ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF ZNAMENOSETS (Plamen Karailiev – umbo@abv.bg) Room No. 3, belonging to the building with adjacent rooms arranged in a line, was thoroughly explored. A sunken hearth was discovered. It is identical to the two hearths discovered in room No. 2 in 2006. Parts of the eastern and the southern fortification walls and corner tower No. 3 were discovered in the Eastern Sector. The fortification wall was c. 2 m wide and its foundation was 60 – 70 cm deep. Tower No. 3 is circular and is located in front of the corner of the fortification wall. The wall of the tower is 1.40 m wide. The tower interior was used as a house. Four sunken hearths were explored. The western and the southern fortification walls and corner tower No. 4 were explored in the Western Sector. Tower No. 3 is circular and identical to the three other corner towers. The tower was used as a house. The fortress has an area of c. 0.62 ha. The building with adjacent rooms arranged in a line, adjacent to the western fortification wall, was the only one structure discovered inside the fortress and no other buildings were found. According to the coins, the fortress dates to the end of the 5th – second half of the 6th centuries AD.