DEBELT, BULGARIA—According to a Live Science report, remains of a man, two iron knives, and a belt have been discovered in a huge dolium, or storage jar, in a gate tower at the site of the Roman colony of Deultum in southeastern Bulgaria. Roman soldiers at Deultum battled East Germanic tribes and Huns during the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. Archaeologist Lyudmil Vagalinski of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences said that signs of a fire, including ashes, coals, blackened walls, melted glass, bronze coins, and the burned bones of domestic animals, were uncovered in the area around the dolium. This could indicate that people received word of an imminent attack and brought their livestock into the fortress. Since ashes were found under his remains, Vagalinski explained, the man may have sought shelter from the attack by hiding in the jar after the fire had started. One knife remained in his belt, while the other was found between his legs as if ready to defend himself. “After the attack, the inhabitants of the city leveled the ruins of the tower and covered them with a new, higher floor,” Vagalinski concluded. To read about the gravestone of a legionary found at an ancient settlement in northwestern Bulgaria, go to "A Dutiful Roman Soldier."
