The Stara Bulgaria Collection (Varna) consists mainly of small metal objects (belt
and horse harness mounts, buckles and lead moulds for such pieces) dating from the
7th–11th centuries and originating from Northeast Bulgaria. The present article deals
only with those pieces of the collection which show strong similarities with the Vrap–Erseke-group
and seeks to consider the wider context of these finds. The significance of the objects
presented here lies first of all in the fact that they show some features of the Vrap–Velino-group,
but in most cases only in a simplified form. The Stara Bulgaria collection of Varna
seems to corroborate the conclusion that the elite culture represented by the Vrap
find was present in a certain way in Bulgaria as well, but cannot be regarded as a
widespread phenomenon, since the ornaments of the Vrap group were applied to simple
bronze imitations only in a quite simplified form. The impact of the Vrap–Velino-group
is most clearly discernible in the choice of the shallow relief, the form of the palmettes,
and in certain compositional principles.
