ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN PLISKA (Pavel Georgiev – pavel_g@gbg.bg, Stanislav Ivanov) The explorations were carried out at the rampart and the moat of the northwestern corner of the large outer earthen fortification of Pliska. There is a mound, 1.50 m in height, built over the corner of the rampart. A wall built of dry stone slabs, over 1.50 m wide, was discovered from the outer side of the rampart. The wall supported the rampart and served as its facing. Fragments of mud bricks were found. They are identical to the mud bricks that were used to overlay the palisades of the large timber fortification of the Inner Town of Pliska. The construction of mud bricks laid over the stone wall of the rampart. Probably, a shelter or a watch house for guard and surveillance was constructed in the corner of the rampart on the top of the mound. A cross-section of the western rampart was carried out. The top of the rampart is c. 3 m wide, while its bottom is c. 12 m wide. Two supporting walls of dry stones were documented. They supported the earth of the rampart. The outer wall is 1.40 m wide, while the inner wall is 50 cm wide. The distance between both walls is c. 8 m and this was the original width of the bottom of the rampart. The rampart with both stone walls used to be c. 10 m in width.