Pliska: the rampart, palace and inscription

At first glance these are fields near Shumen. Beneath them lie traces of Pliska, the first capital of the early medieval Bulgarian state. An enormous earth rampart encloses about 22 square kilometres. A rampart is a long raised bank of earth. A ditch in front makes crossing harder.

In the areas studied, archaeologists find separate clusters of homes. The large enclosure does not mean the whole area was built over. Its size alone therefore cannot tell us how many people lived here.

The Chatalar inscription names the ruler Omurtag. It is carved on a limestone column, in Greek. The museum catalogue dates it to about 822. It says the ruler lives in Pliska’s camp and builds another on the Ticha River. Here a camp means an enclosed place for the ruler and army.

This does not describe Pliska’s Throne Palace. The photograph shows a museum copy of the column. The original is at the National Archaeological Museum.

After the capital moves to Preslav in 893, more homes and workshops appear in the Inner City. Buried remains reveal this.

Excavations begin in 1899. In 2016 and 2018, researchers use ground-penetrating radar and magnetic measurements. The radar sends signals underground and records their reflections. Other instruments measure changes in the earth’s magnetic field. These methods seek buried remains without digging. Measurements reveal outlines that still need explaining.