ANCIENT MINING ON ADA TEPE HILL NEAR KRUMOVGRAD (Hristo Popov – popovhristo@yahoo.co.uk) The rescue archaeological excavations on the western slope of Ada Tepe aimed at discovering and registering traces of ancient mining and metallurgy. A mining gallery, 14 m in length, already known from the preliminary field survey, was explored. During the excavations, a small previously unknown branching of the gallery, 2.80 – 3 m in length, was discovered. The archaeological material is relatively small in number. Part of it, found in the deepest end of the gallery and under the mining waste piled in front of the entrance, is synchronous to the exploitation of the mine. There are no traces of human activity within the gallery after the ore deposits were finished. The pottery found in closed contexts date the mining to the Late Bronze Age (1500 – 1110 BC) or to the first phases of the Early Iron Age in the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, at latest. Sondages were carried out on the slopes of Ada Tepe. A great number of fragmentary millstones and stone pestles, which were used for ore pounding and grinding, in addition to Late Bronze and Early Iron Age sherds, were found in one sondage. The site is the earliest mine for extracting gold ore known in Bulgaria so far.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS ON ADA TEPE HILL (Albrecht Jockenhövel – jockenh@uni-muenster.de, Hristo Popov) Seven sondages were carried out: sondage No. 1 situated on the upper western slopes of Ada Tepe Hill, sondages Nos. 3 – 4 situated on the upper eastern slopes, sondages Nos. 5 – 6 situated on the upper southwestern slopes, and sondages Nos. 2 and 7 situated on the lower northern slopes. A primary open mine was documented in sondage No. 1. After the mining was finished, the cut-out rocky slope was leveled and probably, a work platform functioned there for a short time, as evidenced from the fragmentary querns and pestles used for the ore processing. The pottery dated to the Late Bronze Age and was synchronous with the mining. A fragmentary mould for producing double axes of the Beguntsi type (14th – 13th centuries BC) was found in the periphery of the mine dumping in sondage No. 1. Evidently, the local Thracians who exploited the gold mine also practiced the bronze metallurgy and produced bronze tools and objects. Two periods (Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age) were documented in sondages Nos. 3, 4 and 5. The occupation layers were up to 6.30 m thick. Multiple interruptions in the mining were documented. During the explorations in 2008 and 2009, mining in the upper slopes of Ada Tepe Hill was documented. The open mining was predominantly applied in the gold mines, but there was evidence for underground galleries, too. The traces from mining were discovered over an area of 0.42 – 0.45 sq. km. The mines were exploited mainly during the Late Bronze Age (15th – 11th centuries BC). During the Early Iron Age the mining gradually decreased and in the 8th – 7th centuries BC it stopped.

EXPLORATIONS ON ADA TEPE HILL (Hristo Popov – popovhristo@yahoo.co.uk) Mapping of the gold mines was done. Geophysical explorations were carried out on the top of the hill. Archaeological excavations were carried in Sectors E-3, F-2, F-4, G-2, G-8, G-9, G-10, G-11, H-8, H-9, I-10, I-11, so far. The mine tailings were the most common structures covering a total area of 120,000 sq. m. The total area of the mine tailings, the wok platforms, the open mines, the underground galleries and the occupation areas was over 175,000 sq. m. The strata were 0.40 – 1.50 m thick. Traces from open mines and work platforms situated nearby were documented in the area of the upper western slopes (Sectors G-8 and G-9). Fragmentary stone and flint tools and sherds were found on the work platforms. Late Bronze Age material was discovered in most areas of the mines, in all sectors on the western, eastern and northern slopes. Early Iron Age material was discovered only in the central and part of the eastern and western sectors. Debris from several buildings was documented on the top of the hill, to the west and to the north of the sanctuary which was explored in 2001 – 2006.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS ON ADA TEPE HILL (Hristo Popov – popovhristo@yahoo.co.uk, Krasimir Nikov) Remains from a settlement of miners dated to the Late Bronze and the Early Iron Ages were explored on the top of the hill. The settlement covered an area of over 1 ha and had a planning. The highest part of the hill was surrounded with a fortification wall, 2.60 m wide, constructed of stones bonded with clay and dated to the 14th – 13th century BC. The fortified area was c. 0.25 ha and houses and workshops were built there. Buildings with one and two rooms with small yards and passages-streets were situated outside the fortified area. The buildings had plinths built of stones and walls constructed of sun-dried bricks and/or clay. A second fortification wall probably existed. The finds from the settlement dated from 15th – 14th to 10th – 9th centuries BC. Open mines were documented on the eastern slopes of the hill and the rock was cut out in step-like platforms with the aim of discovering the auriferous quartz reefs. The mining stope was up to 80 m wide. Postholes from huts and/or shelters were discovered. Traces from burning on some stones and the single pieces of charcoal testified to the use of fire in the mining process. The ore extraction lasted for several centuries. Enormous dumps were documented and some of them were over 10 m thick. Traces from mining activities were documented on the highest parts of the western and the northern slopes of the hill. The dumps were small and dated to the Late Bronze Age, while the earliest finds dated to the second half of the 15th – 14th century BC. Ada Tepe was the oldest gold mine known in Europe so far and it functioned from the second half of the 15th to the second half of the 8th centuries BC.

EXPLORATIONS ON ADA TEPE HILL (Hristo Popov – popovhristo@yahoo.co.uk, Krasimir Nikov) Mining activities were documented in the Central Sector on the top of Ada Tepe Hill, situated under the settlements of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages and under the sanctuary of the Hellenistic period. The radiocarbon dates showed that the end of the 15th century BC was _terminus post quem_ for the gradual suspension of the mining activities and the use of the site for construction of buildings. The stone fortification wall, 2.60 m wide, was related to the settlement of the Late Bronze Age and protected an area of over 2000 sq. m. The radiocarbon dates showed that the settlement existed until the end of the Late Bronze Age: the middle or the second half of the 11th century BC. During the Early Iron Age the settlement reduced its size, although the occupied area partly remained the same. The Early Iron Age structures were situated mainly outside the Late Bronze Age fortification wall. The finds included Thracian ceramic vessels, stone and flint tools, moulds for producing bronze tools and jewelry, an iron bead, a bronze knife and bronze chisels. Two parallel supporting walls were documented in Sector I–7 on the northeastern slopes of Ada Tepe Hill and during the Late Bronze Age buildings were constructed in the area above them. The stratum was up to 80 cm thick. Some of the buildings were arranged in parallel rows. Mining activities were documented in Sectors G–4 and H–6 on the northern slopes of Ada Tepe Hill. The entire face of the open mine of the Late Bronze Age was discovered on the eastern slopes. The use of fire during the mining process was documented. Thracian sherds, stone tools and animal bones were found in the tailings. The tailings were up to 3 m thick in Sectors J–11, J–12 and K–11.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS ON ADA TEPE HILL (Hristo Popov – popovhristo@yahoo.co.uk, Krasimir Nikov) Late Bronze Age buildings inside the fortified area were thoroughly explored in Sectors G-11 and F-11 on the top of Ada Tepe Hill. The buildings had oval layouts, plinths of stones and walls of clay. Burned timber constructions were documented, probably from the roofs or the upper parts of the walls. Buildings Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6 and 17 outside the fortified were thoroughly explored. They had similar construction and rectangular layouts, being partly dug out into the slope. The finds included sherds, flint tools, stone adzes, fragmentary moulds, bronze tools, terracotta spindle whorls and loom weights. Sectors I-7 and H-6 were thoroughly explored on the higher northeastern slopes of the hill. Debris from fortification wall over 100 m long was discovered and houses and farm buildings were constructed above them situated in at least two rows. Ten buildings with rectangular and oval layouts were explored and their construction was similar to the Late Bronze Age buildings on the top of the hill. The construction of the buildings in Sectors I-7 and H-6 was simultaneous, according to a plan. Mine shafts some of them over 4.50 m deep in Sector I-9 and a work platform for primary sorting out and processing the gold ore in Sector J-9 were thoroughly explored on the eastern slopes of the hill. Sherds, fragmentary stone tools, animal bones and charcoal were found in the tailings.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS ON ADA TEPE HILL (Krasimir Nikov – k_nikov29@yahoo.com, Hristo Popov, Plamen Georgiev) Sector No. 1 on the southern slopes of the hill was occupied from c. AD 350 to c. AD 625. Four farms were explored, consisting of houses, farm buildings, circular yards 6.80 – 15 m in diameter, dolia, ovens and midden pits. A combination of timber material and stones was used in the construction of the buildings and the fences. The finds included pottery, tools, fibulae and coins from Constantius II to Justin I. two Christian cemeteries were explored, consisting of 14 and 20 cist graves, which belonged to the occupants of the farms. In the southern part of Sector No. 1, remains from buildings and finds of the 4th – 6th centuries AD and of the 3rd – 2nd centuries BC were discovered close to a spring. In Sector No. 5 on the western slopes of the hill, a tailing was explored up to 2.20 m thick and querns, stone pestles and sherds of the 15th – 12th centuries BC were found. In Sector No. 6 on the western slopes, remains from two work platforms and ramshackle buildings were explored, related to processing the gold ore. Querns and ceramic vessels of the 15th – 12th centuries BC were found _in situ_ and fragmentary small rock pieces from the ore processing were discovered.