Durankulak (archaeological site)

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Durankulak is a prehistoric archaeological site on the Big Island in Durankulak Lake, in Bulgaria’s Dobrich Province. The settlement began about 7000 years ago and lasted for many generations.

The earliest inhabitants were the Hamangia culture (roughly 6500–5500 BC), the first farmers in the region. They grew plants, gathered food, built houses, made pottery, and kept animals or hunted. By around 4700–4600 BC, people used stone in building and created a large, organized village. The houses were rectilinear and big, laid out in a planned pattern, often standing alone or next to other houses along narrow paths. They built with large wooden posts set in trenches, joined with planks or branches, and covered the structures with mud or clay. Most houses included several rooms.

Today you can see stone foundations, a cave, and cisterns from the site. Durankulak is one of Europe’s few early farming sites and helps us learn about daily life long ago. Excavations from 1974 to 1997 uncovered 1,204 prehistoric burials and the remains of 25 houses. The site covers about 1.5 square kilometers and is part of the Archaeological Complex “Durankulak-Hamangia.”