EXPLORATIONS OF A THRACIAN CULT SITE NEAR THE TOWN OF VELINGRAD (Daniela Katincharova – dkatincharova@abv.bg) The cultural stratum to the south of the southern stone wall of the sanctuary was thoroughly explored. The outer face of the wall was entirely uncovered. The wall lies on a wider stone foundation constructed in a trench dug into the ground. Three constructions located close to each other, from the west to the east, were discovered close to the wall, on the level of the ancient terrain: a clay plaster, a terracotta hearth and a ritual pit. The eastern part of the plaster was preserved in situ. It was made of burnt clay with light-grey surface and lies on a pad of small stones placed on the bedrock. The hearth is a circular terracotta ring, which is located to the east of the plaster and close to the wall. Its surface slopes down from the north to the south. The hearth was constructed on a stone pad lying on the bedrock. Burnt sherds of a vessel, single bones and charcoals were found within the hearth. A ritual pit filled with black-color burnt earth, few big stones, a number of lath-and-plaster fragments and single sherds of vessels, was dug to the southeast of the hearth and to the south of the wall. It has a shape of a reversed truncated cone. The bottom of the pit is round and narrow, with plain surface. A circle of small stones lying on sandy soil was found on the bottom of the pit. The highest course of the northern wall of the drain of the stone altar was replaced and the cultural layer below it was explored.