Since Felix Kanitz discovered for the science the Madara Rider, the area around the village of Madara (District Shumen, Bulgaria) cached the attention of Bulgarian archaeologists. Karel Skorpil believed that the Madara Rider had an ancient origin and belonged to the Thracian culture. However, discovered around the Relief Greek inscriptions containing the names of early Bulgarian rulers led the opinions in the direction of the Bulgarian origin of the monument. Soon several caves and ruins of buildings were discovered in the area. Bulgarian archaeological circles grew the idea that the surroundings of the village of Madara, which was situated some 20 km. from the capital, Pliska had great importance in Medieval times. Thus in 1925, the Bulgarian archaeological institute decided to start excavations. The research took place in 1925 and 1926 and continued in 1936. The cultural layers discovered there began in the Neolithic and, without interruption, continued to the Ottoman period. A...
At the beginning of the 20th century , young Bulgarian archaeology brought new discoveries in the field of Runiform script. It thus enriched the collection of Runiform inscriptions found at Pliska. This time findings came from the ramparts near the Black Sea shore, built by the Early Bulgarian state. The Byala Inscription Newly found inscriptions were two. The first was incised on a column found at the rampart near Varna. It consists of three graphemes well known from the materials from Pliska ( ). The second inscription not only brought to light two new characters ( and ), but its length was sensational: five graphemes. The discovery came from the rampart near the small town of Byala. The inscription is engraved carefully on a stone block of yellow limestone. At the time of discovery, there was still some red plaster in the grooves of the inscription, which indicates that the inscription initially appeared red on ...