Гробницата Оструша: състояние на изследванията

The Ostrusha Tomb: State of Knowledge

Abstract

The article comes out twenty years after the publication of the book on the painted coffers in the main chamber of the burial complex under the Ostrucha mound. Its purpose is to provide an update on the state of knowledge on this remarkable monument of Thracian culture based on a critical analysis of publications that have appeared since 2005. Critique has been aimed at the proposal for a new iconographic reading of the images of the heads in the central part of the coffered ceiling as representations of the Pleiades. It is argued that this proposal is based on a flawed methodological foundation that ignores both the Thracian cultural and religious context and the methods of art historical research, comparative analysis, and consideration of iconography and symbolism. Therefore, the iconographic interpretation of the images proposed in the 2005 book is supported, according to which the coffers depict Greek gods and heroes associated with the chthonic world and immortality as a reward for heroic deeds. The images of Thetis, Achilles, and Bellerophon are clearly discernible. Other images are suggested to be Cybele, Silenus, members of Dionysus’ thiasus – maenads and satyrs. The rich plant decoration symbolises the invisible presence of Demeter and Persephone. The Ostrusha burial complex has two phases. First, the main chamber was built from two granite monoliths, the one for the ceiling was decorated with the described images in a high style and with the use of expensive colours and gilding. Shortly thereafter, several rooms were built around the central chamber, but they remained unfinished. The analyses of the iconography, ceramic material, and metal objects found in the tomb suggest that the construction and decoration of the main, monolithic chamber was completed circa 330–320 BC. No reliable dating can be proposed for the second phase at this time.