BURGAS, BULGARIA—A bronze medallion decorated with early Christian imagery has been found in the excavation of the sixth-century A.D. Burgos Fortress, located on Cape Foros in the Black Sea city of Burgas. On the obverse, a central cross covered with white enamel is surrounded by seven more crosses surrounded by yellow glass paste. On the reverse of the medallion, archaeologists have found traces of wood, indicating that it had been attached to a wooden object. “There is enough evidence that these kinds of medallions adorned boxes or wooden covers of liturgical books. That is why, at the present stage we assume that the medallion from Foros adorned the cover of a gospel book or a box used for keeping a liturgical item such as a book or a chalice,” the archaeological team from the Burgas Regional Museum of History said at a press conference reported in Archaeology in Bulgaria. The medallion resembles an altar decoration at the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. To read about another example of early Christian imagery, go to "Artifact: Late Roman Amulet."
