Telish-Lîga, North Bulgaria . The Late Copper Age Site

The high quality excavations of the Copper Age or Late Eneolithic site at Telish-Lîga represent a very important part of a micro-regional study already started in the late 70s with the investigations of the neighbouring site of Telish-Redutite. The Redutite-site has proved to be a well-preserved settlement with four temporal phases, of which the three last ones belong to the highly disputed final part of the Eneolithic. The rich assemblage of small finds at Reduite provided an excellent opportunity for studying the cultural processes of the period. As demonstrated by interruptions of the sequence of cultural layers by so-called hiatus horizons, lack of continuity between the phases of the settlement bear witness to non-seasonal abandonment of the settlement. This fact underlines serious gaps in the understanding of the cultural development of the region.

Thus, it proved necessary to search for additional Late Eneolithic settlements in the area, hoping that such discoveries could fill out the chronological gaps. In 1979, two small sounding trenches were laid at the site, which now goes under the name of Lîga. The material from these trenches seemed to close the gaps.