site.btaProf. Ovcharov Presents 'City of Hobbits' at Perperikon

Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov, head of excavations at Perperikon, presented the latest discoveries to journalists on Tuesday. These are a complex of dwellings from the 13th-14th centuries in the Southern Quarter, dug deep into the ground, for which the local population used the ruins of the surrounding ancient temples.

Such houses, dug half into the ground, survived until the early 20th century, mainly in northern Bulgaria, and had thatched roofs.

Prof. Ovcharov added that the dwellings found at Perperikon were one-roomed, occasionally with two rooms, with an area of between 15 and 22 square meters and accommodated the whole family.

Household objects have been found in the ten dwellings, such as stone tools for grinding cereals and pottery.

Archaeologists have found such dwellings at Perperikon before, but not with in such large concentration in one place, explained Ovcharov, adding that the number of them in the whole complex is about 100.

According to him, probably by the middle of the 14th century most of these buildings ceased to exist. This is supported by the fact that the necropolis overlaps withthe buildings and the streets. The team assumes that this happened during the Black Death - the great plague epidemic in Europe in the 30-40s of the 14th century, which did not spare Bulgaria.

Asked why he likened the discovered dwellings to a "city of hobbits", Prof. Ovcharov said that a few months ago he was in New Zealand, where he saw the famous settlement, the set of the filming of the movie "Lord of the Rings". Even then he made the analogy and explained, "When Tolkien wrote that famous book, we all know that it was based on Norse and Anglo-Saxon mythology. Published research shows that the houses themselves are taken from the English history." According to Ovcharov, Tolkien was on a dig with British archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler, who at the time was excavating a Roman-period settlement in central England. In this settlement, Lidney Park, the houses were built in the old Roman buildings. "These burrows made an impression on Tolkien, which is probably where his idea about a ‘city of hobbits' came from," said Ovcharov.