Hotnitsa Tell North Settlement
Hotnitsa North · Hotnitsa Severo
Early Chalcolithic to Late Chalcolithic (4600–3800 BCE)·Boian–Gumelnița → KGK VI (Kodzhadermen–Gumelnița–Karanovo VI)·🇧🇬 Veliko Tarnovo Province, Danubian Plain, Yantra Basin, Bulgaria
About
About Hotnitsa Tell North Settlement
Hotnitsa Tell North Settlement is the 3.2-ha north extension of the Hotnitsa Eneolithic tell on the Yantra River — a Gumelnița–KGK VI tell 15 km northeast of Veliko Tarnovo. Excavations expose superimposed burnt wattle-daub houses (4600–3800 BCE) with copper awls, Varna-type gold foil and a north settlement with graphite-painted Gumelnița ware — documenting Danubian Chalcolithic tell urbanism and early copper–gold metallurgy contemporaneous with Varna necropolis. The north settlement's outer ditch links Hotnitsa to the Tell Yunatsite fortification horizon.
Why it mattersGumelnița–KGK VI north settlement — Eneolithic tell with copper–gold metallurgy on Yantra
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01North settlement fortified ditch — defense or enclosure?
- 02Copper source — Balkan mines or long-distance?
Theories
- 01Chokhadzhiev tell formation — burnt-house tell genesis at Hotnitsa
- 02Varna metallurgy periphery at Hotnitsa north settlement
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.4600 BCE Early Chalcolithic (Hotnitsa culture); Gumelnița 4000 BCE
- Period
- Early Chalcolithic to Late Chalcolithic (4600–3800 BCE)
- Culture
- Boian–Gumelnița → KGK VI (Kodzhadermen–Gumelnița–Karanovo VI)
- Builders
- Chalcolithic tell builders, copper metallurgists (Varna periphery)
- Purpose
- North settlement extension of Hotnitsa tell — Eneolithic tell north of Yantra River, Gumelnița culture 15km NE Veliko Tarnovo
- Abandoned
- c.3800 BCE Late Chalcolithic collapse
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1956–present Chokhadzhiev & Trick
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1956
First Hotnitsa tell trench, Gumelnița graphite ware found
2003
Copper workshop and gold foil north settlement published
2018
North ditch enclosure mapping completed
On the ground
Structures & features
43.1500° N · 25.3500° E · 70 m · 3 mapped features
Superimposed Burnt Wattle-Daub Houses
settlementBurnt daub collapse layers with graphite-painted Gumelnița ware 4600 BCE
43.1508° N · 25.3506° ECopper Workshop (Awls + Crucible)
workshopChalcolithic copper awls and crucible slag north extension 4000 BCE
43.1493° N · 25.3491° ENorth Settlement Ditch Enclosure
fortificationOuter ditch enclosing north settlement extension, KGK VI
43.1511° N · 25.3507° E