ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR SIMEONOVGRAD (Yana Mutafchieva – yanamutafchieva@yahoo.com) Nineteen ritual pits of the 8th – 6th centuries BC and three ritual pits of the Hellenistic period were discovered. The pits of the 8th – 6th centuries BC had various shapes: ellipsoid, truncated-cone-like, hemispherical, cylindrical, pear-like and vessel-like. The pits contained sherds, terracotta spindle whorls, terracotta figurines, small ceramic vessels, fragmentary wattle-and-daub and animal bones with bones from domesticated animals prevailing (91.3%). One pit contained a skeleton of a child c. 4 years old. The pits from the Hellenistic period were situated separately from the pits of the 8th – 6th centuries BC. They were one pit and two dolia dug into the ground and contained sherds, fragmentary plaster, fragments from building ceramics, animal bones and a fragment of the Olynthus-type millstone.