EARLY CHRISTIAN TOMB IN SERDICA (Mario Ivanov – slotarm@yahoo.com) A big family tomb was explored in the central part of the Eastern necropolis of Serdica. The monument is oriented east – west and is situated in front of the western facade of St. Sophia Basilica dated to the second half of the 5th century AD. The tomb consists of a burial chamber and stairs with five steps, partly destroyed by the foundations of the basilica. The chamber is barrel-vaulted with a rectangular layout; its outer size is 6 m by 5.20 m. The tomb was built of bricks bonded with white lime. Two supporting walls of stones bonded with lime support from the outside the longer brick walls of the tomb. The outer surface of the chamber was covered with thin plaster of white lime whose function was to protect the monument from the weather. The stairs were covered by a reused altar enclosure with stylized floral decoration. The entrance was closed by a stone slab decorated with a cross in relief. The inner dimensions of the burial chamber are 4.46 m by 3.40 m by 2.10 m. Its entire inner wall was covered with plaster of white lime. Three inhumation burials were found within the chamber. A child who was buried dressed in a garment interwoven with gold was discovered in the northeastern corner. A lower part of a kitchen vessel used as an incense-burner was found close to the child’s skull. Another child and an adult whose sex could not be determined were buried in the southwestern corner of the chamber. A gold earring was found close to their skulls. The analysis of the numismatic material (more than 60 coins) and the stratigraphy show that the tomb dates to the first quarter of the 5th century AD.

ST. SOPHIA BASILICA (Yunian Meshekov – meshekov@abv.bg) Three graves belonging to the necropolis of Serdica were explored under St. Sophia Basilica. Grave No. 1 situated under the northern part of the transept was built of fragmentary bricks bonded with mortar. The burial chamber had a preserved length of 1.50 m and was 40 cm wide and 40 cm deep. It was covered with bricks. An iron nail from a coffin was found inside the chamber. The grave was partly destroyed during the construction of the transept. The skeleton of the deceased was partly preserved and belonged to a man rested with his head to the west. There were no grave goods. Grave No. 2 was situated under the western wall of Church No. 1 (the so-called martyrium) and its extension built after AD 313. The grave was constructed of fragmentary bricks bonded with mortar. It was covered with two stone slabs. The burial chamber was 1.75 m long, 90 cm wide and 40 cm deep. The skeletons belonged to a family: a man and a woman under the age of 45 years, a child four – four and a half years old and a baby under one year old. The deceased were rested with heads to the west. There were no grave goods. Grave No. 3 situated under the southern part of the transept was built of fragmentary bricks bonded with mortar. It was covered with two stone slabs. The burial chamber had the preserved length of 1.30 m and was 45 cm wide and 35 cm deep. A woman rested with head to the west was buried in the grave. There were no grave goods. During the construction of the basilica the grave was not destroyed, but it was preserved in situ and the new construction was done in order to preserve it. However, the builders had destroyed another later grave and had collected the bones of a deceased man and reburied them in grave No. 3. The three graves dated to the late 3rd or the beginning of the 4th century AD, in the period before the construction of Church No. 1.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN ST. SOPHIA BASILICA (Yunian Meshekov – meshekov@abv.bg) The first archaeological explorations in the area under the floor of St. Sophia Basilica were carried out by Bogdan Filov in 1910. In 2010, grave No. 1 was explored, oriented east – west, 1.85 m in length, 85 cm in width and 62 cm in depth, situated across the western wall of the western extension of the nave of Church 1 built in the beginning of the 4th century AD. The grave was built of fragmentary and intact square bricks, 35 – 37 cm long, bonded with mortar. It was covered with a stone slab. The western wall of the grave was partly destroyed during the construction of the wall of Church 1. The skeletons were disturbed and belonged to three deceased, male and female, 20 – 30 years old. Iron nails and carbonized wood were found, indicating the existence of wooden coffin (coffins). The grave dated to the late 3rd – beginning of the 4th century AD.

ST. SOPHIA BASILICA (Yunian Meshekov – meshekov@abv.bg) The area around the Early Christian Tomb of Honorius, dated to the 5th – beginning of the 6th century AD and excavated in 1989 and 2002, was explored. The tomb was barrel-vaulted and built of bricks, 1.95 m by 2.52 m in size and 1.71 m in height. The entrance was on its eastern side. A Christian burial of an adult was discovered inside the tomb. There were fresco paintings on the inner walls of the tomb, showing crosses and flowers and the following inscriptions: † HONORIUS SERVUS ΧΡ(ΙΣΤ)Ι (eastern wall), DEUS (southern wall), DOMINUS (western wall), S(an)C(tus) (northern wall). In 2011, five nummi of Justin I minted in Constantinopol was found in the tomb. A barrel-vaulted Tomb No. 1/11 with an entrance from the west was documented to the west of the Tomb of Honorius. Partly preserved Grave No. 1/11, probably of the 6th century AD, was discovered, oriented east – west, constructed of bricks, covered with slabs, with a floor paved with bricks. Grave No. 2/11 of the second half of the 3rd century AD, was discovered, oriented east – west, constructed of bricks, covered with reused slabs, with a floor paved with bricks. The grave was a cenotaph, containing a glass unguentarium, a bronze coin of Tiberius Britannicus and iron nails from a wooden coffin. Cist Grave No. 1/11 with two burial chambers, probably of the 5th century AD, was discovered. The southern chamber was covered with slabs. A partly preserved polychrome mosaic was documented on the floor of the chamber. The grave was looted in the past.

ST. SOPHIA BASILICA (Yunian Meshekov – meshekov@abv.bg) Two sectors to the north and to the south of St. Sophia Basilica were explored. Four barrel-vaulted tombs were discovered in the northern sector, all of them known from the explorations carried out throughout the 20th century. The tombs dated to the 4th – 5th centuries AD. A grave covered with tegulae of the 2nd – 3rd century AD was found beneath the eastern wall of Tomb XXVIII discovered in 1910. A Mediaeval grave was documented in the vault of Tomb 1 discovered in 1962. In the southern sector, the southern wall of the earlier church of AD 400 – 450 was documented close to the foundation of the southern wall of St. Sophia Basilica. Part of the vault of a tomb of the 5th century AD was discovered. Two other identical barrel-vaulted tombs of 4th – 5th centuries AD have been documented to the south of the basilica during the previous excavations: Tomb LXIII discovered in 1920 and Tomb 32 discovered in 1980. Five graves built of bricks were explored. The first one measured 2.50 m by 1.60 m and was oriented east – west. The second grave measured 80 cm by 60 cm, oriented southwest – northeast, and a newborn baby was buried there. The third grave also belonged to a child and an unguentarium of the end of the 2nd – beginning of the 3rd century AD was found there. The fourth grave measured 2.60 m by 1.70 m and was 1 m deep. Its floor was paved with bricks and an adult was probably buried there. Two of the bricks in its structure had a Chi Rho christogram, thus indicating that the grave dated after the beginning of the 4th century AD. The fifth grave measured 2.70 m by 1.30 m. Three graves with inhumation burials, oriented northwest – southeast, covered with tegulae and dated the 2nd – 3rd centuries AD, were explored. The bodies were laid with heads to the northwest. Grave goods were discovered in one of the burials: a small votive bronze stick with an image of a temple, a small stone plate and an iron needle. A cist grave built of re-used ashlars was discovered. It measured 3 m by 2.30 m, 30 cm in depth, and dated to the 4th century AD.

SERDICA (Yunian Meshekov – meshekov@abv.bg) A partly preserved Early Christian barrel-vaulted tomb was explored to the north of St. Sophia Basilica. It was previously discovered during building works in 1989. The tomb was built of bricks bonded with mortar; it was oriented northeast – southwest and its burial chamber measured 3.30 m by 2.20 m. The entrance was 1 m high and 55/60 cm wide, oriented to the southwest and closed with a stone slab. Single human bones were discovered scattered in the burial chamber. There were frescoes on the wall of the chamber: two Latin crosses painted in red and floral decoration painted in green and red, representing garlands with rosettes on stems. The tomb dated to the end of the 5th – beginning of the 6th centuries AD.

SERDICA (Yunian Meshekov – meshekov@abv.bg, Nadezhda Ivanova) A partly destroyed grave was discovered in the eastern necropolis of Serdica and situated to the east of St. Sophia Basilica. It was oriented northeast – southwest, built of bricks bonded with mortar and covered with a stone slab. Single fragments from human bones were found in the grave. It dated to the 3rd – 5th century AD.