A Roman-Era Child’s Grave in Bulgaria Held Gold Earrings and a Coin of Emperor Aurelian, Minted AD 274 to 275

A rescue excavation in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, found the grave of a Roman-era child with two gold earrings and a single coin of Emperor Aurelian. The Regional History Museum of Stara Zagora led the dig, and Arkeonews reported the find on 16 October 2026. I found no journal paper or museum report, so this post relies on the Arkeonews account of the museum’s work.

A cemetery of 135 graves

The grave lies in a cemetery beyond the southwestern walls of Augusta Traiana, the Roman city in Thrace that stood on the site of modern Stara Zagora. Museum archaeologists worked there ahead of a planned residential building and garages. They documented 135 graves, and only four held cremated remains. The rest were inhumations. Some graves were covered with Roman roof tiles, bricks or stone slabs, and others were simple pits. The cemetery was in use from the late 2nd to the 5th century AD.

Earrings and an Aurelian coin

The child lay with the head to the west and the feet to the east. The grave goods were two gold earrings and one antoninianus of Emperor Aurelian, minted in Serdica, modern Sofia, in AD 274 to 275. Arkeonews does not describe any other grave goods. It also says the child’s age, sex, identity and cause of death are unknown.

What the coin does and does not tell us

The coin gives an earliest possible date. As the article puts it, its presence in the grave establishes that the burial could not have taken place before the coin was produced. The exact date of the burial remains uncertain. Roman custom sometimes placed a coin with the dead as payment to Charon, and Arkeonews says this coin may reflect such beliefs, but its purpose here is unknown. The article also says gold jewelry is not enough to establish the family’s social standing.

Source: Arkeonews, 16 October 2026, summarizing the Regional History Museum of Stara Zagora’s excavation. Image credit: Regional History Museum, Stara Zagora.