[Medicines and thermal treatment in Pautalia, Thrace]

The city of Pautalia (Kyustendil in Bulgaria) is located near thermal springs in the Strymon valley (Strouma), on a site occupied from the Iron Age onward by the Thracian tribe of Dentheletes. The temple of Asclepios and the walls of Pautalia, located on the hill of Hissarlaka, as well as the roman thermae in the center of modern Kyustendil are among the more important archaeological vestiges in the area. In 1990, near the village of Dragodan, district of Kyustendil, different surgical instruments in bronze were unearthed in a tumulus attributed to the roman period (IInd century A.D.). During the excavation of another tumulus in 1992, a truly exceptional discovery was made near the town of Kotcherinovo, district of Kyustendil: A variety of medicines were discovered in a small bronze case, dating from the roman period (IInd century A.D.). The complete results of the analysis of these substances and few hypotheses about their possible use are presented in this publication.