ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION OF A TUMULUS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF IRECHEKOVO (Stefan Bakardzhiev – st_bakarjiev@abv.bg, Iliya Iliev) The tumulus belongs to a necropolis of three burial mounds. The tumular embankment is 1.20 m in height and 22 m in diameter, and consists of homogenous earth covered with an outer core of stones. Nine graves were discovered during the excavations. Three of them date to the Bronze Age. Grave No. 7 is the primary one and is located in the southwestern sector of the tumulus at 95 cm in depth. The burial ritual is an inhumation of two (or three) adults in a Hocker position, their heads oriented to the north. A ceramic bowl with incised decoration and a tunnel-like handle, dated to the Early Bronze Age 3 (late 3rd millennium BC), was found in the grave. Grave No. 8 is secondary and is located in the northwestern sector of the tumulus at 95 cm in depth. The burial is an inhumation of an adult in a Hocker position with head oriented to the east. Grave No. 10 is secondary and is located in the southwestern sector of the tumulus. An adult was buried with inhumation in a Hocker position with head oriented to the east. A ceramic jug was found in the grave. The burial dates to the Middle Bronze Age (1900 – 1600/1500 BC) and shows relations to the Tei III Culture. In addition, a shoulder-blade of an ox and a cup with a high handle were placed as ritual gifts within the tumular embankment during the Middle Bronze Age. A pile of stones containing Thracian fragmentary wheel- and hand-made pottery of the Late Iron Age (5th – 1st centuries BC), including Greek amphora fragments, was discovered in the central part of the tumulus at the level of the bedrock. Graves Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 9 were Christian and date to the Bulgarian Revival period. The grave goods, predominantly Ottoman silver coins, allow us to date the burials to the end of the 18th – beginning of the 19th centuries.