Dumitru Berciu – Director of the Romanian Thracology Institute Margarita Tacheva – Bulgarian Thracologist International Congress of Thracology The International Congress of Thracology was organised by the Institute of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. It has been held regularly since 1972 when it was founded by Alexander Fol. Fol himself became the chairman of the congress, and emphasized an international approach to the study of Thracology. Thracians and Myceneans On September 21–26, 1984, the Fourth International Congress of Thracology was held in the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Congress was organized by the Henri Frankfort Foundation, which is a private institution whose main purpose is to augment the study of Mediterranean pre-history and proto-history. The opening of the symposium began on September 24 and was addressed by the Minister of Education and Science Dr. W. J. Deetman. "Thracians and Mycenaeans" was the theme name for the symposium, which held discussions pertaining to the potential ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic interrelations between proto-Thracians and proto-Greeks (i.e. Myceneans). It was believed that such interrelations had to exist since both groups have lived in the same geographic area in the past. According to Alexander Fol, the concept of "Mycenean Thrace" was first developed in 1973 in order to explain the relative cultural unity between the Thracians and the Myceneans. See also Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Thracians Thracian language Thracian mythology Thracian kings Thracian tribes Dacia Dacology References Bibliography External links Institute of Thracology – Bulgarian Academy of Science – Institute of Thracology Official Site Thracology.dir.bg – Sonya Ilieva's Web Page About Ancient Thrace and Thracology Thracology.org – A site dedicated to the enigmatic ancient Thracian civilization Thracology Scientific Lab of State University of Moldova http://www.imadrugpat.org/krovatova.pdf Area studies by ancient history Archaeology of Bulgaria Archaeology of Romania