EXPLORATIONS NEAR HADZHIDIMOVO (Tsvetana Komitova – komitova@abv.bg) The fortress is situated on an elevation. A sector along the western fortification wall, near the gate discovered in 2003, was explored. The southern fortification wall was traced out at 60 m in length. Room No. 2, partly excavated in 2003, room No. 3 with walls adjoining the fortification wall, room No. 4, the western part of Building No. 1 and a street were explored. According to the pottery, the site was occupied during the Late Bronze Age (1600/1500 – 1100 BC) and the Early Iron Age (11th – 6th centuries BC). An autonomous Macedonian coin, minted during the reign of Philip V or Perseus, was found. A dolium and a layer with traces of fire, containing fragmentary and burned tiles and Late Antique pottery, were discovered in room No. 2. A marble vessel, fragments of terracotta water-pipe and Late Antique pottery, and four dolia (one of them containing carbonized oats or rye) were found in room No. 3. Street runs along room No. 3. Three parallel rooms arranged in a line were discovered in Building No. 1. The walls are preserved at 0.60 – 1.90 m in height and are constructed of stones bonded with mud. The entrances are from the east. A layer with traces of fire, 40 – 50 cm in thickness, was registered. It contained fragmentary Late Antique pottery, small knives, reaping-hooks and carbonized grain. The fire most probably occurred in the 6th century AD when the existence of the Late Antique fortress came to an end. The Mediaeval finds date to the 12th – 13th centuries. A copper scyphate minted by Emperor Isaac II Angelos was found. The western fortification wall, preserved up to 1.50 m in height, is constructed of two adjoining walls with a bonding medium of mortar. The fortification wall is 1.10 – 1.30 m in width. The gate is 1.90 m wide. There is a semicircular tower, 5.50 m in diameter, on the fortification wall. A similar semicircular tower was discovered at the eastern end of the southern fortification wall. The fortification walls were built during the Late Antiquity, most probably in the 4th century AD.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR HADZHIDIMOVO (Tsvetana Komitova – komitova@abv.bg) A layer, 20 cm thick, was explored in room No. 1. Dolia were dug inside the floor of the room. Several stone slabs from the floor were discovered. A hearth with a terracotta trim shaped like a stylized two-head figure of a horse, partly explored in 2003, was uncovered. The floor of the hearth was paved with bricks, which shape a circular platform with a pit in front of it. A layer, 20 – 30 cm thick, was explored in room No. 3. The room was probably used as a warehouse. Dolia were dug inside the floor. The rooms were restored and displayed for visitors.