Monumental Tombs and Hero Cults in Thrace during the 5th-3rd centuries B.C.

In the 5th century B.C. the Thracian tribes in the northern parts of the Balkan peninsula consolidated politically and some powerful tribal communities ruled by local kings emerged in these regions. Over this period the Thracian aristocracy started to look for new ways to express its political power and religious authority in the society. Due to the local funerary traditions of the Early Iron Age (late llth-6th centuries B.C.), when megalithic dolmens and rock-cut tombs were used, and mainly ..