EXPLORATIONS OF SHISHMANOVO KALE FORTRESS NEAR SAMOKOV (Veselin Hadzhiangelov – vhajiangelov@yahoo.com) The lay-out of the fortress, occupying an area of 2.5 ha, was clarified in 2004. The site can be identified as a settlement with a suburb and a fortified citadel. Part of the gate of the fortress in the so-called suburb, pottery and metallurgical workshops, and an Early Christian basilica of the end of the 4th century AD were explored. An Early Byzantine church was uncovered on the eastern slope of a neighboring hill. Remains of its walls, tiles, bricks, fragmentary plaster with painted decoration and fragmentary glass were discovered.

SHISHMANOVO KALE FORTRESS NEAR SAMOKOV (Veselin Hadzhiangelov – vhajiangelov@yahoo.com) The excavations of the Early Byzantine church continued. It is a single-nave basilica, 16 m by 6.25 m in size, with a chapel adjoining its southern wall and measuring 8.75 m by 3.50 m. The walls are 60 cm in thickness and are built in opus mixtum. Four buttresses were constructed radially alongside the apse. Presumably, there was a second floor in the western part of the church. Fragmentary wall plaster with painted decoration was found on the floor of room No. 3. A synthrone, which was additionally constructed and was plastered with mortar similarly to the church floor, was discovered. The basilica entrance is on the southern wall and is 1.50 m in width. It is situated against the southern entrance (2.20 m in width) of the narthex. Room No. 3, measuring 5 m by 2.50 m, was explored in the western part of the church. Two bronze coins minted by Justinian I and Justin II, which date a destruction of the basilica, were found. Following parallels with Early Christian churches of the Syrian type, it is possible to assume that the basilica was used as an ossuary. The narthex measures 7.70 m by 3 m and presumably played the role of baptistery. The church has parallels with some Early Christian basilicas of the Syrian type, which were spread in the European territory of the Byzantine Empire during the 5th – 6th centuries AD. During the second period of existence (6th – 7th centuries AD), a chapel was built in the area between the eastern wall of the narthex and the southern wall of the church. Five graves were discovered under the floor of the nave and the area in front of the apse. The church had a ridge roof covered with tiles. Presumably, the basilica was part of monastery complex and bishop residence.

EXPLORATIONS NEAR SAMOKOV (Veselin Hadzhiangelov – vhajiangelov@yahoo.com) The church in Sector 2 is a single-nave basilica. There is an additionally built chapel adjoined to its southern wall. The basilica has a synthrone with two steps and an entrance and a narthex from the south. The church dates to the middle of the 5th – end of the 6th centuries AD. Two burials (Nos. 6 and 7) of children were discovered in the chapel. The graves are situated under the floor plaster of mortar and date before the construction of the chapel. A burial of a woman (No. 4) was explored to the east of the apse. The explorations of Church No. 1 continued in Sector 1. It is a basilica, 8.60 m by 19.50 m in size. The walls are built of boulders and uneven stones bonded with mud. The rooms from the earlier period, dated by coins to the end of the 4th – 5th centuries AD, provide some evidence for the existence of farming buildings. The finds include iron slag, mill bars, forge hearth, loom weights and iron tools. After the rooms were dismantled, the church was built, probably in the 6th century AD. A hoard was found at the foundations of the church. It contains a bronze buckle of the Sucidava Type, five folles and one hemifollis minted by Justinian I. Two of the coins were minted in AD 538/539 and AD 542/543. The hoard was buried during events related to the destruction of the settlement in ca. AD 550 – 575. The outer fortification wall was discovered in Sector 1V. The wall is built of boulders and uneven stones bonded with mortar. It is 80 – 90 cm thick and has outer and inner buttresses and pilasters. The excavated segment of the wall is 28 m long. There is an eastern gate flanked by two bastions in the middle of the discovered segment. A building, measuring 8.50 m by 15 m, was discovered close to the gate. The finds include loom weighs, iron slag, forging pliers, iron tools and pottery. The latest coin from the building was minted by Theodosius II.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR SAMOKOV (Veselin Hadzhiangelov – vhajiangelov@yahoo.com, Anastasia Cholakova) The area to the south of the basilica, in front of its entrance, was explored in Sector 2 (Early Byzantine basilica extra muros). A wall, constructed of boulders bonded with mortar and 60 cm wide, was discovered. It is an extension of the western wall of the basilica, oriented to the southeast. Its function was to terrace the terrain. Pottery, iron objects and a fragmentary glass church-lamp of the 5th – 6th century AD were found in the debris in front of the entrance of the basilica. The exploration of building No. 1, situated close to the fortification wall, continued in Sector 1B (fortification wall and adjacent buildings). The building has a trapezoidal layout and measures c. 9 m by 18 m. Its walls were constructed of uneven stones bonded with mortar or mud. Ceramic and mud bricks were used in some places. The roof was covered with tiles. A layer of debris was discovered, containing pottery, including red-gloss pottery of the end of the 3rd – 4th centuries AD, and finds up to the 6th century AD. A layer with traces of fire, 40 – 50 cm thick, was reached in the central part of the building. It was situated above the floor level and contained charcoal, mud bricks, fragmentary wattle-and-daub and pottery. According to the coins, the building was burned in the beginning of the 5th century AD. After the fire, the building was partly reused. Pieces of iron slag were found, indicating of the existence of a forge. Building No. 2, constructed of uneven stones bonded with mud, was documented to the south of Building No. 1. There was a street, c. 2.30 m wide, located between both buildings. The street led to the fortress gate that was explored in 2006. The finds from Sector 1B include 52 bronze coins of the 2nd – 6th centuries AD, iron fibulae of the Viminacium type and pottery, including grey Macedonian terra sigillata dated to the end of the 4th – first half of the 5th centuries AD.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR SAMOKOV (Veselin Hadzhiangelov – vhajiangelov@yahoo.com, Anastasia Cholakova) A layer with burned debris, situated above the floor level, was finally explored in the building in Sector 1B. It was related to the destruction of the building in the beginning of the 5th century AD. In Sector 3, the western fortification wall of the 4th century AD was uncovered for 8.50 m in length. The wall was build of stones bonded with mortar and had two faces with an emplectum of smaller stones. It is 1 m wide and is preserved up to 1.20 m in height. A fortification tower, 6.50 m by 6.50 m in size, was documented. Its walls are 1 m wide and are preserved at over 1.50 m in height. A building adjacent to the northern face of the tower was discovered. Its walls are 70 cm wide, built of stones bonded with mud. Debris, roof tiles, burned beams of oak and fir, burned clay plaster, pottery, and bones of sheep, pigs and goats were found inside the building. A wall surrounding a yard was discovered. Remains of a blacksmith forge and pieces of slag, c. 40 kg in weight, were discovered. The building probably was a blacksmith workshop, which dates to the second half of the 5th century AD, judging from a coin of Theodosius II minted in the middle of the 5th century AD and found in its foundations. The fire and the end of the building occupation date to the 6th century AD, judging from the finds: a follis of Justinian I minted in AD 439 – 440, a belt buckle of the Sucidava Type, fragments of amphorae and fibulae.

EXPLORATIONS NEAR SAMOKOV (Anastasia Cholakova – anastasia.cholakova@gmail.com, Veselin Hadzhiangelov) Part of the northeastern fortification wall and adjacent Building No. 1 were explored in Sector 1B. An earlier structure was documented under the building and stone constructions of its interior were discovered. A pierced coin of Licinius minted in AD 308 – 310 was found above the clay floor and under the debris from the fire. The interior stone structures were related to the construction of the building in the 4th century AD and its occupation until the fire dated to c. AD 425, judging from a coin of Theodosius II. Occupation layers related to reusing the walls during the 6th century AD were explored. In 2007, a forge was discovered and pieces of slag and coins of Anastasius I minted in AD 512 – 517/518 were found. Probably, after some hiatus, the occupation of Building No. 1 was resumed at the end of the 5th – beginning of the 6th century AD. The latest coin was minted by Justin II in AD 576 – 577, which coincided with the fire and the destruction of the settlement which occurred in c. AD 575 – 580 and were documented in Sectors 2 and 3. Part of the western fortification wall was discovered in Sector 3. The finds included and iron fibula of the Viminacium Type dated to the end of the 4th – 5th century AD and a coin of Valens minted in AD 367 – 375, which dated the construction of the fortification wall to the 4th century AD. A quadrilateral fortification tower and an adjacent building with a forge were discovered. The finds included sherds, a fragment of glass cup and a coin, which dated the construction of the tower to the period after the middle of the 5th century AD, probably related to the reconstruction of the settlement after the fire of c. AD 425. The occupation in Sector 3 continued throughout the 6th century AD, judging from coins of Justinian I, the latest one minted in AD 544 – 545, a belt buckle of the Sucidava Type and an iron fibula. The end of the occupation in Sector 3 was documented by traces of fire and arrowheads.

SHISHMANOVO KALE FORTRESS (Veselin Hadzhiangelov – vhajiangelov@yahoo.com) The archaeological explorations were resumed. A fortification gate 2.90 m wide was discovered, built of roughly-cut stones and boulders bonded with mortar. The road from the gate led towards the church located on the neighboring hill. The gate was closed with a two-wing door and its two stone axles were found. The southern door axle was a spolia (reused column). The fortification wall was 1 m wide, reinforced with pilasters that supported a wooden platform from the inner side of the wall. Building No. 2 consisting of parallel rooms arranged in a line was discovered close to Building No. 1. There was a street c. 2 m wide between both buildings, which started from the postern in the fortification wall. Two rooms were explored in Building No. 2 and a third one was partly discovered. The average width of the walls was 65 cm, built of boulders and roughly-cut stones bonded with clay. The entrances of the two rooms towards the street, c. 90 cm wide, were discovered. The rooms were used for storage and cooking: dug outs for dolia were discovered in both rooms and three domestic ovens were explored in the second one. Building No. 2 had a second floor, judging from the outer staircase that was discovered. The building had glass windows and its rood was covered with tegulae and imbrices. Building No. 3 with identical features was discovered. Judging from the coins, the buildings dated to the 4th – first half of the 5th centuries AD. Several coins of the middle of the 3rd century AD and an anonymous Byzantine follis of the middle of the 11th century were also found.

SHISHMANOVO KALE FORTRESS (Veselin Hadzhiangelov – vhajiangelov@yahoo.com) The explorations were carried out in Sector 1 in the northern part of the site where the main fortification gate and Church No. 1 were situated, and in Sector 1A located to the south. Two occupation periods were documented: the second half of the 3rd – beginning of the 4th centuries AD and the second half of the 4th – beginning of the 5th centuries AD. Buildings Nos. 6 and 7 in Sector 1A belonged to the first occupation period. Building No. 6 was built of wattle-and-daub, with a roof covered with tegulae. A number of empty pits that accommodated dolia were discovered. A coin of Constantius II minted in AD 341 – 346, found in the layer over the debris, was _terminus ante quem_ for the destruction of the building. A pile of burned fragmentary wattle-and-daub, fragmentary tegulae, sherds and terracotta loom weights, belonging to Building No. 7, was discovered. Judging from the finds, including a coin of Caracalla, the house dated to the 3rd century AD. It was destroyed in the beginning of the 4th century AD, judging from a coin of Licinius I. Buildings Nos. 4 and 5 and the fortification belonged to the second occupation period. Building No. 4 was situated in Sector 1, at the inner gate of the eastern fortification wall. The gate consisted of two parallel L-like side walls, 80 cm wide and situated at 3.87 m from each other. Building No. 4 was built of roughly-cut stones bonded with clay, with a roof covered with tegulae. A coin of Constantine the Great minted in AD 330 – 335 was found on the floor; it was _terminus post quem_ for the construction of the building. Building No. 5 was situated in Sector 1A. Its walls were 60 cm wide, built of roughly-cut stones and boulders bonded with clay. The building was constructed c. AD 350, judging from coins of Constantius II minted in AD 341 – 346. It was destroyed at the end of the 4th century AD, judging from coins of Theodosius I and Arcadius. After the buildings were destroyed at the end of the 4th century AD, a Christian cemetery appeared in that area. Five burials were explored and thus, their total number reached nine.