DRILLING SONDAGES IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN THE BOTANICAL GARDEN OF VARNA (Vladimir Slavchev, Hristo Kuzov – kouzov@bulstar.net) The Botanical garden of Varna occupies an area of 36 ha. Two sites were located during an archaeological survey and subsequent drilling sondages were organized in order to clarify their stratigraphy and dating. One course of stone wall and three dolia arranged in a line parallel to the wall and to the North of it were discovered in the sondage in the Delvata locality. In addition, three pits dug in a parallel line were investigated to the North of the dolia. It is supposed that a Roman villa existed in this locality and most likely, a small settlement appeared around the villa during the Late Antiquity. Coins of Valentinian II (AD 375 – 392) and Theodosius II (AD 408 – 450) and small finds from the excavation indicate that the building was used from the second half of the 4th to the 6th century AD. A corner of a stone wall of a building with two occupation periods was discovered in the sondage in the Chinarite locality. During the initial period, the stones of the wall were bonded with white mortar, while during the later occupation, the stones were bonded with mud. The archaeological investigation dealt with the final period when a platform plastered with white mortar existed within the building. A drain was discovered between the platform and the wall; the threshold of the eastern entrance, which was plastered with pink mortar, intersected the drain. A northern entrance was also uncovered. It could be assumed that another villa existed in this locality and during the Late Antiquity, the site was occupied by a small settlement. Coins of Maximinus II (AD 305 – 313), Constans (AD 337 – 350) and Gratian (AD 367 – 383), besides other finds, indicate that the building dates to the 4th – 6th century AD.