=== Forhistorie og Antikken ===
{{uddybende|Neolitiske Europa|Odrysiske kongerige|Thrakere|Slavere}}
Der er fundet tegn på menneskelig aktivitet i området, som det moderne Bulgarien ligger i, som kan dateres tilbage til den [[ældste stenalder]]. Dyreknogler med indridsede, menneskeskabte markeringer fra [[Kozarnika]]hulen formodes at være det tidligste eksempel på [[symbolsk adfærd]] hos mennesker.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3512470.stm|title=Early human marks are 'symbols'|publisher=BBC News|date=16. marts 2004|access-date=8. juni 2012}}</ref> Blandt de organiserede forhistoriske samfund i de bulgarske områder var den [[neolitisk]]e [[Hamangiakulturen|Hamangiakultur]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=Monuments of the final phase of Cultures Hamangia and Savia on the territory of Bulgaria|last=Slavchev|first=Vladimir|work=Revista Pontica|volume=37–38|pages=9–20|date=2004-2005|url=http://revistapontica.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/pontica-37-38-pag-9-20.pdf|access-date=20. december 2011}}</ref> [[Vinčakultur]]<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fragmentation in Archaeology: People, Places, and Broken Objects |last=Chapman |first=John |year=2000 |page=239 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-15803-9 }}</ref> og den [[Kobberalder|æneolitiske]] [[Varnakulturen|Varnakultur]] (5. årtusinde f.Kr.). Sidstnævnte tilskrives normalt opfindelsen af [[guld]]bearbejdelse og -anvendelse.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Roberts |first1=Benjamin W. |last2=Thornton |first2=Christopher P. |year=2009 |title=Development of metallurgy in Eurasia |publisher=Department of Prehistory and Europe, [[British Museum]] |page=1015 |url=http://britishmuseum.academia.edu/BenjaminRoberts/Papers/340888/Development_of_metallurgy_in_Eurasia |access-date=8. juni 2012|quote=In contrast, the earliest exploitation and working of gold occurs in the Balkans during the mid-ﬁfth millennium BC, several centuries after the earliest known copper smelting. This is demonstrated most spectacularly in the various objects adorning the burials at Varna, Bulgaria (Renfrew 1986; Highamet al. 2007). In contrast, the earliest gold objects found in Southwest Asia date only to the beginning of the fourth millennium BC as at Nahal Qanah in Israel (Golden 2009), suggesting that gold exploitation may have been a Southeast European invention, albeit a short-lived one.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=History of Humanity: From the Third Millennium to the Seventh Century BC|editor=Sigfried J. de Laet|publisher=UNESCO / Routledge|year=1996|isbn=978-92-3-102811-3|page=99|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BnY0KYbJC6wC&pg=PA97&dq=history+of+metallurgy+bulgaria&hl=en&sa=X&ei=K-PRT-X7Be3Q4QSM-PmWAw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=bulgaria&f=false|access-date=8. juni 2012|quote=The first major gold-working centre was situated at the mouth of the Danube, on the shores of the Black Sea in Bulgaria&nbsp;...}}</ref> Nogle af disse oprindelige guldsmeltere producerede mønterne, våbnene og smykkerne til skatten i gravpladsen [[Varna Necropolis]], der med en alder på over 6000 år menes at være verdens ældste.<ref>{{cite book |title=Gems and gemstones: Timeless natural beauty of the mineral world |last=Grande |first=Lance |year=2009 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-30511-0 |page= 292 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=RnE9Fa4pbn0C&pg=PA290&dq=varna+necropolis+oldest#v=onepage&q=varna%20necropolis%20oldest&f=false|access-date=20. december 2011|quote=The oldest known gold jewelry in the world is from an archaeological site in Varna Necropolis, Bulgaria, and is over 6,000 years old (radiocarbon dated between 4,600BC and 4,200BC).}}</ref> Denne gravplads har vakt stor arkæologisk interesse på internationalt plan, da den giver unikt indblik de tidligste europæiske samfunds sociale hierarkier.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/harsova/en/dobro3.htm|title=The Gumelnita Culture|publisher=Government of France|access-date=4. december 2011|quote=The Necropolis at Varna is an important site in understanding this culture.}}</ref><ref name="CENTCOM"/>
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