The 8000 year-old skeleton of a man was recently discovered by archaeologist Georgi Ganetovski at a site near Ohoden in northwestern Bulgaria, and is on its way to the Regional History Museum in Vratsa.
     This is the fourth skeleton to be found at the site, and the first of a male. The man, who has been given the name Hristo, was 165cm tall and died aged around 35. The Bulgarian media has dubbed him "the first European". Ganetovski, a specialist in palaeolithic settlements who has been investigating the site since 2004, also found a female skeleton that has been named Todorka. He explained the importance of the skeletons, stating that "we are uncovering a so far unknown prehistoric culture in Northwest Bulgaria which corresponds to the settlements in today's Serbia along the Moravia River. One of the aims of our study is to test the theory about the so-called 'Danube Road' of the spreading of the first settlements with economic production."
     Hristo and the other skeletons will be studied further by DNA and other analysis. "We will have to sacrifice one tooth from each of them for the DNA tests," Ganetovski said.

Source: Novonite.com (9 July 2010)