ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF BIKOVO (Iordan Gatev – iordangatev@yahoo.com) Sherds from the Ottoman period, burned fragmentary wattle-and-daub, Late Antique sherds of the 4th – 6th centuries AD, a bronze coin of Arcadius and an iron arrowhead of the Avarian Type dated to the 6th century AD were found on the site. A demolished Late Antique ramshackle building with probable farming functions was documented. Three ritual pits of the second phase of the Early Iron Age (8th – 6th centuries BC) were explored in sondage No. 27. They contained Thracian sherds, bones from goats, sheep and ox, and charcoal from oak, poplar and maple. Another ritual pit was discovered to the northeast from the three pits. It contained Thracian sherds of the 6th – 5th centuries BC. A flint scraper and a multifunctional flint tool of the Early Iron Age were found on the site.