EXPLORATIONS OF TUMULUS NO. 1 NEAR THE VILLAGE OF MOGILA (Stephan Bakardzhiev – bakarjiev_st@mail.bg) The tumulus measures 3.20 m in height and 37.60 m in diameter. It belongs to necropolis of seven burial mounds. There were several stages of piling the tumular embankment. Eighteen secondary Christian burials were discovered in the eastern half of the tumulus. The deceased were buried in grave pits and graves constructed of stone slabs. They vary from small children to adults. The grave goods allow the burials to be dated to the 10th – 11th centuries AD. Four inhumation burials were explored in the southwestern sector of the tumulus, at 30 – 90 cm in depth. The dead bodies lay in flexed, ‘Hocker’ positions. Fragmentary ceramic vessels dating to the end of the first half of the Early Bronze Age (3500 – 1900 BC) were found in two of the graves. In addition, eight inhumation burials of the Early Bronze Age, belonging to the so-called ‘Pit culture’ attributed to nomadic groups, were discovered. The burials were performed in two-step pits covered with boards. The deceased were placed in ‘Hocker’ positions and their bodies were covered with ochre. The funerary ritual and the four silver pendants found in grave No. 29 allow the graves to be attributed to the earliest stage of the ‘Pit culture’. Ritual burning was registered in grave No. 30. The absence of covering boards and placing a ceramic bowl full of grain, typical of the Ezero culture (12th stratum), make clear that this particular burial was related to the local Early Bronze Age cultures.