EXPLORATIONS IN AUGUSTA TRAIANA – VEREYA (Maria Kamisheva – maria.ivanowa@gmail.com) The site was situated in the northern part of Augusta Traiana. A building with three construction periods was explored. The building consisting of several rooms was built during the 2nd century AD. Its walls were 60 – 65 cm wide. Probably, the building had columns with capitals, since a capital with acanthus leaves from a pillar of the 2nd century AD was reused after the 7th century AD. The building was destroyed after the middle of the 3rd century AD and the terrain was leveled. A new building, 23.05 m long, was constructed in the middle of the 4th century AD. Its walls were built of uneven stones bonded with mortar and were 60 – 63 cm wide. There was a pool, 2.55 m by 1.65 m in size, situated in the southeastern corner of the building. Its bottom was paved with bricks, 34 cm by 34 cm in size. There were small pillars inside the pool, which probably supported some seats. There were two living rooms in the building. The entrance of the western room was oriented to the south and was 1.20 m wide. The floor was paved with multicolor mosaics consisting of bands and rectangular/square panels. The first band consisted of yellow tesserae with incorporated crosses of black and white tesserae. The next band consisted of twisted line of red, pink, white, grey, black and yellow tesserae. The third inner band consisted of a braid of black, red, grey and yellow tesserae. There were several panels inside the bands. The eastern panel incorporated a circular braid. Probably, the floor of the eastern room was also paved with mosaics. There was a sunken-floored storage room in the western part of the building. The building was destroyed in the beginning of the 7th century AD. A layer of charcoal, ash and burned timber beams was documented. After the demolition, the building was restored and the room with the mosaics was eliminated, while the neighboring room was paved with bricks. New walls were constructed over the destroyed ones. Two reused Attic bases of Roman Ionic columns were discovered. Pottery of the 9th and the 12th – 13th centuries was found on the site.

AUGUSTA TRAIANA (Georgi Iliev – alhio@mail.bg) The site was situated in the northern part of Augusta Traiana. In 2009, four occupation periods were documented. Period I: the 2nd – 3rd centuries AD. Parts of a building were discovered, which was demolished in the middle of the 3rd century AD. Period II: the 4th – 6th centuries AD. In the middle of the 4th century AD a building was constructed of roughly cut stones bonded with mortar, 23.05 m long. A pool was discovered in its southeastern corner. Two rooms were discovered in the northern part of the building, the western one with polychromic floor mosaics. The building existed until the beginning of the 7th century AD. Subsequently, it was reconstructed and modified. Period III: the 12th – 14th centuries. Several pits containing sherds were explored. Period IV: the 15th – 19th centuries. A building was constructed during 18th – 19th century. The explorations continued in 2010. A wall of the 18th – 19th century was discovered, built over an earlier wall of the 4th – 6th century AD. The finds included Late Antique sherds of bowls and cups, and a bottom of a red-gloss vessel with a partly preserved graffito that reads: ΩΛΟΠΑ.

AUGUSTA TRAIANA (Dimiter Yankov – dimiter_yankov@yahoo.com) The northern part of the room with the mosaic floor was explored. A panel of the mosaic was discovered in the central part of the room and another panel was found to the east, accommodating an octagonal pool. The mosaic floor shows geometric decoration on the periphery and a Dionysiac scene in the central panel. The geometric decoration included crosses within circles, interweaved swastikas and circles, and Vitruvian scroll. The central panel is 1.16 m wide and shows a Dionysiac procession led by a Satyr holding a shepherd’s crook, followed by two dancing Maenads. The first Maenad is holding music instruments in both hands, and the second one is holding castanets. The pool is 20 cm deep and has marble floor, while the water was provided through a lead pipe. The pool was surrounded by a band of ochre tesserae, depicting four vessels in the corners. The mosaic dated to AD 350 – 375, probably during the reign of Julian, and indicated the power of the pagan traditions during the Early Christian period.