These two volumes consist of forty nine papers from two international archaeological meetings in Bulgaria in 2001 and 2002, including recent research and trends in analysing symbolic systems in southeast Europe. Examining material from the Neolithic to Iron Age, contributors discuss and analyse evidence relating to settlement patterns, ceramics, metal objects and burial practices, and how these reflect different symbolic systems and forms of cultural interaction and continuity. Eight of the papers look in particular at the first millennium BC Starosel temple-tomb found in 2000 and its significance for the nature and development of Thracian culture.