ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN PLISKA (Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg, Hristina Stoyanova) Six trenches were carried out: 1B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 2C, 3C. The latest construction was pit No. 1, 1.40 m in depth and 2.30 m in diameter, discovered in trench 2B. Fragmentary bricks, tiles, pottery, animal bones and a Byzantine anonymous follis of class A2 minted during the reign of Emperor Basil II were found in the pit. A layer of fragmentary tiles, lying on a mortar construction, was discovered alongside the eastern fortification wall, in trenches 1B, 2B, 3B and 4B. Large patches of charcoal and slag, containing sherds and a fragment of melting-pot, were discovered in trenches 2B and 2C, at 1.30 – 1.40 m in depth. The finds from the excavations include five iron arrowheads, a stone catapult ball, a small iron knife, a bone handle, a small bronze head of hippocampus, a gilded bronze hemisphere with relief decoration of cross-like palmettes and lines filled with scaly motifs, etc.