ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR KERMEN (Krasimir Nikov – k_nikov29@yahoo.com, Daniela Stoyanova) An area of c. 550 sq. m was explored. The sondages that contain materials from the Bronze Age (sherds, fragmentary wattle-and-daub, flint artifacts) were situated predominantly in the western part of the site. An oval excavation, 3.80 m by 3.10 m in size, was registered in sondage No. 11. The finds (fragmentary ceramic vessels, animal bones, flint artifacts and fragmentary wattle-and-daub) allow us to identify the structure as a house. The materials from the Late Iron Age (5th – 1st centuries BC) are concentrated mostly in the central and eastern part of the site. Two oval excavations, 3 m and 4.50 m in width, were explored in sondage No. 17. Sherds of Thracian hand-made ceramic vessels, Greek black-gloss pottery and amphorae were found. Two concentric ditches, 1.90 m and 1.50 m in width, were registered in sondages Nos. 24 and 29. Two ritual pits were registered in sondages Nos. 21 and 38. A rectangular excavation, 2.10 m by 2.40 m in size, was excavated in sondage No. 30. Sherds of Thracian hand-made pottery were found. A pit, 1.20 m in diameter, was discovered nearby. A Late Antique inhumation grave with two child skeletons and a pot was explored in sondage No. 30. A room measuring 3.60 m by 3.40 m was discovered in sondage No. 22. Sherds of the 10th century AD, animal bones, fragments of building ceramics and clay plasters were found.