Balkan Heritage Foundation: A Quiet Thread Through Two Decades of Regional Archaeology

The Balkan Heritage Foundation began in 2008 as a Bulgarian public, non-profit, non-governmental organisation. Its legal structure placed the Balkan Heritage Field School within the same body. The foundation’s head office sits in Stara Zagora. The field school’s front office operates from Sofia. Additional branches exist in Varna, Mezek, Dragoman and Emona. These locations reflect a deliberately dispersed footprint rather than a single institutional centre.

Angela Pencheva, who holds a PhD in archaeology, serves as Program Director. Her role connects the organisation’s academic intentions with its practical field operations. The foundation’s early activity around Stobi is one example of this approach.

Early Years and Institutional Partnerships

The Stobi excavation project began in 2010. Its first field school season ran in August and September of that year. The work was carried out in partnership with National Institute Stobi. This collaboration established a pattern that would continue through subsequent years.

By 2012, the field school had developed a wider network of partners. These included the Blagoevgrad Regional Museum of History and the Archaeological Museum of Sozopol. International partners included the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology in Nanterre, France, and Queen’s University in Canada. That year’s programme also included a ‘Fresco-hunting’ photo expedition.

Academic credit became possible in 2012 through a partnership with New Bulgarian University in Sofia. Field school students could obtain six academic credits for two-week projects. Nine credits were available for four-week projects on request. This arrangement formalised the educational value of fieldwork for participants.

Fieldwork in 2012

The 2012 season at Heraclea Lyncestis in Bitola, Macedonia, took place in two sessions. Excavations ran from 30 June to 14 July and from 15 to 29 July. The site contains Hellenistic, Roman and Late Roman remains. The work there represented a direct engagement with layered urban history.

Earlier in the same year, a workshop focused on Roman pottery from ancient Stobi. It ran from 16 to 29 June. The National Institute of Stobi was again a partner. Topics included conservation, restoration and documentation. The workshop combined object-based study with practical training.

Recognition and Current Work

In 2018, the Balkan Heritage Field School in Bulgaria received a Special Mention in the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards. The category was Education, Training and Awareness-Raising. The mention acknowledged work that had grown around field schools and regional partnerships.

Today, the field school continues to run a programme at the Apollonia Pontica excavations in Sozopol. This work involves the excavation team of the National Archaeological Institute with Museum, part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and the Archaeological Museum of Sozopol. A season is planned for 31 May to 27 June 2026. The foundation’s activity remains tied to specific sites, local institutions and the slow accumulation of archaeological knowledge across borders.

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