The “khan” and his “kumihrs”: New details from the documentation of a graffito from Stancho Vaklinov’s excavations north of Pliska’s citadel

Abstract

The photographic documentation conducted by the current research team is the third such documentation to be made on a stone block with a graffito, found by Stancho Stanchev (Vaklinov). The purpose of the documentation was to juxtapose a number of techniques in order to choose the most efficient from among them, i.e. one where subjective visual perception is minimized, and at the same time, one that renders the greatest number of details that had remained unnoticed despite previous scientific observation. The chosen techniques were: Reflectance Transformation Imaging and 3D Laser Scanning. The rendered results, as it became apparent during data processing, complement each other in an excellent way. The new details from the latest photographic documentation of the graffito can be divided into: one fully unknown figure and details of already known figures; letter characters, most of which in front, above and behind the figure of the rider.