EXCAVATIONS IN THE PALATIAL CENTER OF PLISKA (Rasho Rashev, Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg) A circular building with timber construction was explored. Sixty-three holes of vertical timber posts were discovered. Forty-nine of them are arranged in circles, the outer one c. 28 m in diameter. The other post-holes are arranged in row oriented to the north and belong to a platform, 14 m in length and directed to the center of the building. The building dates to the 8th century AD. Ditches and holes of timber constructions were discovered, in addition to several underground passages. The earliest one is the northern part of the burnt underground passage that begins from the Palace of the Bulgarian Khan Krum (803 – 814) and leads to the northwest, passing under the foundation of the Pagan Temple. Furnace No. 8 situated under the foundations of Building ZhZI was explored. It is synchronous to furnaces Nos. 1 – 4, which are situated under the foundations of Building B4, together with pits containing charcoals and slag. A foundation of a circular building, 10 m in diameter, built of bricks bonded with mortar, was discovered to the south of Building B4. It was cut by the tripartite Building ZhZI and by other later constructions. The circular building was synchronous and functionally related to Building B4. The foundations of the Pagan Temple and the northern foundation of Building K belonging to the Capital period were discovered. Room I1 was discovered in the tripartite Building ZhZI. It is separated from the most eastern Room I through a passage, 1.10 m in width. The architectural complex dates to the Late Capital and Post-Capital periods. Two rooms located to the east of Baths K, two pits containing pottery of the 11th century excavated nearby and a floor level of a room belong to the latest occupation period (first half of the 11th century) of the former Palatial Center.

EXPLORATIONS OF THE PALATIAL COMPLEX IN PLISKA (Rasho Rashev, Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg, Stanislav Ivanov) Constructions and material coming predominantly from the post-Capital period were discovered in the northwestern corner of the Palatial Square. Remains of earlier constructions were also found. A strip, which is 15 m in width and is located between the northern and the southern walls, was thoroughly explored inside the Citadel. After dismantling the stone pavement of the yard, seven occupation periods were explored (from the latest to the earliest): 1. Pits, stoves and houses situated above the pavement, or cutting through it. 2. Post-Capital stone buildings. 3. Buildings and pavements of the Capital period. 4. A building of the Capital period (circular construction with foundation of bricks and 10 m in diameter). 5. Furnaces for melting metals. 6. Ditches, postholes and secret underground passages. 7. Timber buildings. Remains of a circular timber building belonging to the earliest occupation period were explored. One hundred and thirty-nine postholes for wooden vertical posts were preserved. The postholes are located in four concentric rows and the outer one is 25.20 m in diameter. A wooden pillar, 80 cm in diameter and placed at 3.20 m in depth, stood in the center of the construction. There is a row of pillars from the northern side of the building. Most likely, the row of pillars supported a platform leading to the upper occupation level of the building. Two glass appliqués were found. The building dates from the end of the 7th to the end of the 8th centuries AD.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN PLISKA (Rasho Rashev, Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg, Stanislav Ivanov) An area of 1100 sq. m was explored. The eastern sector is situated to the south of the pagan temple and close to the southern surrounding wall of bricks. Postholes, some of them with wedges of bricks, were documented. Three postholes under the pagan temple most probably were continuation of the row of postholes from the foundation of the circular timber building. Two parallel trenches from wooden fences with wedges of bricks were discovered. The exploration of the double postholes arranged in two parallel semicircular rows, some of them with wedges of bricks, continued. The western sector is situated to the east of the northern wing of the T-like building consisting of rooms arranged in a row. A section, 30 m long, of the wider secret underground passage was explored. The side timber supporting beams and the boards from the walls step on wedges of bricks. Pottery of the 8th – first half of the 9th centuries was found in the filling of the passage. The passage cut several trenches and the early water-conduit covered with bricks. A section, 15 m long, of the narrow secret underground passage was explored. The narrow passage is later than the wider one. Pottery of the 8th – first half of the 9th AD centuries was found in the filling of the passage. Two sections of the early water-conduit were explored. Pipes preserved in situ and mortar pad were discovered. Sections of three water-conduits, trenches from wooden walls and postholes of timber buildings were documented. One trench had a wedge of bricks and contained pottery of the 8th – 9th centuries AD. Postholes of a П-like timber building, 5.50 m by 3.50 m in size, were discovered. A pit, containing debris, animal bones, sherds, coins and lead seals of the first half of the 11th century, was explored.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN PLISKA (Rasho Rashev, Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg, Stanislav Ivanov) The explorations under the pavement of stone slabs in the yard, located in the southwestern part of the Citadel, continued over an area of c. 320 sq. m. During the excavations in 1899 and 1937, a surrounding wall of bricks with an entrance had been discovered. A sunken rectangular kiln, built of stones and fragmentary bricks bonded with clay, was discovered after the pavement of stone slabs was dismantled. A fragmentary pot of the first half of the 11th century was found there. Probably, the kiln stood under a shelter covered with roof tiles. Room “A” was excavated again. The pavement of stone slabs in the room’s interior and to the west of it is most likely synchronous to the first stage of its existence. The occupation layer under the pavement of stone slabs in the yard is 15 – 20 cm thick. A fragmentary pot with signs: |Y| and X, dated to the second half of the 10th century, was found. A pavement of bricks and three water conduits of terracotta pipes were discovered. Postholes and trenches, containing sherds of the 8th – 9th centuries AD, were explored. They were related to timber buildings and constructions: a room-shelter and a rectangular room measuring 3.50 m by 3 m located near the postern in the southern wall of the Citadel, a shelter along the southern and the western walls of the Citadel or a path at the level of the pinnacles, a wall of the earlier timber Citadel and a gate in the western palisade, and wooden fences. There was continuity in the architectural plan of the earlier timber and the later bricks-built Citadel.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN PLISKA (Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg, Stanislav Ivanov) About 250 sq. m in the Fortified Palace (the Citadel) were explored. The Southern Sector covered the interior of Room G of the building with parallel rooms arranged in a line, situated near the Large Cistern. The Northern Sector covered the northwestern part of the Citadel between Building B4 and the Large Cistern, to the south of the Palatial Church. A sector, 3.60 m long, of the main early water-conduit were explored. It was constructed of terracotta pipes placed over a mortar foundation and covered with a ridge roof of bricks. A sector, 5 m long, of another similar later water conduit was explored. A sector, 3.50 m long, of a third water-conduit of terracotta pipes was discovered. A sector, 8.80 m long, of a drain of terracotta pipes placed in a trench was explored. There were incised drawings of ploughs on two of the pipes. Sectors of 10 foundation trenches of overlapping timber fences of different periods were explored. A brick with incised drawing of a horseman and a bird, which was used as a foundation pad in a trench, was found. Part of a foundation trench of a circular timber building was explored. The trench was 1 – 1.10 m wide and 1.10 – 1.20 m deep. Eight post-holes were discovered. Most of the vertical timber beams were quadrilateral with section 25 to 50 cm. The building was 11 – 12 m in diameter. This was the fifth circular building discovered inside the Citadel. Postholes of different timber buildings were found. A sector, 18 – 20 m long, of the underground secret wide passage were explored. The passage had two periods of existence. A pavement of bricks was documented. Two rows of bricks, placed in a trench along the walls of the passage, were discovered. The bricks served as a foundation for the timber planks and beams which supported the roof of the passage. Sherds and a bone pincushion were found inside the underground passage. All of the constructions discovered date to the 8th – 9th centuries AD.

EXPLORATIONS IN PLISKA (Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg, Stanislav Ivanov) The explorations in the western part of the Small Palace (the Citadel) continued. Trenches from timber fences, pits for timber columns, water-conduits and drains of the 8th – 9th centuries AD were documented in Sector Central, between Building B4, the Palatial Church and the Large Cistern. Two places for stirring mortar of the end of the 10th – beginning of the 11th century were discovered. Midden pits were discovered below. The pits contained small wires from icon-lamps, fragmentary small glass vessels, a pair of iron scissors, an engraved glass gem showing a human head and a lead seal of Alexios, Spatarokandidatos and a Member of the Great Hetaireia, dated to the end of the 10th – 11th century. A pit situated under the foundation of the western wall of the Small Palace was explored. It contained a skeleton of a horse (or an ox), fragmentary bricks and marble veneers, and sherds of the second half of the 10th – 11th centuries. A pillar incorporated in the western building of the Small Palace was documented. In Sector South, a drain coming out from the sunken-floored room of the so-called winery and situated to the south of the baths was documented in Room G in the western wing of the T-like Building consisting of parallel rooms arranged in a line. Thirteen ceramic pipes placed in a trench over mortar pads were discovered. The walls of the sunken-floored room were constructed of bricks and its floor was plastered with hydrophobic mortar. The room was later than the baths and had an area of 60 sq. m and was 2 m deep. It was probably a cistern. Sectors from the so-called main water-conduit of the Inner Town of Pliska were explored. The water-conduit was placed over mortar pads and was covered with a pitched roof of bricks. A cistern for containing and cleaning the drinking water was discovered. It was dug out into the ground and was 1.25 m by 1.30 m in size and 1.40 m in depth. Its walls and bottom were faced with marble veneer and slabs. The cistern was built before the Large Pool.

PLISKA (Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg, Stanislav Ivanov) Sector I was situated between the western wall of the Citadel and the Baths located to the south of the Large Cistern, to the north of Room G of the T-like building consisting of parallel rooms arranged in a line and to the south of the Palatial Building constructed over the Large Cistern. Pavements, terracotta water-conduits and drains were explored along the fortification wall of the Citadel. Postholes of a ramshackle building were documented in the central part of the sector and a domestic oven was discovered. Trenches for timber fences, terracotta water-conduits, drains, shafts and postholes were also discovered. A lead seal of the Bulgarian King Simeon I (AD 893 – 927) and a gilded bronze point of a belt with floral decoration of the 9th century AD were found. Sector II covered the northwestern part of the Citadel, and was situated between the Palatial Cross-dome Church, the Circular Cistern, the Baths with two rooms and the Baths with three rooms. Drains and water-conduits were discovered. Lead water-conduit No. 9 was providing water for the cistern. Postholes, 1 – 1.40 m in diameter and 1.10 – 2.40 m in depth, were discovered. Sector III covered the middle part of the corridor between the eastern and the western wings of the Small Palace. Stone slabs from a pavement were dismantled and a layer with charcoal and fragmentary mortar was discovered below. The layout of an underground corridor, 1 m wide and located under the Small Palace, was documented. Postholes were explored. Sector IV covered the northern room in the eastern wing of the Small Palace. Stone slabs from a pavement were dismantled. Postholes were discovered, 1.40 – 1.60 m in diameter and 1.70 – 2.20 m in depth. Sector V covered the northeastern part of the Citadel. Two sunken-floored houses were explored, dated with pottery and coins to AD 975 – 1050. The level of the 9th century AD was reached and trenches for timber fences and postholes for buildings were documented.

PLISKA (Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg, Stanislav Ivanov) Fifty-eight structures were discovered in Sector I in the Northeastern part of the Citadel and four structures were discovered in Sector II in the Southeastern part of the Citadel. The structures in the upper stratum included two buildings/shelters and seven sunken-floored houses with 14 storage and midden pits. Judging from the pottery, the coins, the lead seals and the objects that were found, the structures dated to the second half of the 10th – first decades of the 11th centuries. The finds included three Byzantine lead seals: the first one of Basil II, the second one of Damyan Dobromir – an antipathos, patrikios and dux of Thrace and Mesopotamia at the end of the 10th century, and the third one not identifiable and dated to the end of the 10th – 11th century. The coins included six anonymous Byzantine folles of Class A2 (AD 976 – 1030/1035) and one anonymous follis of Class B (AD 1030/1035 – 1042). A bronze coin of Amisos of the 2nd – 1st century BC was found in a pit, together with sherds of the end of the 10th – beginning of the 11th century. The structures in the lower stratum included a secret underground passage which began from the pagan temple in the Citadel and ended beyond its northern fortification wall, a monumental building located close to the eastern fortification wall of the Citadel, 25 postholes and nine trenches for foundations of timber fences. For certain period, the pagan temple, the building close to the eastern fortification wall of the Citadel and the fence coexisted. Sherds and a small gilded copper bell were found in the trenches.

PLISKA (Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg, Stanislav Ivanov) The explorations were carried out in the eastern part of the Citadel. The northeastern corner of Trench No. IV of a timber fence was discovered in Sondage I, situated at 12 m from the northern and at 9 m from the eastern bricks wall of the Citadel. The continuation of Г-like Trench No. III with postholes was discovered in Sondage I-East. A pit of the end of the 10th – beginning of the 11th century was discovered in Sondage II, containing two skulls, of a horse and a young bull. Postholes from timber buildings of the Capital Period of Pliska were explored. Trench No. IV from a timber fence was discovered, situated at 9 m from the eastern wall of the Citadel. Strata with sherds of the 9th – beginning of the 11th centuries were explored in Sondage III/IV. Eight trenches from timber fences and 28 pits were documented. Part of a timber building with posts of the 9th century and a floor paved with bricks was discovered. Two of the postholes were explored along the southern wall of the citadel which cut them. One of the postholes contained sherds from an amphora-like pitcher of the first half of the 9th century. Sunken-floored House No. 5 of AD 975 – 1000 was explored in Sondage VII. Four bone skates of the 9th century were found during the excavations.

PLISKA (Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg, Stanislav Ivanov) Two midden pits were explored in Trench No. II. The pit in Square 341 contained bones from an ox and a horse. The pit in Square 358 cut the foundation trench of a timber building and the row of postholes for timber columns. The pit contained sherds of AD 970 – 1020. The sunken-floored House No. 8 dated to the same period. A ramshackle timber building was documented in Squares 342 and 358. Animal bones and sherds of the 9th century AD were found. Thirteen postholes of a timber building were discovered, containing sherds of the 9th century AD and arranged in a row oriented north – south and long 10 m. The building was situated at c. 5.50 m from the eastern brick fortification wall of the Citadel and parallel to it. Six postholes of timber columns, 35 – 40 cm in diameter, were discovered in Trenches 341 and 357. The pits contained sherds of the 9th century AD. They belonged to a timber building situated at c. 6 m from the eastern brick fortification wall of the Citadel and parallel to it. The floor of the timber building was explored in Trench No. III. It was paved with bricks. Eight postholes of timber beams that supported the roof were discovered. The building dated to AD 850 – 900. The finds from the excavations included a lead seal of Nikephoros Philokalos – a Byzantine strategos of the 11th century, a lead core of a seal that was not struck and a clay counter for gaming.

PLISKA (Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg, Stanislav Ivanov) In Trench II the explorations of the shelter of the end of the 10th – first half of the 11th century, situated close to the eastern wall of the Citadel, continued. Postholes and ditches of timber buildings and timber fences of the period when Pliska was the capital were discovered. The four postholes in the corners of the timber building, 8.50 m by 4.30 m in size, were discovered. In Trench III, four postholes were discovered between the southern wall of the Citadel and the northern wall of Building D. Three levels of overlapping postholes of timber buildings and three ditches of timber fences were documented to the east of the timber building with floor paved with bricks discovered in 2012 – 2013. Sherds of the 9th century AD and a gold button were found in Pit No. 3.

PLISKA (Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg) The explorations in the Eastern Sector of the Citadel continued. In Trench III, sectors from trenches and postholes from timber structures of the end of the 8th – 9th centuries AD were discovered. A stratum up to 70 cm thick was explored, containing sherds of the 10th – beginning of the 11th centuries. In Trench II, the explorations of the Large Timber Building of the first half of the 9th century AD continued. Seven postholes that accommodated timber columns c. 40 cm in diameter, were discovered. The building was separated in equal perpendicular rooms that were 8 m by 4 m in size. Sherds of the first half of the 9th century AD were found. The building was reconstructed and three of its perpendicular rooms were unified in a new one, c. 12 m by 6 m in size. A complex of three pits was explored, each one c. 3.20 m by 1.60 m in size and c. 70 cm deep. The pits were arranged in a line oriented east – west. Remains from ovens were discovered in the pits. The complex dated to the end of the 8th – first half of the 9th century AD and probably was used for cooking for the feasts organized by the proto-Bulgarian khans.

PLISKA (Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg, Stanislav Ivanov) In Trench III a section of the trench of a timber fence was documented. It cut two postholes. Two other postholes were excavated as well. The postholes dated to the 8th – 9th centuries AD. In Trench II a dugout of the end of the 10th – beginning of the 11th centuries AD was explored, 3.30/3.65 m by 3.30/3.50 m in size. A stove constructed of fragmentary bricks was discovered in the dugout. A production kiln of the 10th century AD was explored, 3 m by 2 m in size, constructed of bricks bonded with mortar. Fifteen postholes were discovered around the kiln. They supported a shelter. The explorations of the Large Timber Building of the 8th – 9th centuries AD continued. The building measured 18.40 m by 8.50 m. Three pairs of postholes were discovered. They belonged to a timber passage, 2.20 – 2.80 m wide. The passage was constructed after the destruction of the Large Timber Building.

PLISKA (Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg, Stanislav Ivanov) The explorations continued in the eastern part of the Citadel, in the sector located to the east of the Small Pagan Temple and to the southwest of the Big Timber Building. Three pits, initially used for storage and subsequently reused as midden pits, were excavated there, dated to the post-Capital Byzantine period (AD 975 – 1050). One of the pits contained an anonymous Byzantine follis of the Class A (AD 976 – 1030/1035); another one contained a fragmentary pot. Foundation trenches and postholes of several timber buildings and a passage or a long building were also discovered, dated to the Capital period (8th – 9th centuries AD) and the post-Capital Bulgarian period (end of the 9th – 10th centuries AD). Some of the foundation trenches and postholes overlapped, thus confirming the presence of at least three construction periods of the timber buildings. Two storage pits with sherds of the end of the 9th – 10th centuries AD were excavated in front of the kiln, discovered in 2017.

PLISKA (Yanko Dimitrov – yanko_aim@mail.bg, Stanislav Ivanov) The excavations continued in the area between the Large Timber Building and the Shelter with floor paved with bricks, to the east of the well in the eastern part of the Citadel. Trenches of foundations and postholes of timber buildings and fences dated to c. 700 – 960 AD with at least four construction phases were explored. The explorations of the trench of the foundations of the so-called Long Timber Building continued and so far 11 m of its length was excavated. A midden pot was discovered, containing fragments of limestone ashlars, bricks and roof-tiles, pieces of mortar, animal bones, sherds of the first half of the 11th century AD and two anonymous Byzantine folles of Class A2 (AD 976 – 1030/1035). An underground cellar 2.80 m by 1.50 m in size was discovered. Postholes of timber posts that supported the roof of the cellar were documented. Sherds of the first half of the 11th century AD were found in the cellar. Four parallel trenches oriented east – west were discovered in the southeastern part of the Citadel, filled with a large number of animal bones, mostly from oxen and horses, debris, a sherd from an amphora with part of dipinto inscription and two anonymous Byzantine folles of Class A2 (AD 976 – 1030/1035). The four trenches probably were foundations of the inner timber fences in the Citadel and dated to c. AD 970 – 1050.