EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF EZERO (Ivan Sotirov, Tatyana Stefanova – tatianast@mail.orbitel.bg, Iordan Gatev) Late Neolithic, Late Antique and Ottoman sherds and fragments of burned clay wall plaster were found in stratum 2 which was 25 – 35 cm thick. Structures from the Late Neolithic period (5300 – 4900 BC) were documented between stratum 2 and the sterile ground layer. A concentric (or oval) ditch with trapezoidal cross section, 1.30 – 2 m wide, was explored at 50 m in length. The finds from the ditch included sherds, flint artifacts typical of the Late Neolithic period (scrapers, microliths, retouched flakes, and flakes from sickles of the Karanovo type), stone tools (axes, adzes and pestles), millstones, fragments of burned clay wall plaster, fragments from plaster of an oven or a hearth, and animal bones. Six pits were documented: five situated inside the area surrounded by the ditch and one situated outside. Three pits contained finds identical to those discovered in the ditch. Two piles of uneven stones, 60 cm by 70 cm in size, were explored. Postholes, 4 – 6 cm in diameter, were documented around one of them. An arc-like trench with trapezoidal cross section, 40 – 50 cm wide, was documented, situated inside the area surrounded by the ditch and following the curve of the ditch. A segment, 14.50 m long, was explored. Eight postholes, 8 – 27 cm in diameter and 3 – 23 cm in depth, were discovered on the bottom of the trench. The pottery found during the excavations is Late Neolithic (Karanovo IV) and included dishes, bowls, pots and lids with brown, grey-black and black surface, decorated with cannelures, piercing, incised lines, white incrustation, small holes, nail impresses and stamped decoration. Carbonized grain, lentils, pine and oak were discovered, while impressions from Triticum monococcum, barley, millet, brome grasses and rye were documented in the clay wall plasters.