Late Bronze Age stone spearhead mould from northwestern Bulgaria

This paper presents a stone mould for casting spearheads from the depository of Montana Regional Museum of History, with the inventory number 2263 (fig. 1). It was found during the excavations of the pit sanctuary at Bagachina, near Staliyska hamlet on the bank of the River Danube. There is no more information available about the artifact. The mould is partially preserved. Nevertheless, it confirms the evidence on the principal foundry practices in the Late Bronze Age (LBA), determined earlier with the hoards from Sokol (near Nova Zagora) and Pobit Kamak (near Razgrad). The find from Bagachina is designed for casting bronze spearheads with a blade stepped towards the edge. Fragment of such a spearhead has been known from Tenya in Croatia. Spearheads featuring such blades were spread on the entire territory of southeast Europe from Bronze D to Hallstatt A 1. This date has been assumed for the above find as well. Thickening the blade by way of adding a 'step' aims at enhancing its strength and safeguarding it from bending or breaking in case of strong blows. In view of the fact how short-lived this design was, the conclusion can be made that it was not quite successful. The discovery of the above mould expands the repertory of LBA armaments in Bulgaria both typologically and quantitatively. Moreover, the fact that it has been found in the northwest of the country, close to the Danube, puts a special emphasis on the strong influence of Central European cultures on this region as well as on the importance of the river as a mediator between various cultures and geographical regions.