EXPLORATIONS IN THE NECROPOLIS OF MESAMBRIA (Dimo Kozhuharov – contacts@ancient-nessebar.com, Stoyanka Dimova) Two Hellenistic graves with roofs of tegulae were discovered during building works on the place of ‘Morski Zvutsi’ Restaurant. The funerary ritual was inhumation. There are no grave goods, with exception of a bronze coin of Mesambria dated to the 4th – 3rd centuries BC. Two pit-graves of the Roman Age (2nd century AD) were uncovered as well. The funerary ritual was cremation. Two terracotta figurines of Venus, a ceramic bowl, an oinochoe and five glass unguentaria were found in the first grave. Ceramic jug and small bowl, one bronze and five glass unguentaria were discovered in the second grave. During digging works in front of the ‘Panorama’ Hotel, a Hellenistic grave constructed of limestone slabs and ashlars was uncovered. The grave contained an inhumation burial of a man. It was looted during the antiquity. The grave goods include a fragmentary jug, a ‘Megarian’ bowl, an unguentarium and an iron strigil. The grave dates to the end of the 4th – 3rd centuries BC. A Hellenistic funerary construction with two chambers built of limestone slabs and ashlars was explored in the area of the ‘Southern Park’. It was partly looted during the Middle Ages. Inhumation burials of two women were discovered in both chambers. The first chamber contains small ceramic bowl and unguentarium, a bronze coin, a bronze mirror, glass beads and two gold earrings. The grave goods from the second chamber include a fragmentary small jug, a ceramic unguentarium, a glass bead and a bronze coin of Mesambria coming from the 4th – 3rd centuries BC. The graves date to the end of the 4th – first half of the 3rd centuries BC.

EXPLORATIONS IN THE NECROPOLIS OF MESAMBRIA (Petya Kiyashkina – kiyashkina_p@yahoo.com, Stoyanka Dimova) The modern construction works in the area of the necropolis began in the 1920s. In 2005, building works began on the place of the holiday house ‘Zlaten Klas’, ‘Panorama’ Hotel and ‘Vyatarna Melnitsa’. Thirteen graves of the Hellenistic, Roman and Mediaeval periods were explored. Grave No. 1 is an oval burial pit. The skeleton is partly preserved and is southwest – northeast oriented. Two small bowls, a terracotta lamp, etc. were found. The grave dates to the first quarter of the 1st century BC. Grave No. 4 is an east – west oriented construction built of stone slabs, 2.90 m in length, 1 m in width and 60 cm in height. The grave was looted. Grave No. 7 is an east – west oriented construction built of ashlars at 2 m in depth. It measures 2.30 m by 1 m by 60 cm. The burial is an inhumation and the deceased lay on the back. The grave goods include a jug, an unguentarium, a small bowl, a gold clasp of a necklace, glass beads and a gold earring. The grave dates to the last quarter of the 3rd century BC. Grave No. 10 consists of two chambers built of slabs and ashlars and is northwest – southeast oriented. The skeleton was decayed. Remains of a wooden coffin were found. The grave goods include a small jug, a bronze coin of Mesambria, an iron strigil, two iron spearheads, etc. The grave dates to 180 BC, at the earliest. Grave No. 11 is a northeast – southwest oriented burial pit and contained a partly preserved skeleton. The grave goods include a gold earring, glass and terracotta beads and a small bowl. The grave dates to the second half of the 3rd century BC. A funerary stela showing images in relief and bearing an inscription with the name of the deceased: Eukleon, son of Nikanor, was discovered outside the excavated graves.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS IN MESAMBRIA (Petya Kiyashkina – kiyashkina_p@abv.bg, Todor Marvakov, Stoyanka Dimova) Nineteen Hellenistic graves dated from the end of the 4th to 2nd centuries BC were explored. Two types of graves were registered. The cist graves were built and covered with ashlars. The cists consist of one burial chamber, or two burial chambers, or are situated in groups. The grave goods, which were not looted, include ceramic jugs and lacrimaria, a funerary wreath, a gold earring, gold beads, a gold necklace and a gold finger-ring. The pit graves contained inhumation burials. Grave No. 23 is the earliest one and dates to the end of the 4th – beginning of the 3rd century BC. The grave goods include a posthumous drachma of Alexander the Great, a gold necklace, a pair of gold earrings, a terracotta figurine of Kybele, ceramic lacrimaria and a jug. A coin of Mesambria, a bronze mirror, a bone pin, a glass amphoriskos, terracotta figurines showing a female personage and Nike, ceramic lacrimaria and an anthropomorphic glass bead were found in Grave No. 1. Grave No. 46 contained bored bronze coins (four minted in Mesambria and three Macedonian), which had circulated for an extended period. The burial was performed in the beginning of the 2nd century BC. The grave goods include a bronze finger-ring, an earring, a fibula, two necklaces of beads, a ceramic lacrimarium and a Megarian bowl. The grave goods in Grave No. 64 include gold earrings, a gold bead, gilded glass beads, a bronze bracelet, a ceramic bowl, a jug and a lacrimarium, and a bronze coin of Mesambria. Ten Early Byzantine Christian pit graves of the 7th century AD were explored. Two graves contained bronze buckles, one of them of the Balgota type dated to the first half of the 7th century AD. Twenty-five Christian pit graves without grave goods, dated to the 8th – 13th centuries, were explored. Twenty Muslim graves of the 17th – 19th centuries, without grave goods, were discovered.

EXPLORATIONS IN MESAMBRIA (Petya Kiyashkina – kiyashkina_p@abv.bg, Todor Marvakov, Stoyanka Dimova) The necropolis was used from the end of the 4th century BC to the 19th century and 291 graves were explored: 59 Hellenistic graves from the 3rd – 2nd centuries BC, 73 Early Byzantine graves from the 5th – 7th centuries AD, 95 Mediaeval Christian graves from the 8th – 12th centuries, 20 Late Mediaeval Christian graves from the 15th – 16th centuries and 44 Muslim graves from the 17th – 19th centuries. The Hellenistic graves were three types: cist graves, graves covered with roof-tiles and burial pits. The funerary ritual was inhumation. Most graves contained a ritually broken ceramic jug. Cist grave No. 71 contained a funerary wreath, an arrowhead and a posthumous drachma of Alexander the Great. Most graves were burial pits with different orientations. The deceased were rested in wooden coffins. The grave goods include unguentaria, Charon’s obols (all types of bronze coins minted by Mesambria from the end of the 4th to the end of the 2nd century BC), necklaces of glass beads, funerary wreaths, molded relief bowls, small dishes and kantharoi. Gold earrings of the 2nd century BC were found in graves Nos. 124 and 125. The first type of the Early Byzantine graves was constructed of stone slabs or uneven stones. A Hellenistic funerary stele with the names of two brothers: Lysis and Moschos, the sons of Lysis, was reused in grave No. 193. The second type was rectangular burial pits, most of them covered with wooden boards. The grave goods include five belt buckles of the second half of the 5th – first half of the 6th centuries AD, a belt buckle of the Balgota type of the 7th century AD and three necklaces of color glass beads. The grave goods from the Mediaeval graves include finger-rings and earrings of the 9th – 10th centuries, a necklace of glass beads and an arrowhead. The deceased buried in the Late Mediaeval graves probably had died in a short period during an epidemic or a war. The grave goods include small crosses and buttons.