EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF KONUSH (Chavdar Kirilov – kirilovarch@gmail.com) The settlement was located based on historical sources, maps and satellite imagery. It was founded in the period 1400 – 1430 when Tatars who were colonists from Asia Minor settled there, led by Minnet Bey. His son, Minnetoglu Mehmed Bey participated in the Ottoman conquest of the Western Balkans during 1450 – 1475 and was consecutively appointed Sanjak-bey of Smederevo and Bosnia. He built a residence, a mosque, a _karavansaray_ and baths in Konush, and settled Christians from Bosnia there. During the first half of the 16th century, four satellite settlements appeared around the residence: two Christian and two Muslim, while a _waqf_ was established for the maintenance of the residence. Konush was situated on the main road from Belgrade to Constantinople and from the 1530s to c. 1580s, a number of West European travelers and diplomats passed through the village or stayed there and they described the settlement. From the 1580s onwards, Konush disappeared from the itineraries, since the main road was moved to the north. The settlement remained a _nahiye_ in Filibe _kaza_. Subsequently, it was divided in two villages: a Christian one called Bulgarsko Konush (Bulgarian Konush) and a Muslim one called Tursko Konush (Turkish Konush). In 2019, a geomagnetic survey was performed on an area of 38,000 sq. m and field surveys were carried out on an area of 60,000 sq. m. In addition, a tachymetric mapping of the surveyed area was done. The geomagnetic mapping showed the western end of the settlement and several areas with concentrations of anomalies within the settlement, indicating the existence of large buildings (stones, building ceramics and window glass were found there as well). There were numerous anomalies indicating the existence of small structures everywhere on the surveyed area of the site. Fragments from tobacco pipes and from _filjan_ for coffee were concentrated along the periphery of the supposed central square. Flints from threshing-boards, pieces of slag, iron bars and melts were discovered mostly in the periphery of the settlement. The finds inside the settlement included mostly pottery of the 15th – 18th centuries, including pottery produced in Demotika and Çanakkale, fragments from porcelain vessels, glass bracelets, fragments from glass windows and glass vessels. A bridge of the Ottoman period was documented to the north of the village; it was built over Konushka Reka River and belonged to the infrastructure of the main road from Belgrade to Constantinople. The bridge was probably supported by three arches and was 3.70 m wide and probably more than 10 m long.

EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF KONUSH (Chavdar Kirilov – kirilovarch@gmail.com) Geomagnetic exploration and field survey with collecting archaeological material were carried out on an area of 43,625 sq. m. The finds included sherds and fragmentary building ceramics of the Ottoman period, flints from flint-studded threshing-boards, broken glass from windows, iron slag and objects, glass melts and bracelets. The geophysical measurement identified a wide strip that was a section of the main road from Belgrade to Constantinople directed towards the Ottoman bridge on Konushka River. The main road ran along a large geomagnetic anomaly, at least 0.2 ha in size, situated to the south; probably, it was the caravanserai described in Ottoman and West European written sources. Monumental walls and decorated marble architectural fragments were also documented from the southern side of the main road. Probably, they belonged to the destroyed mosque that was situated nearby. An area without geomagnetic anomalies was documented to the west of the monumental buildings; its western side was surrounded with a semicircle (a rampart, or a ditch) over 100 m in diameter.