EXPLORATION OF EARLY MEDIAEVAL SITE IN SBORYANOVO (Diana Gergova – dianagergova@hotmail.com) The exploration included mapping of the group of stone buildings on the eastern bank of the river of Krapinets and excavations of particular key elements of the structure of the early mediaeval settlement on the western river bank. A sunken-floored building with walls faced with uncut stones was excavated. It measures 4.50 m by 4.50 m and a stone-built oven was discovered in its northeastern corner. A stone pan, a fragment of millstone and significant quantity of iron slag found inside the building testify that most likely, this was a workshop. The second building excavated was a sunken-floored dwelling with stone-faced walls, which has two rooms and an entrance from the northwest. It measures 5 m by 5 m and there is a well-preserved oven of broken stones built into the southwestern wall of the northeastern room. An early mediaeval single-nave chapel was discovered in the central part of the complex. Its walls are 80 cm thick and were built of rough stones, while a stone block served as an altar table. A bronze cross-enkolpion of the 9th – beginning of the 10th centuries was found in the southeastern corner of the apse. Excavations of the large building constructed of stones and located in the southeastern part of the site were carried out. The discovered sherds and the bronze cross-enkolpion date the site between the 8th and the beginning of the 10th centuries. The exploration reveals the character of the settlement pattern in the region during the early mediaeval period, before and after the First Bulgarian Kingdom converted to Christianity.