this burial site fell into disuse.
When one examines the development of grave types
within the six phases, a tendency is evident which,
despite the meagreness of only 122 identified graves
in the CA, harmonises very well with the general hi-
storical development of burial customs in the KGK VI
Complex, and in particular within the so-called Var-
na group (cf. Lichter 2001.129–132). At the begin-
ning of the graveyard, crouched burials outnumber
supine burials at a ratio of two-to-one, and there are
very few symbolic burials (Fig. 5). But already by the
second phase, supine burials very clearly dominate,
while the rate of crouched burials consistently and
continually declines throughout the development of
the burial ground. This picture becomes more intel-
ligible with recourse to the burial ground at Duran-
kulak, the advent of which is primarily dominated
by supine burials which are seen as a borrowing
from the earlier traditions of the Hamangia Culture
(Todorova 2002.41–46). In Varna I, it seems that,
following an early phase with roughly only a third
of burials supine, by the second phase this burial
custom becomes generally established. In contrast,
the crouched position, with the face turned to the
right, is pushed back. An increase in symbolic graves
is even more significantly displayed in the statistics
of the burial customs. In combination, these tenden-
cies provide reasons to conclude that parallel with
the development of the site into an area for promi-
Fig. 5. Varna I. Development of burial rites during cemetery phases 1–6.

Raiko Krauß, Clemens Schmid, David Kirschenheuter, Jonas Abele, Vladimir Slavchev and Bernhard Weninger
290
nent burials, the rituals occurring around the buri-
als also gained strongly in importance.
Especially instructive for the chronological validity
of the CA are the copper tools. The first heavy cop-
per tool to appear is the hammer axe of the Plo≠nik
type, which goes on to endure throughout all phases
thereafter. Tellingly, this is one of the typologically
oldest forms, since it has a large body reminiscent of
its stone predecessors (cf. Vulpe 1975.20; Govedari-
ca 2001.153; Diaconescu 2014). Thereafter in the
CA, and more or less consecutively, the various awls,
the hammer axes of the Devnja A and Varna types,
and then the hammer axes of the Vidra B, Devnja B
and Vidra A types appear (Fig. 6). The end of the se-
quence is also well established in terms of the cop-
per tools, namely by the occurrence of a hammer
axe of Vidra C type and chisels of the Varna A and
B variants. In total, the typological spectrum of cop-
per tools and weapons becomes increasingly diverse
and technically refined. Starting with modest awls
and simple axes (Figs. 7–10), the development in the
burial ground of Varna I becomes ever more com-
plex, until even partially hybrid forms of weapons
and tools become tangible (Figs. 11–12). At the end
of this process, in symbolic Grave 4, we find a ele-
gantly curved axe along with a singular pickaxe (Fig.
12.82), as a metallic realisation of an antler pick
(Krauß et al. 2014.383, Fig. 10).
The substitution of stone weapons and tools with
copper examples can also be seen in the flint arte-
facts. Generally, the proportion of flint tools declines
over the course of the development of Varna I, with
the interesting exception of so-called superblades
(Manolakakis 2005.273–275; Gurova 2013.387–
Fig. 6. Varna I. CA based on the filtered data subset (as in Figure 1 but without the 13 additional graves),
showing the different artefact types grouped according to mutually exclusive categories. Some artefact
types explicitly mentioned in the text are labelled.

Chronology and development of the Chalcolithic necropolis of Varna I
291
388), but to which we must ascribe some very diffe-
rent functions and meanings: not only do their num-
bers increase over the course of the development,
but superblades are often associated with gold jewel-
lery and heavy copper tools. Focusing on the poli-
shed stone tools, it is the adzes originating from the
Neolithic tradition which dominate at the beginning.
From the middle of the development until its end,
what we observe as characteristic are the many fine-
ly shaped stone axes, some of which are so delicately
worked that it might be surmised they are the sym-
bolic realisations of copper axes.
Also illuminating is the development of items of je-
wellery made of gold, copper, dentalium and spon-
dylus. At the beginning of the CA, objects fashioned
from spondylus and jewellery created from copper
predominate. More interesting, however, is the fact
that, with the first appearance of gold objects, cop-
per is used increasingly for tools, but no longer for
jewellery (Figs. 7–12). Here, a development may be
traced which begins with natural materials (spondy-
lus, stone, antler) and further continues with copper
as a raw material, before copper itself is replaced by
gold in metal jewellery. Copper jewellery occurs only
in the early phases, 1 to 3, and thereafter disappears
almost entirely. The only copper adornments from
the later phases which still appear are pins with rol-
led-up heads, and double-spiral-headed pins. Intere-
stingly, and quite unlike other copper jewellery, these
pins are always associated with gold. They call to
mind some double-spiral-headed pins deriving from
burnt houses in Pietrele in trenches B and F (Han-
sen et al. 2009.56–60). The relevant contexts are da-
ted to 4430–4280 cal BC and 4410–4260 cal BC, re-
spectively (Hansen et al. 2010.Fig. 2). As will be
shown below, both these dates correspond to the
end of the CA, in which the double-spiral-head pins
also occur in Varna I.
From a chronological perspective, the most convin-
cing development which reveals itself in the CA is
that of ceramics, which corresponds entirely (cum
grano salis) with the stratigraphic sequences known
from the tell settlements of the KGK VI Complex
3
.
This having been stated, we can focus on some dif-
ficulties that are evident in the development of cer-
tain forms that do not appear in the settlements. Pre-
sumably, these ceramic forms were either delibera-
tely (and additionally) produced for funerary use, or
they were restricted solely to the distribution region
of the Varna Group, where they have comparisons
with developments at the burial ground of Duranku-
lak, as well as with the burial group at Varna II. Spe-
cific comparisons are the ceramic stands which ap-
pear in the CA in a development sequence compara-
ble to that of Durankulak (Todorova 2002.86–114).
The four-cornered stands of the early phases of Du-
rankulak (Hamangia IV and Varna Group I) are pre-
sent only at Varna II (Fig. 13). At Varna I, the deve-
lopment begins with such stands, still with very short
Fig. 7. Varna I. Typical equipment of metal tools
and jewellery for the first phase. 1–3 two copper
rings and a copper awl from Grave 51 (§ §, 20–40
years, supine); 4 copper hammer-axe type Plo≠nik
from Grave 116 (§ §, 7–12 years, supine) (1–3 from
Todorova, Vajsov 2001; Todorova 1981; 4 drawing
made by Moni Möck. Anthropological determina-
tion done by Steve Zäuner).
3 For example, at Goljamo Del≠evo V–XVII (Todorova et al. 1975.Taf. 41–108) or Ov≠arovo XI–XIII (Todorova et al. 1983.Taf. 78–88).

Raiko Krauß, Clemens Schmid, David Kirschenheuter, Jonas Abele, Vladimir Slavchev and Bernhard Weninger
292
points on the rim and the routine incised adornment.
From these developed the remaining types over time
with their increasingly swollen bodies and increas-
ingly long points, and finally at the very end, ornate
examples painted in multiple rows with graphite or-
namentation appear. With respect to the vessel in-
ventory from the tell settlements, the Varna vessels,
which clearly stand in a Boian tradition, catch the
eye at the beginning of the development, including
profiled pots, Todorovas ‘Steckdosen’, spherical-bi-
conic pots, and carinated bowls. Thereafter, classic
KGK VI forms follow over the entire development of
Varna I. At the end are found bowls with rolled-up
or flattened rims, scratch adorned, or graphite paint-
ed lids, and fine multi-component pots i.e. the enti-
rety of forms which also occur in the tell settlements
at the end of their development. Regarding the well-
known graphite painting, in general terms this ele-
ment can be regarded as a constant at Varna I. Al-
ready with the Karanovo V chronological phase (Ma-
rica Culture), this painting technique was established
throughout the entire eastern Balkan region. As in
the case of the burial ground at Varna I, it appears
we record only a section in the middle of the deve-
lopment of graphite painting, and which might simi-
larly be evidenced in many vessels of the so-called
Transitional Phase from the Copper to Early Bronze
Age.
Network analysis
The analytical potential of SNA based on archaeolo-
gical data has been repeatedly demonstrated (cf. Sos-
na et al. 2012; Collar et al. 2015) and therefore re-
quires only minimal introduction. Based on the stati-
stical analysis of relationships between different ac-
tors, the fundamental concept of SNA is to reveal the
underlying socio-structural aspects and social pat-
terns. Applied to the Varna I dataset, the find con-
texts can be understood as actors, which in the net-
work analysis are represented as nodes, through
Fig. 8 . Varna I. Typical metal objects for the sec-
ond phase. 1–3 three copper rings from Grave 60
(20–40 years, crouched right); 4 copper hammer-
axe type Devnja from Grave 229a (anthropologi-
cally indeterminable) (1, 2, 4 drawings made by
Moni Möck; 3 from Todorova, Vajsov 2001. Anthro-
pological determination done by Steve Zäuner).
Fig. 9. Varna I. Typical metal objects for the third
phase. 1–2 two copper arm-rings from Grave 126
(§ §, 20+ years, supine); 3–4 copper hammer-axe
type Plo≠nik and copper awl from Grave 143 (§ §,
30–40 years, supine) (drawings made by Moni
Möck. Anthropological determination done by
Steve Zäuner.

Chronology and development of the Chalcolithic necropolis of Varna I
293
which the different grave goods (or other characte-
ristics in the grave furnishing) are inter-related (Ser-
dült 2002.127). The further analytical premise is
that, not only does the exclusivity of individual grave
goods or the diversity of grave good inventories de-
pict important social markers, but also that some
meaning may be assigned to the individual relation-
ships. Grave 43, for example, evidences a quite un-
usually large number of connections to other graves,
many of which are dispersed over the entire area
(Fig. 14). It is hardly surprising, then, that this grave
is also closely connected to the immediately neigh-
bouring symbolic Graves 1, 2, 3, 4, and 15. The clos-
est connection, however, is to feature 97, which is
spatially located in the western area of the burial
ground. What SNA also uncovers is a particular pro-
ximity between Grave 43 and the features 283 and
290 in the north-eastern part of the graveyard.
The application of SNA now allows us to further un-
ravel the complex reasons why Grave 43 takes on its
specific position on the CA curve. Essentially, the po-
sition of Grave 43 is due to its many close connec-
tions with the similar furnishing characteristics of
Graves 1, 3, 4, 15, and 97, all of which date to the
younger end of the CA. Nevertheless, there are a
small number of features in Grave 43 which are also
characteristic of the beginning of the CA. Through
these few conservative elements, if only next to the
generally high degree of connection, Grave 43 dis-
plays a relatively broad cross-section of the grave
goods that are found in the funerary rituals. This is
a specific property that Grave 43 has in common
with the large majority of over-furnished graves.
With the application of SNA, not only does the mark-
ed interconnection of Grave 43 within the complete
relationship network of the Varna cemetery funerary
rituals become clearer, but this presumably partly
also explains why Chapman et al. developed a 
14
C-
based chronology for the Varna cemetery which runs
backwards in time (Chapman et al. 2006; Higham
et al. 2007; 2008). An additional explanation for this
major dating bias may also be due to the indepen-
dent but chance combination of two major distort-
ing effects: (1) an unduly smoothed construction of
the calibration curve for ages around 4380 cal BC,
and (2) the human ‘old-age’ 
14
C-residence effect for
Grave 43 itself (see below).
Modelling of the radiocarbon dates
In order to establish a CA-based 
14
C-chronology for
the Varna I cemetery, we have at our disposal a total
of 74 radiocarbon ages for archaeological contexts
Fig. 10. Varna I. Typical metal objects for the fourth
phase. 1–4 two gold rings, a copper awl and a ham-
mer-axe type ∞oka-Varna from Grave 6 (§ § ?, 30–35
years, supine); 5–6 copper awl and hammer-axe
type Vidra B from Grave 92 (§ §, 50+ years, supine)
(1–2 drawings made by Moni Möck; 3–6 from To-
dorova 1981. Anthropological determination done
by Yordan Yordanov (Grave 6) and Steve Zäuner
(Grave 92)).

Raiko Krauß, Clemens Schmid, David Kirschenheuter, Jonas Abele, Vladimir Slavchev and Bernhard Weninger
294
from the Copper Age (Mathieson
et al. 2017; Krauß et al. 2014.
Tab. 2; Higham et al. 2017.Tab.
1; in print) (Tab. 2). Two additio-
nal dates (Poz-71453; OxA-19872)
belong to Bronze Age burials at
the site. Another two dates (MAMS-
15093; MAMS-15094) were pro-
cessed on dentalium shells from
symbolic graves, but are not fur-
ther analysed here due to their
clear reservoir effects. In the follo-
wing, we describe the chronologi-
cal results achieved by applying
the ‘Gaussian Monte Carlo Wig-
gle Matching’ (GMCWM) method,
which is integrated in the 
14
C-age
calibration software CalPal (Colo-
gne Radiocarbon Calibration and
Palaeoclimate Research Package).
The present analysis is based on
the internationally recommended
14
C-age calibration curve INTCAL
13 (Reimer et al. 2013). Follow-
ing the often lengthy GMCWM
run-times, which typically require
some 6–10 hours, the final quality control is per-
formed by visual inspection of the calculated ‘best-
fit’ position of the Varna data sequence, in compari-
son – not with the calibration curve itself – but with
the raw data of the 
14
C-AMS laboratories that parti-
cipated in the construction of INTCAL13. We regu-
larly use this procedure, since it helps in recognising
the potentially disturbing impact of remaining weak-
nesses in the shape of the calibration curve due to
variations in data density, for example, or other kinds
of statistical unevenness (e.g., over-smoothing of wig-
gles).
The applied GaussWM procedure is based on an ex-
tension of the now classical wiggle-matching method
(Pearson 1986), whereby the archaeological sample
sequence is fitted to the calibration curve by mini-
mising the summed distances between the 
14
C-ages,
as measured on the samples, and corresponding va-
lues of the calibration curve, as measured on dendro-
dated wood samples of potentially the same calendar
age. In the present application, the archaeological se-
quence is based on a uniform-phase model such that,
depending on which grave was dated, the correspon-
ding 
14
C-age is assigned to one of the six different
CA-phases. In modelling, each phase is then assigned
an equal calendric time-span, whereby the phase-in-
ternal position of each 
14
C-age is chosen according
to the CA-order (rank along the regression curve).
During run-time, the time-span assigned to each
phase is stepwise expanded; this is aimed at finding
the statistically best-fitting overall time-span. Finally,
also during run-time, we quantitatively account for
cal-scale errors (σ
cal
) in the CA-position of each dated
grave, as well as for possible interlaboratory offsets
(σ
BP
) on the 
14
C-scale, by applying Gaussian variabi-
lity of σ
cal
= ± 10 [a] and σ
BP
= ± 10 [BP] to these
parameters. The hypothetical re-measurement of
each archaeological 
14
C-age is allowed by applying
Gaussian variability to the measured 
14
C-ages based
on given standard deviations.
Notably, in this study we have for the first time ap-
plied a data-fitting method known as ‘non-central
Chi-squared’ data fitting, which is described in more
detail in the Rogue Wave® Fortran Numerical Libra-
ries (IMSL® Version 6). To be specific, in program-
ming the χ
2
-methodology, we use the IMSL® CSNDF
library with a (typical) choice of non-centrality va-
riable λ = 5. The use of non-central χ
2
-statistics has
proven useful not only for the Varna data, but quite
generally for cases when the statistical relation be-
tween the 
14
C-age calibration curve and the topolo-
gical structure of the archaeological data is ‘asym-
metric’. This is best exemplified in the present study
by the clearly artificial position of the 
14
C-age on the
Fig. 11. Varna I. Typical metal objects for the fifth phase: two golden
arm rings, a jewellery chain with a ring idol, a golden appliqué and
another golden ring idol, a copper awl, spearhead and hammer-axes
of type Vidra B and type Varna from symbolic Grave 97 (1–5 from To-
dorova, Vajsov 2001; 6–9 from Todorova 1981).

Chronology and development of the Chalcolithic necropolis of Varna I
295
Fig. 12. Varna I. Typical metal objects for the sixth phase: gold applications, jewellery chains of gold
beads, gold rings, golden arm rings, gold clasps of a bow, a stone axe sceptre with gilded shaft, two cop-
per adzes, a shafted copper spike, a copper pick and a hammer-axe type Vidra B from symbolic Grave 4
(1–78 from Todorova, Vajsov 2001; 79–84 from Todorova 1981).

elderly man (age > 60 yrs) from Grave
43 at a 
14
C-value (
~
5700 BP) that is so
high above the (presumably) itself strong-
ly over-smoothed calibration curve that it
may even appear to be a major outlier
(cf. Fig. 15). In our view, such a large 
14
C-
offset for the burial in Grave 43 can be
satisfactorily explained only if we assume
an additive combination of (1) the exis-
tence of a presently undocumented wig-
gle in the tree-ring 
14
C-age calibration
curve at around 4380 ± 20 cal BC, and
(2) an additional offset of some 30–50 BP
for the senior citizen in Grave 43 due to
the human 
14
C-residence (‘adult’) effect
(e.g., Geyh 2001; Hedges et al. 2007).
Conspicuously, as can be taken from Fi-
gure 15, essentially two different (alter-
native) solutions exist for the task of de-
riving a statistically ‘optimal’ model-chro-
nology for the CA-seriated Varna I data,
which we describe as a ‘long’ (primary)
and a ‘shorter/older’ (secondary) chrono-
logy. Ultimately, the existence of such
multiple solutions to the task of finding a
statistically ‘optimal’ wiggle-matching re-
sult, although seldom discussed in the re-
levant literature, is not at all unexpected.
It is simply a consequence, for larger data
sets, analogous to the well-known exis-
tence of multiple readings for single 
14
C-
ages. As it transpired, both solutions are
highly robust and producible (as should
be the case for larger data sets). For the
sake of interest in such ‘quantisation pro-
perties’ of archaeological radiocarbon
data, we nevertheless tested the co-exis-
tence of these two solutions under a
wide spectrum of different methods and
conditions (e.g., non-central χ
2
with val-
ues 0<λ<20; different age-models; rando-
mising and non-randomising sample or-
der; systematic offsets between male and
female etc.). Although a fair amount of
unexplained variability exists, as it ap-
pears, both solutions actually do reflect
the characteristic wiggle pattern of the
calibration curve in combination with the
given data. We finally adopted what can
be termed the ‘long’ Varna I chronology
(Fig. 16), for which the analysis most of-
ten showed the better statistical values in
respect to the two parameters under study
Raiko Krauß, Clemens Schmid, David Kirschenheuter, Jonas Abele, Vladimir Slavchev and Bernhard Weninger
296
Fig.13. Varna I, Varna II and Durankulak. Comparison of the
sequence for ceramic stands and profiled pots. The develop-
ment of forms is based on a spindle diagram of all pottery
types in Varna I. The absolute timeline (4300–4800 cal BC) of
the pottery development is scaled according to the CA-based
14
C-chronology, with shading details (4340–4600 cal BC) based
on the precisely (± 20 yrs) determined time intervals for Var-
na phases 1–6 (see Figs. 1; 16).

Chronology and development of the Chalcolithic necropolis of Varna I
297
serves repeating with different wording, namely:
with the achieved age-calibration of the CA-scale, it
is now possible to derive a calendric date for any re-
quested grave (assuming it contains a certain mini-
mal number of grave-goods), simply by looking up
its CA position. If we now also generalise our under-
standing of the previously obtained age reversal,
whereby a development from rich graves to poorer
burials was postulated (Higham et al. 2007), this is
apparently due to the lack of numeric (metric) ar-
chaeological information in age-model construction.
Whatever the true explanation, this chronology
strongly opposes the cultural-historical reality. Only
through the applied metric-scaled grave order (used
in GMCWM) in contrast to the ordinal-scaled grave
order (applied in Bayesian Sequencing), but even
then only by applying additional cemetery-external
dating knowledge to the CA-results, was it possible
to identify the graves belonging to the beginning
and end of the necropolis. This order is presumably
confirmed by a new series of 
14
C-dates with Lab-Co-
des OxA-23611 to OxA-23626, but which we could
not yet include in the analysis.
(probability and precision). The specific advantage
of using the non-central χ
2
-method (with, for exam-
ple, λ = 5) was that, although the results were sim-
ilar to those achieved by the standard χ
2
-method (i.
e. λ = 0), the run-time necessary to achieve clearly
convergent results was an order of magnitude short-
er (1 hour instead of 8). Also noteworthy is that the
chronological results are completely robust with re-
spect to any chance random permutation of the es-
tablished grave order, and also robust regarding the
definition of what may or may not be extreme val-
ues. We also used random shuffle algorithms to
check that the chronological boundaries of the dif-
ferent CA-phases (1–6) change only insignificantly
when moving data between neighbouring phases.
Our main result, shown in Figure 16, is not only that
the cemetery begins at 4590 cal BC and ends at 4340
cal BC. In addition, by combining the radiocarbon
ages with the results of correspondence analysis, we
achieved a reasonably precise chronology (decadel-
scale errors) for each grave in the CA, whether it is
directly 
14
C-dated or not. This is important, and de-
Fig. 14. Varna I. Results of Social Network Analysis (SNA) mapped onto the CA plot (cf. Fig. 1). The graph
shows the attributes of grave 43 scaled both according to their chronological development in the CA as
well as in relation to the other graves. Node-degree (colour-intensity-scaled) describes the total number of
features that are shared by grave 43 and every other (labelled) grave. Edge-weight (line-width-scaled)
reflects features common to two graves.

Raiko Krauß, Clemens Schmid, David Kirschenheuter, Jonas Abele, Vladimir Slavchev and Bernhard Weninger
298
Fig. 15. Varna I. Three graphs that illustrate the existence of essentially two different solutions for the
chronological sequence of Varna I 
14
C-ages.
GaussWM-Methodology: during run-time (typically 6–8 hrs), the 6-phase Varna age-model is stepwise
linearly expanded, whereby for each step the best-fitting overall length of the sample sequence is calcu-
lated and stored. Typically, the expansion is run some 1–500 times (’repetitions’); in each case, the com-
plete expansion is subdivided into 1–100 steps, and at each step the entire age-model is varied some 100–
10 000 times.
Upper Graph: following (in this case) some 600 000 re-modelling calculations (10 000 iterations*60
steps), two graphs are produced, one of which shows the (accumulated) probability as a function of the
incremental expansion. The other shows the accumulated precision of best-fitting calendric ages (defined
as 68%-width of the corresponding histogram). Middle Graph: when all runs are completed, an optimi-
sation factor = probability/precision is defined, which represents (simultaneously) the maximum in pro-
bability and minimum in precision. The bimodal shape of Factor F, which can also be seen independently
in probability and precision (cf. Upper Graph), is highly indicative of the existence of two quite distinct
‘optimal’ solutions (named Primary and Secondary). Both solutions have relatively high maximum Chi-
squared probabilities (typically 5–10%, depending on model details), but the Primary solution has the
typically higher probability. Lower Graph: schematic comparison of the Primary (P) and Secondary (S)
age-models, showing that – in addition to its typically higher probability – the P-model (4345–4590 cal
BC) completely encompasses the S-model (4400–4520 cal BC).

Chronology and development of the Chalcolithic necropolis of Varna I
299
To conclude, the derived time of around 250 years
for the Varna I cemetery, when now compared with
the overall sum of 270 (currently known) burials,
provides us with a number of guidelines as to the
role of the burial ground in the wider context of the
KGK VI Complex. Even allowing for remaining un-
excavated areas of the burial site, the annual fre-
quency (
~
1 per year) of presently documented bu-
rials is clearly far too low, even if we assumed just
a single settlement. To the same question, further-
more, the proportion of burials in comparison with
the large number of symbolic burials indicates that
a variety of individuals was buried at Varna I, quite
possibly from different settlements. The striking im-
portance of the northern littoral of Lake Varna for
contemporary Chalcolithic societies is already eluci-
dated in the existence of the Varna II burial group,
and this is, of course, further demonstrated by the
exceptional richness of Varna I. Also remarkable,
however, is the appearance of the symbolic graves
on the south-eastern edge of the burial ground,
through which the site was finally sacralised. Never-
theless, the search for a settlement that corresponds
to the necropolis on grounds of the demographic
data and now largely clarified chronological depth
may be less expedient than perhaps anticipated. Ra-
ther, we should perceive Varna I as a prominent bur-
ial site within a larger settlement area of the KGK VI
Complex, and which certainly encompasses the
known tell settlements in the hinterland of the west-
ern Black Sea Coast.
Fig. 16. Varna I. Radiocarbon chronology based on 38 
14
C-dated graves (Tab. 1) analysed by the method
of GMCWM. This graph shows the best-fitting sequence of 
14
C-ages when modelled according to the CA-
results, both in comparison to the INTCAL 13-curve (Reimer et al. 2013) and the raw data used in INT-
CAL13-construction. For the given time-window (4200–5000 cal BC) INTCAL13 is based on measurements
by the laboratories Belfast, Heidelberg and Seattle (data available at http://www.radiocarbon.org/Int
Cal13.htm).

Raiko Krauß, Clemens Schmid, David Kirschenheuter, Jonas Abele, Vladimir Slavchev and Bernhard Weninger
300
References
Chapman J., Higham T., Slav≠ev V., Gaydarska B. and
Honch N. 2006. The Social Context of the Emergence, De-
velopment and Abandonment of the Varna Cemetery, Bul-
garia. European Journal of Archaeology 9: 159–183.
Diaconescu D. 2014. New remarks about the typology and
the chronology of the Plo≠nik and ∞oka copper hammer-
axes. In W. Schier, F. Drasovean (eds.), The Neolithic and
Eneolithic in Southeast Europe. New Approaches to
Dating and Cultural Dynamics in the 6
th
to 4
th
Millen-
nium BC. Prähistorische Archäologie in Südosteuropa 28.
Rahden: 221–241.
Dimitrov K. 2002. Die Metallfunde aus den Gräberfeldern
von Durankulak. In H. Todorova (ed.), Durankulak Band
II. Die prähistorischen Gräberfelder von Durankulak 2.
Sofija: 126–158.
Collar A., Coward F. S., Brughmans T. and Mills B. J. 2015.
Networks in archaeology. Phenomena, abstraction, repre-
sentation. Journal of archaeological method and theory
22: 1–32.
Geyh M. 2001. Bomb Radiocarbon Dating of Animal Tis-
sues and Hair. Radiocarbon 43(2B): 723–730.
Govedarica B. 2001. Zur Typologie und Chronologie der
Hammeräxte vom Typ Plo≠nik. In R. M. Boehmer (ed.),
Lux Orientis. Archäologie zwischen Asien und Europa.
Festschrift für Harald Hauptmann zum 65. Geburtstag.
Internationale Archäologie Studia honoraria 12. Rahden:
153–164.
Gurova M. 2013. Towards the Meaning of Flint Grave
Goods: A case study from Bulgaria. In A. Comsa, C. Bon-
sall and L. Nikolova (eds.), Facets of the past. The chal-
lenge of the Balkan Neo-Eneolithic: Proceedings of the
International Symposium celebrating the 85
th
birth an-
niversary of Eugen Comsa: 6–12 October 2008, Bucha-
rest, Romania. Editura Acedemie Române. Bucharest:
375–393.
Hansen S., Toderas M., Reingruber A., Becker N., Gatsov I.,
Kay M., Nedelcheva P., Prange M., Röpke A. and Wunder-
lich J. 2009. Pietrele. Der kupferzeitliche Siedlungshügel
“Ma ˘gura Gorgana” und sein Umfeld: Bericht über die Aus-
grabungen und geomorphologischen Untersuchungen im
Sommer 2008. Eurasia Antiqua 15: 15–66.
Hansen S., Toderas M., Reingruber A., Gatsov I., Kay M.,
Nedelcheva P., Nowacki D., Röpke A., Wahl J. and Wun-
derlich J. 2010. Pietrele, “Ma ˘gura Gorgana”. Bericht über
die Ausgrabungen und geomorphologischen Untersuchun-
gen im Sommer 2009. Eurasia Antiqua 16: 43–96.
Hedges R. E. M., Clement J. G., Thomas C. D. L. and O’Con-
nel T. C. 2007. Collagen Turnover in the Adult Femoral
Mid-Shaft: Modeled From Anthropogenic Radiocarbon Tra-
cer Measurements. American Journal of Physical Anthro-
pology 133: 808–816.
Higham T., Slav≠ev V. and Chapman J. 2007. New perspec-
tives on the Varna cemetery (Bulgaria), AMS dates and so-
cial implications. Antiquity 81: 640–654.
Higham T., Chapman J., Gaydarska B. and Slav≠ev V. 2008.
The first AMS dates for the Varna cemetery. Acta Musei
Varnaensis VI: 95–114.
Higham T., Slavchev V., Gaydarska B. and Chapman J. in
print. AMS dating of the Late Copper Age Varna cemetery,
Bulgaria. Radiocarbon 59.
Ivanov I. 1978. Rannohalkolitni grobove do grad Varna.
Izvestiya Muzej Varna 14: 81–92.
Krauß R., Zäuner S. and Pernicka E. 2014. Statistical and
Anthropological Analysis of the Varna Necropolis. In R.
Risch, H. Meller and E. Pernicka (eds.), Metalle der Macht
– Frühes Gold und Silber. 6. Mitteldeutscher Archäologen-
tag vom 17. bis 19. Oktober 2013 in Halle (Saale). Tagun-
gen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle 11/II.
Halle: 371–387.
Lichter C. 2001. Untersuchungen zu den Bestattungssit-
ten des südosteuropäischen Neolithikums und Chalkoli-
thikums. Univ. Diss. Heidelberg 1999. Monographien/
Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften. Internationa-
le Interakademische Kommission für die Erforschung der
Vorgeschichte des Balkans 5. Zabern. Mainz am Rhein.
Manolakakis L. 2005. Les industries lithiques énéolithi-
ques de Bulgarie. Marie Leidorf. Rahden.
Mathieson I. and 111 co-authors. 2017. The Genomic Hi-
story of Southeastern Europe.  BioRxiv.  doi.org/10.1101/
135616.
Reimer P. J. and 29 co-authors. 2013. INTCAL13 and Ma-
rine INTCAL13 Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curves 0–
50,000 years Cal BP. Radiocarbon 55(4): 1869–1887.
Serdült U. 2002. Soziale Netzwerkanalyse. Eine Methode
zur Untersuchung von Beziehungen zwischen sozialen Ak-
teuren. Österreichische Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft
31: 127–141.
Sosna D., Galeta P., Smejda L., Sladek V. and Bruzek J.
2013. Burials and Graphs. Relational Approach to Mor-

Chronology and development of the Chalcolithic necropolis of Varna I
301
tuary Analysis. Social Science Computer Review 31: 56–
70.
Slavchev V., Dimitrov K. and Etzel M. 2016. Die Komple-
xe 2, 3 und 15 mit Gesichtsdarstellungen aus dem kupfer-
zeitlichen Gräberfeld von Varna. In V. Nikolov, W. Schier
(eds.), Der Schwarzmeerraum vom Neolithikum bis in
die Früheisenzeit (6000–600 v.Chr.): Kulturelle Interfe-
renzen in der zirkumpontischen Zone und Kontakte mit
ihren Nachbargebieten. Prähistorische Archäologie in
Südosteuropa 30: 141–164.
Todorova H. 1981. Die kupferzeitlichen Äxte und Beile
in Bulgarien. Prähistorische Bronzefunde IX(14). Beck’-
sche Verlagsbuchhandlung München. München.
2002. Die archäologische Geschlechtsbestimmung. In
H. Todorova (ed.), Durankulak Band II. Die prähisto-
rischen Gräberfelder von Durankulak 2. Deutsches Ar-
chäologisches Institut in Berlin. Sofia: 53–60.
Todorova H., Vajsov I. 2001. Der kupferzeitliche Schmuck
Bulgariens. Prähistorische Bronzefunde XX.6. Franz Stei-
ner Verlag. Stuttgart.
Todorova H., Ivanov St., Vasilev V., Hopf M., Quitta H. and
Kohl G. 1975. Selishtnata mogila pro Golyamo Delche-
vo. Razkopki I prouchvaniya 5. Bulgarska Akademiya na
Naukite. Sofia.
Todorova H., Vasilev V., Yanushevich Z., Kovacheva M.
and Valev P. 1983. Ovcharovo. Razkopki I prouchvaniya
9. Bulgarska Akademiya na Naukite. Sofia.
Vulpe A. 1975. Die Äxte und Beile in Rumänien. Prähi-
storische Bronzefunde IX(5). Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhand-
lung München. München.

Raiko Krauß, Clemens Schmid, David Kirschenheuter, Jonas Abele, Vladimir Slavchev and Bernhard Weninger
302
Tab. 1. Varna I. Results of CA and rank order analysis of the filtered and enlarged data-subset (cf. Figure
1). The first two result dimensions of the CA are presented in comparison to their ‘projected’ counter-
parts. Each grave is assigned a rank and phase according to its position along the regression curve. The
coordinates are rounded up to four decimal places.
grave factor factor factor 1 factor 2 rank phase
1 2 projection projection
273 –1,9763 –2,2391 –1,8103 –2,2869 177 6
271 –1,8777 –2,0533 –1,7528 –2,0904 176 6
1 –1,6034 –1,6358 –1,6116 –1,6331 175 6
36 –1,5366 –1,2562 –1,4912 –1,2719 174 6
2 –1,4768 –1,1558 –1,4534 –1,1641 173 6
41 –1,1554 –1,0479 –1,3809 –0,9641 172 6
4 –1,3747 –0,8795 –1,3523 –0,888 171 6
3 –1,3485 –0,7108 –1,2923 –0,733 170 6
209 –0,6426 –0,9865 –1,2912 –0,7301 169 6
61 –1,3683 –0,6666 –1,28 –0,7018 168 6
82 –0,7884 –0,8699 –1,2699 –0,6766 167 6
55 –0,7953 –0,7447 –1,2249 –0,5664 166 6
43 –0,7696 –0,7306 –1,2157 –0,5442 165 6
15 –1,2075 –0,3762 –1,1538 –0,3997 164 6
26 –0,9938 –0,2292 –1,0616 –0,1971 163 5
151 –0,0579 –0,6152 –1,0352 –0,1421 162 5
53 –1,0383 –0,1143 –1,0249 –0,1208 161 5
97 –0,6707 –0,2408 –1,0025 –0,0754 160 5
27 –0,9591 –0,0552 –0,9856 –0,0418 159 5
40 –0,738 –0,0192 –0,9222 0,0798 158 5
21 –0,7698 0,0049 –0,9192 0,0854 157 5
231 –0,6273 –0,0432 –0,9063 0,1091 156 5
32 –0,774 0,0866 –0,8847 0,1484 155 5
245 –0,9833 0,224 –0,8761 0,1637 154 5
7 –0,9959 0,2556 –0,8659 0,1817 153 5
66 –0,6697 0,0906 –0,8567 0,1979 152 5
147 –0,617 0,1028 –0,837 0,2317 151 5
5 –0,9236 0,2909 –0,8335 0,2379 150 5
65 –0,8604 0,2721 –0,8255 0,2514 149 5
146 –0,2329 –0,0817 –0,8158 0,2677 148 5
67 –0,6144 0,1829 –0,7989 0,2955 147 5
227 –0,7144 0,2493 –0,7965 0,2995 146 5
226a –0,7629 0,2995 –0,7872 0,3146 145 5
54 –0,7821 0,3442 –0,7725 0,3381 144 5
45 –0,8536 0,3891 –0,7725 0,3382 143 5
167 –0,6139 0,2553 –0,7644 0,3509 142 5
226 –0,6967 0,4046 –0,7195 0,4199 141 5
134 –0,7131 0,5323 –0,6654 0,4981 140 5
283 –0,2398 0,2472 –0,6337 0,5414 139 5
10 –0,7938 0,6799 –0,6253 0,5526 138 5
113 –0,5831 0,6232 –0,5751 0,6167 137 5
39 –0,4264 0,53 –0,5569 0,6388 136 5
50 –1,0132 1,0884 –0,5307 0,6696 135 5
57 –0,2302 0,4118 –0,5288 0,6718 134 5
206 –0,324 0,6894 –0,4177 0,7883 133 4
6 –0,5485 0,9435 –0,4101 0,7954 132 4
109 –0,3992 0,8034 –0,4002 0,8045 131 4
48 –0,1739 0,6825 –0,3201 0,8721 130 4
46 –0,5 1,2247 –0,2773 0,9035 129 4
grave factor factor factor 1 factor 2 rank phase
1 2 projection projection
255 –0,1464 0,7236 –0,2719 0,9072 128 4
230 –0,2384 0,8771 –0,2626 0,9134 127 4
96 –0,2384 0,8771 –0,2626 0,9134 126 4
137 –0,232 0,8702 –0,2613 0,9143 125 4
72 –0,1804 0,848 –0,2323 0,9328 124 4
81 –0,208 0,929 –0,2159 0,9426 123 4
238 –0,2209 0,9922 –0,1988 0,9523 122 4
114 –0,2288 1,0755 –0,1734 0,9657 121 4
28 –0,2194 1,069 –0,1691 0,9679 120 4
83 –0,1368 0,9251 –0,1595 0,9725 119 4
103 –0,3011 1,3058 –0,1494 0,9773 118 4
228 –0,3045 1,3295 –0,1453 0,9792 117 4
205 –0,2587 1,2467 –0,1405 0,9814 116 4
62 –0,2148 1,2526 –0,1124 0,9931 115 4
42 –0,1786 1,1679 –0,1105 0,9939 114 4
18 –0,0591 0,8649 –0,1095 0,9943 113 4
185 –0,1234 1,0432 –0,1053 0,9959 112 4
275 –0,1611 1,283 –0,0723 1,0075 111 4
289 –0,1205 1,2445 –0,0538 1,0132 110 4
279 –0,0823 1,1225 –0,0514 1,0138 109 4
135 –0,0311 0,9691 –0,0438 1,016 108 4
92 –0,1417 1,3806 –0,0434 1,0161 107 4
91 –0,1102 1,6698 0,0059 1,0272 106 4
111 –0,0416 1,4662 0,0234 1,03 105 4
13 –0,0114 1,3641 0,0326 1,0314 104 4
23 –0,0396 1,7697 0,0434 1,0327 103 4
115 0,0391 1,3132 0,0614 1,0344 102 4
284 0,2302 1,8373 0,1564 1,0338 101 3
85 0,2497 1,9647 0,1593 1,0336 100 3
293 0,2277 1,3334 0,1845 1,0305 99 3
126 0,3271 1,5509 0,219 1,0245 98 3
139 0,3746 1,682 0,2282 1,0226 97 3
200 0,3307 1,4643 0,2306 1,022 96 3
286 0,4266 1,7486 0,2439 1,0189 95 3
127 0,4118 1,5953 0,2551 1,016 94 3
197 0,4118 1,5953 0,2551 1,016 93 3
130 0,3943 1,4802 0,2622 1,014 92 3
186 0,3943 1,4802 0,2622 1,014 91 3
256 0,3943 1,4802 0,2622 1,014 90 3
75 0,3943 1,4802 0,2622 1,014 89 3
249 0,2876 1,0955 0,264 1,0135 88 3
232 0,5336 1,909 0,2687 1,0121 87 3
125 0,3768 1,365 0,2709 1,0114 86 3
105 0,6715 1,5269 0,3861 0,965 85 3
214 0,6507 1,3895 0,4099 0,9524 84 3
79 0,6466 1,3072 0,4307 0,9405 83 3
166a 0,3478 0,7877 0,4372 0,9366 82 3
277 0,3837 0,8233 0,4495 0,9291 81 3
204 0,5551 1,0488 0,4685 0,917 80 3

Chronology and development of the Chalcolithic necropolis of Varna I
303
grave factor factor factor 1 factor 2 rank phase
1 2 projection projection
290 0,3956 0,7862 0,4792 0,9098 79 3
261 0,5842 1,033 0,4919 0,9011 78 3
117 0,6078 1,0359 0,5042 0,8924 77 3
14 0,4779 0,847 0,5086 0,8892 76 3
164 0,267 0,5345 0,5271 0,8753 75 3
217 0,8471 1,2578 0,5393 0,8659 74 3
218 0,486 0,7474 0,5665 0,8439 73 3
86 0,6197 0,8256 0,6055 0,8099 72 3
194 0,7542 0,9719 0,6065 0,8091 71 3
243 0,5141 0,617 0,6575 0,7605 70 3
143 0,5034 0,5953 0,6638 0,7541 69 3
265 0,6655 0,7345 0,6745 0,7432 68 3
287 0,4493 0,4906 0,6955 0,7212 67 3
74 0,8232 0,728 0,7477 0,663 66 3
288 0,2507 0,2333 0,7493 0,6612 65 3
215 0,6532 0,5719 0,7528 0,657 64 3
11 0,5065 0,4377 0,7581 0,6507 63 3
168 0,9035 0,7608 0,764 0,6438 62 3
153 0,64 0,5247 0,772 0,6341 61 3
294 0,6546 0,4993 0,7919 0,6098 60 3
112 0,5871 0,4326 0,7987 0,6013 59 3
25 0,8462 0,6088 0,8132 0,583 58 3
183 0,672 0,3522 0,8762 0,4986 57 2
152 0,7966 0,4246 0,8845 0,487 56 2
37 0,9076 0,4997 0,8862 0,4846 55 2
192 1,1188 0,5781 0,9168 0,4405 54 2
222 1,0785 0,4393 0,9656 0,3667 53 2
145 0,913 0,3117 0,9754 0,3514 52 2
133 1,0812 0,4093 0,9795 0,3449 51 2
182 1,1271 0,4187 0,9879 0,3316 50 2
87 1,0668 0,3625 0,996 0,3186 49 2
181 0,916 0,2505 1,0044 0,3049 48 2
252 1,0334 0,1951 1,0605 0,2108 47 2
60 1,1945 0,2541 1,0748 0,1859 46 2
212 1,2653 0,2912 1,0761 0,1835 45 2
68 0,9152 0,0522 1,0939 0,1521 44 2
229 1,0634 0,1156 1,1022 0,1371 43 2
237 1,177 0,139 1,1187 0,1072 42 2
76 1,1729 0,0671 1,1475 0,0536 41 2
257 1,1554 –0,048 1,1909 –0,03 40 2
grave factor factor factor 1 factor 2 rank phase
1 2 projection projection
285 1,1554 –0,048 1,1909 –0,03 39 2
30 1,1554 –0,048 1,1909 –0,03 38 2
78 1,4741 –0,0445 1,2513 –0,152 37 2
259 1,2674 –0,1613 1,2579 –0,1659 36 2
56 1,2784 –0,2288 1,286 –0,2252 35 2
148 1,1545 –0,4819 1,3612 –0,3909 34 1
251 1,4312 –0,4446 1,3919 –0,4615 33 1
159 1,119 –0,6695 1,4256 –0,5412 32 1
150 1,1986 –0,842 1,4996 –0,7228 31 1
157 1,4144 –0,8083 1,5174 –0,768 30 1
162 1,4144 –0,8083 1,5174 –0,768 29 1
220 1,2867 –0,9627 1,5533 –0,861 28 1
155 1,6236 –0,8387 1,5548 –0,8649 27 1
154 1,4664 –0,9563 1,5741 –0,9159 26 1
51 1,7175 –0,8887 1,5828 –0,9391 25 1
58a 1,5128 –1,0254 1,6026 –0,9923 24 1
264 1,4629 –1,0477 1,6038 –0,9957 23 1
276 1,4629 –1,0477 1,6038 –0,9957 22 1
99 1,2739 –1,1571 1,617 –1,0317 21 1
116 1,5452 –1,1364 1,6423 –1,1015 20 1
190 1,4866 –1,407 1,7212 –1,3267 19 1
248 1,7255 –1,3573 1,731 –1,3554 18 1
233 1,7456 –1,4014 1,7465 –1,4011 17 1
129 1,9341 –1,4611 1,783 –1,5108 16 1
171 1,9341 –1,4611 1,783 –1,5108 15 1
195 2,0225 –1,4356 1,7841 –1,5141 14 1
254 1,7706 –1,5371 1,7896 –1,5309 13 1
280 1,7712 –1,6134 1,8122 –1,6002 12 1
131 1,7087 –1,7916 1,8582 –1,7445 11 1
158 1,8249 –1,8519 1,8859 –1,833 10 1
250 2,149 –1,8054 1,901 –1,8817 9 1
95 1,9331 –1,8949 1,9074 –1,9028 8 1
202 1,9331 –1,8949 1,9074 –1,9028 7 1
219 1,9331 –1,8949 1,9074 –1,9028 6 1
174 1,5799 –2,1162 1,9394 –2,0079 5 1
179 1,9451 –2,2518 2,0063 –2,234 4 1
208 1,9231 –2,3158 2,0217 –2,2874 3 1
196 1,8816 –2,4001 2,041 –2,3546 2 1
84 2,0825 –2,7792 2,1534 –2,76 1 1

Raiko Krauß, Clemens Schmid, David Kirschenheuter, Jonas Abele, Vladimir Slavchev and Bernhard Weninger
304
Tab. 2. AMS dated graves of the Varna I necropolis. For the δ δ
13
C values, see the original publications. The
truth-values given in columns 2 and 7 (‘heading’) indicate whether (T), or not (F), the respective graves
are part of the CA and the radiocarbon model. Sex and age determinations were made by Steve Zäuner
(Tübingen); burial postures were taken from the catalogue of individual graves made by Ivan Ivanov and
revisited by Vladimir Slavchev. Symbols ™ ™ and § § are given for certain, (™ ™) and (§ §) for most likely and
((™ ™)) and ((§ §)) unsure sex determination. For multiple data used for modelling are given the weighted
averages (μ μ) and Chi-Square Probability Test-Values (p).
Grave CA LabCode
14C-Age
Material Burial Type
Radiocarbon
Ref
∂BP] Model
10 T OxA-13687 5569±32 bone human sex & age unclear, crouched T (1)
left lying on the back
11 T OxA-13686 5639±32 bone human sex & age unclear, crouched T (1)
right
25 T OxA-19867 5629±34 bone human § 20–40 yrs, supine T (3)
27 T MAMS-15093 6158±24 shell Dentalium symbolic F (2)
28 T OxA-18575 5550±31 bone animal 60–70 yrs, posture unclear T> OxA-18575 (3)
OxA-23611 5574±31 bone human
OxA-23612 5590±31 bone deer
30 T OxA-19868 5567±34 bone human (™) 12–15 yrs, crouched T> N = 2 OxA-19868 (3)
OxA-19869 5599±34 bone human right (|) and OxA-19869, μ =
5583(24) BP, p = 51%
32 T OxA-19870 5631±35 bone human § 16–19 yrs, supine T (3)
33 F Poz-71453 3585±35 bone human (™) 7±2 yrs, crouched right F (Bronze Age) (5)
34 F OxA-19871 5638±35 bone human § 30–40 yrs, supine F (3)
38 F OxA-19872 3728±31 bone human (™) 40+ yrs, crouched left F (Bronze Age) (3)
40 T OxA-24044 5531±31 animal bone symbolic (Figurine) T (3)
41 T MAMS-15094 6118±24 shell Dentalium symbolic F (2)
43 T OxA-13685 5720±29 bone human § 50–65 yrs, supine T> N = 2 MAMS-15098 (3)
MAMS-15095 5662±27 bone human and OxA-13685, μ =
5689(20) BP, p = 14% (2)
44 F OxA-13692 5657±30 bone human (™) 13+ yrs, supine (|) F (1)
45 T OxA-19873 5583±35 bone human (§) 16–25 yrs, supine T (3)
46 T OxA-23613 5585±32 bone human (™) 60+ yrs, crouched on chest F (3)
47 F OxA-23614 5658±32 bone human (§) 20–40 yrs, supine F (3)
50 T OxA-19874 5574±33 bone human (™) 18–25 yrs, supine T (3)
51 T OxA-19875 5849±39 bone human (§) 20–40 yrs, supine F (3)
67 T OxA-23615 5717±32 bone human (§) 40+ yrs, posture unclear F (3)
OxA-23616 5719±32 bone human
69 F OxA-19876 5608±35 bone human ((§)) 20+ yrs, supine F (3)
72 T OxA-23617 5739±32 bone human (§) 50–60 yrs, crouched lying F (3)
on the back
78 T OxA-19928 5752±37 bone human § 20–30 yrs, posture unclear T> N = 2 OxA-19928 (3)
OxA-19929 5831±39 bone human (and bones of a not archaeo- and OxA-19929, μ =
logically recorded second 5789(27) BP, p = 14%
individual> ∂§] 20+ yrs)
84 T OxA-19877 5687±34 bone human 1–6 yrs, crouched lying on the T (3)
back (and bones of a not
archaeologically recorded
second individual> ™ 13±1 yrs)
85 T OxA-19878 5730±33 bone human (§) 25+ yrs, supine T (3)
87 T OxA-24042 5690±31 bone human (™) 12–18 yrs, posture unclear T (3)
89 F OxA-23618 5655±32 bone human F (3)
94 F OxA-13250 5626±31 bone human sex unclear 20-40 yrs, supine F (1)
111 T OxA-13865 5855±34 bone human § 20–60 yrs, supine (and bones T> N = 2 OxA-13846 and (1)
OxA-13846 5757±34 bone animal of a not archaeologically recorded OxA-18576, μ = 5733(24) (1)
OxA-18576 5710±33 antler animal second individual> ∂∂§]] 16+ yrs) BP, p = 32% (3)
112 T OxA-13251 5702±32 bone human sex unclear, 25–35 yrs, supine T (1)

Chronology and development of the Chalcolithic necropolis of Varna I
305
Grave CA LabCode
14C-Age
Material Burial Type
Radiocarbon
Ref
∂BP] Model
117 T OxA-13848 5766±36 bone human § 35–55 yrs, crouched left on T> OxA-13848 (1)
OxA-13811 5530±36 bone animal the chest (and bones of a not
archaeologically recorded
second individual> ∂∂™]] 20+ yrs)
121 F OxA-13252 5672±34 bone human § 50+, crouched right F (1)
OxA-23619 5771±31 bone human (3)
125 T OxA-13253 5685±33 bone human sex & age unclear, supine T (1)
126 T OxA-19879 5678±34 bone human (§) 20+ yrs, supine T (3)
127 T OxA-24041 5735±31 bone human § 25–35 yrs, supine T (3)
129 T OxA-19880 5728±34 bone human (™) 16±2 yrs, posture unclear T (3)
137 T OxA-13694 5654±36 bone human sex & age unclear, supine T (1)
139 T OxA-23620 5668±33 bone human (§) 50–60 yrs, posture unclear F (3)
143 T OxA-13689 5690±32 bone human § 30–40 yrs, supine T> N = 4 OxA-13689, OxA- (1)
OxA-X-225643 5725±45 antler animal X-225643, OxA-13690, (3)
OxA-13690 5700±30 bone animal and OxA-X-225831, μ =
OxA-X-225831 5703±36 antler animal 5701(17) BP, p = 94%
151 T OxA-19931 5715±55 bone human § 22±3 yrs, supine T (3)
154 T OxA-19930 5665±39 bone human (™) 21±3 yrs, crouched right T (3)
(and bones of a not archaeo-
logically recorded second
individual> § 50+ yrs)
158 T OxA-13688 5787±30 bone human (™) 5,5–6,5 yrs, crouched right T (1)
T MAMS-30944 5755±24 tooth human F (4)
167 T MAMS-15097 5508±27 bone human sex unclear 13+ yrs, crouched right T (2)
171 T OxA-19923 5666±37 bone human sex & age unclear, crouched right T (3)
174 T OxA-23621 5658±32 bone human § 40±5 yrs, posture unclear F (3)
179 T OxA-19924 5696±37 bone human sex unclear 7–8 yrs, crouched right T (3)
182 T OxA-225644 5610±45 antler animal § 50+ yrs, supine T> OxA-225644 (3)
OxA-23622 5659±31 bone human
197 T OxA-19925 5689±38 bone human ™ 55+ yrs, posture unclear T (3)
209 T Poz-71452 5420±35 bone human § 20+ yrs, supine T (2)
215 T OxA-13691 5668±32 bone human (§) 18–25 yrs, supine (and bones T (1)
of a not archaeologically recorded
second individual> ∂§] 60+ yrs)
225 F OxA-13693 5660±29 bone human sex unclear 12–15 yrs, supine F (1)
249 T OxA-19926 5618±39 bone human § 40–55 yrs, supine T (3)
255 T OxA-13254 5732±33 bone human § 18–25 yrs, supine T (1)
256 T OxA-19927 5702±39 bone human ((§)) 40+ yrs, supine T (3)
261 T OxA-24043 5539±32 bone human § 50–60 yrs, supine F (3)
286 T OxA-18577 5564±30 bone animal ((™)) 17–25 yrs, supine (and bones T> N = 2 OxA-18577 (3)
OxA-X-225645 5555±45 antler animal of a not archaeologically recorded and OxA-X-22645,
OxA-23623 5688±32 bone human second individual> sex unclear μ = 5561(25) BP,
OxA-23624 5654±31 bone human 17+ yrs) p = 87%
OxA-23625 5646±31 bone human
288 T MAMS-15098 5472±28 bone human § 55+ yrs, supine on the right F (2)
293 T OxA-X-225646 5725±40 bone animal § 25–50 yrs, supine on the left T (3)
294 T OxA-X-225647 5860±60 antler animal § 20–40 yrs, supine F (3)
OxA-23626 5608±32 bone human
References> (1) Higham et al. 2007< (2) Krauß et al. 2014< (3) Higham et al. 2017< (4) Mathieson et al. 2017< (5) this study