Beaker with birds and animals ca. 4th century B.C. The ancient land of Thrace encompassed a large area now divided into Bulgaria, southern Romania, eastern Yugoslavia, northeastern Greece, and European Turkey. The first inhabitants of Thrace came from the northern part of Europe and appeared at least as early as the second millennium B.C. Thracian tribes of the mid-first millennium B.C. adopted some of the decorative traditions and nomadic habits of their Scythian neighbors to the east, but they had closer cultural relations with European prehistoric peoples and preserved many of the traditions of the European Bronze Age. From the mid-first millennium, such objects as ceremonial helmets, armor, cups, and ornamental gear for horsesworked from silver and sometimes gildedhave been discovered in graves and in finds that must have been the buried hoards of Thracian princes and chiefs.This silver beaker is a fine example of fourth century B.C. Thracian workmanship. It probably was made in