Bulgarian archaeologist Veselin Ignatov holds a gold-plated silver cup with an image of the Greek God of love Eros, found at a Thracian mound near the village of Karanovo, some 260 km (223 miles) east from the capital Sofia November 17, 2009. A team of archaeologists led by Ignatov found a chariot, two silver cups, golden rings and jewellery, clay and glass artefacts dating back to the first century A.D. Not much history has survived of the Thracians, who some experts say settled on what is now Bulgaria, Romania, northern Greece and Turkey's European territory from as early as 4 000 B.C. until they were finally incorporated into the Roman Empire in A.D. 46.
REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov (BULGARIA SOCIETY)