Archaeologists have found a bronze ring with four hooks in the entrance hall of a Thracian temple near the village of Vasil Levski, in the Karlovo area. There are two possible explanations, but neither has been confirmed. Finding the object in the temple does not mean it was used in a ritual.

Assoc. Prof. Kostadin Kisyov, director of the Regional Archaeological Museum in Plovdiv, described the object to bTV. Four hooks hang from the ring. Their ends look like fishing hooks, with well-preserved barbs. The ring is very neatly made. Kisyov says it is the first time such a mechanism has been found: "This is truly a unique find."

Where the ring was found

The find comes from a Thracian settlement of the 6th–5th century BC, a few kilometres from the village, on a mountain terrace in the southern foothills of the Balkan Mountains. The site was discovered in 1993 and research began in 2005. Kisyov has worked there for about 30 years.

The temple is a rectangular building with a stone base and a wooden frame. Its roof tiles are large and coated with a glaze that archaeologists call "cat's gold". Only part of the citadel has been uncovered, about 5 decares.

Kisyov says the settlement may have been the first capital of the Odrysian kingdom. It was abandoned suddenly, but there are no signs of fire or war damage. Some reports name Teres I as its ruler, but the ancient name of the town is not known, and it has not been proved that it was a capital.

Two theories: a lamp holder or fishing

The first theory is that the ring held hanging lamps, made of clay or bronze. The object would then be a kind of chandelier. But Kisyov says a chain is needed to hang it, and none has been found so far.

The second theory is that the hooks are part of a complex fishing device. The problem here is different. The settlement lies by the Stryama river, which is too small for such gear. So Kisyov says that if the object was for fishing, it was meant for very big rivers such as the Maritsa and the Danube, or for the sea. "If it is fishing, though, this is a big piece of equipment," he says.

Why the find spot explains nothing

The object lay in the entrance hall of a temple, but that does not settle the question. A find in a temple does not necessarily mean it was used in a ritual. It could have been part of the furnishings, or served some quite different purpose. There is no evidence of the ring's role in worship.

Archaeologists work this way when an object has no match. They do not take the first convenient explanation. They look at what is missing. For the lamp theory, the chain is missing. For the fishing theory, there is no river of the right size. Until a chain, another similar object or a description in written sources turns up, both theories remain guesses.

The size of the object has not been published. There is no scientific paper on it yet, and the first media reports date from 11 October 2026. Excavations at the site are continuing.