ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF SALMANOVO (Stanimir Stoichev – s_stoichev@mail.bg, Yuri Iorgov, Ivan Babadzhanov) Three small tumuli are situated near to the excavated tumulus. A small mound of crushed stones was explored in the eastern part of the tumulus. A pile of intact and fragmentary hand- and wheel-made vessels was discovered on top of it. A bronze arrowhead was found among the crushed stones. A hearth containing fragmentary imported and Thracian pottery, cult objects and cremated bones was discovered below the small mound. Traces of a timber construction, presumably a funerary pyre, were also discovered. Grave No. 1 (a ceramic dish covered with another dish) was explored to the west of the hearth. A machaira and a spearhead were found close to the dishes. Remains of cloth, probably linen, alongside the cremated bones, an iron object and an iron fibula, were found inside the dish. Grave No. 2 was explored: a pit measuring 1.10 m by 1.17 m that was dug through the hearth. A black-gloss terracotta lamp with carbonized linen wick, a bronze pin, cult objects and sherds were found in the grave. Two heaps of cremated bones, glass beads (one of them showing human faces), an iron fibula, terracotta cult figurines, a small silver chain, a small silver tube and sherds were discovered on the bottom of the grave. Grave No. 3 (cenotaph) was discovered under the small mound of crushed stones and the hearth. It is a pit with a layout of two adjoining circles measuring 4.80 m by 3.80 m. Three or four iron spearheads, a bronze buckle of horse trappings and a fragmentary bronze helmet of Chalkidian type were found in the grave. In addition to the Thracian hand- and wheel-made pottery, imported black-gloss pottery and a Thasian amphora were found during the excavations. Five Mediterranean snails (Bolinus brandaris, Cerithium vulgatum) were also found. According to the finds, the tumulus dates to the 4th – 3rd century BC.