ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN NOVAE (Pavlina Vladkova – pavlina_v@yahoo.com) The site is located to the west of the western fortification wall of Novae. During the 1980s, three tombs were discovered in the northern and the southern nave of the three-nave basilica and in its narthex. In 2004, the tombs were cleaned. Rooms, some of them with hypocaust, drains and water-conduits from the end of the 2nd to 4th centuries AD were explored. Coins, terracotta lamps, a medical instrument, pottery, etc. were found. Two graves of the second half of the 5th century AD, which preceded the construction of the basilica, were discovered in the northern nave. The street running from the east to the west was traced out at 33 m in length. The street is 7 m in width and is paved with boulders. The pavement lies at 20 – 30 cm lower than the level of the portico of the building located to the north of the street. A drain covered with stone slabs lies alongside the southern periphery of the street. A shaft for cleaning the drain was discovered. The foundations of the northern stylobate of a building were explored to the south of the street. The foundations of the southern stylobate of a building, the brick pavement of its southern portico, 3.60 m in width, and rooms from different construction periods were discovered to the north of the street. A layer with debris of a building of the early 2nd century AD was explored. Ten coins, the latest one minted by Hadrian, terracotta lamps and pottery were found. The excavations demonstrated that the area to the west of the fortification wall had a high building density from the early 2nd to the beginning of the 5th centuries AD. Houses existed on both sides of the street during the 2nd – 3rd centuries AD, while production facilities were constructed in the 4th century AD.

NOVAE – SECTOR VIIIА, ЕХТRА MUROS BUILDING (Pavlina Vladkova – pavlina_v@yahoo.com) The explorations were concentrated in the western part of the complex. A grave containing an earring of the 6th century AD, most probably belonging to the basilica’s cemetery, was discovered. Three rooms of the second half of the 4th century AD were partly explored. The northern room has a mortar flooring, the central one is paved with a brick floor, while the flooring of the southern room is not preserved. The walls were built of adobe and lie on a stone plinth. A drain starts from the northern room and passes through the central room. The bottom of the drain is paved with bricks. The drain was covered with stone slabs. Coins, pottery, fragments of glass vessels and fragmentary glass windows were found within the drain. The eastern and central part of another room of the 3rd century AD, which was cut by the drain, was discovered. It has a mortar flooring. The walls were built of adobe with painted mortar plasters. Another room, 4.50 m by 9 m, with hypocaust in its floor and walls, was explored at 4 m to the south. The brick columns of the hypocaust were discovered. Two coins of the first half of the 3rd century AD were found on the floor. They date the destruction of the building to the mid 3rd century AD, presumably during the attacks of the Goths. There are other rooms with hypocaust located to the west and to the south. A pool, 2.40 m by 9 m, with floor of bricks covered with mortar plaster, belonging to the earliest construction period, was explored. The water was drawn out through a terracotta conduit. The absence of hypocaust testifies that this is the cold pool of baths. A bronze clasp and three terracotta lamps were found on the bottom of the pool and they date the building to the 2nd century AD, most probably before AD 170 when the early buildings in Novae were destroyed during the attacks of the Costoboci.

EXPLORATIONS IN NOVAE (Pavlina Vladkova – pavlina_v@yahoo.com) The explorations were carried out to the southeast of the basilica. Walls of the end of the 6th century AD, later than the basilica, were discovered. A water-conduit and a drain of the first half of the 5th century AD were explored. The terracotta water-pipes are 50 cm in diameter, held together with mortar. A room, measuring 9 m by 9 m with a floor of bricks, and a portico, 3.50 m in width with a floor of fragmentary building ceramics and trampled clay, constructed on a stylobate, were discovered. Both constructions date to the 4th century AD. A wall of a room with a hypocaust of brick columns, dated after AD 250, was explored. A drain containing finds from the late 2nd to mid 3rd centuries AD, 7.50 m in length, 36 cm in depth and 40 cm in width, was discovered. The northeastern corner of a room and part of an exedra were explored. The walls are 1 m in width. The room probably belonged to baths dated to the first half of the 2nd century AD. A terracotta lamp with a stamp that reads STROBILI and fragments of glass vessels were found. Four rooms with hypocausts of brick columns were discovered in the Western Sector, to the west of room D with wall paintings. Rooms D and E measure 9 m by 4.50 m and have floors of mortar. Rooms D2 and E2 are 4.50 m in length. Fragments of wall paintings, window glass, and white and color marble tiling were found. The architectural complex dates to the 3rd century AD. A drain was discovered to the north of the complex. Sherds of the 6th century AD were found above the drain. The southern wall of a tower, 4.10 m in length, was explored. The walls are 80 cm in width, constructed of ashlars. The floor is of bricks covered with two plasters of clay and mortar.

ЕХТRА MUROS BUILDING TO THE WEST OF NOVAE (Pavlina Vladkova – pavlina_v@yahoo.com) Three rooms arranged in a line of the earliest building period were discovered. Their walls are 80 cm wide and are built of ashlars and uneven stones bonded with mortar in opus emplectum. Room No. 1 has a hypocaust and an entrance from the north, 80 cm wide, which was walled in a later period. Room No. 2 has a hypocaust. Room No. 3 is 11.20 m long and has a floor of bricks. Sherds, fragments of glass vessels, a terracotta lamp and two coins (one minted by Antoninus Pius or Marcus Aurelius, and another minted by Julia Domna) were found in the layer above the floor. Room D1 from the second building period was explored. The small columns of the hypocaust are built of bricks. Fragments of color plasters, suspensura and bricks with stamps of Legio I Italica were found. Room E1 was constructed over the hypocaust of Room No. 1. Its floor was plastered with mortar. The upper parts of the walls were constructed of sun-dried bricks. The roof was covered with tegulae and imbrices. The room was destroyed during a fire. Rooms D2 and E2 from the second building period have hypocausts. The finds include a base, fragments from pedestal with Latin inscription, fragments from Corinthian capital, fragments from color plasters, marble plates from wall facing and a coin of Nerva. Color mortar plasters were found in room E1. The roof was covered with tegulae and imbrices (one of them with stamp of Legio I Italica). The building was destroyed during a fire. During the third building period rooms D2 and E2 were partitioned with walls constructed of sun-dried bricks.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN NOVAE (Pavlina Vladkova – pavlina_v@yahoo.com) Tower No. 3 was explored to the northwest of the building extra muros. The tower is situated at 75 m from tower No. 2 and probably, there were two more towers in between. Tower No. 3 measures 4.20 m by 7.60 m. Its walls are 1 m wide and are preserved up to 4.20 m in height. They were built of ashlars, while the courses were leveled with stone slabs. A pool, situated in the center of the peristyle yard of the building extra muros, was discovered. The floor of the pool was constructed of rectangular bricks in opus spicatum. There were three steps in the southeastern corner of the pool. There was a drain for effluvients and a lead water conduit, 10 cm in diameter, for filling the pool, both located on the western wall. The pool had two construction periods. During the second period, after the floor was raised, the lead water conduit was cut and closed with plaster. Three construction periods were documented in Room D. Room No. 1 of the first construction period was explored. It was part of the adjoining rooms arranged in a line. During the second construction period, two reconstructions of the hypocausts were carried out. The small columns of the hypocaust were constructed of bricks, which measure 19 cm by 19 cm by 8 – 9 cm and were bonded with mortar. The columns stepped over a floor of trampled clay. An inner wall, which divided the room and was built of one row of bricks, measuring 19 cm by 19 cm by 8 – 9 cm, was explored. A praefurnium, 1.90 m by 1.20 m in size, was discovered. A stone altar with an inscription that reads MINERVAE was found. The altar is 1.20 m high and dates to the end of the 2nd – first half of the 3rd century AD. During the third construction period, the room had a floor of mortar and color mortar plasters on the walls, which were built of mud bricks over a stone socle.

EXPLORATIONS IN NOVAE (Pavlina Vladkova – pavlina_v@yahoo.com) Rooms in the western part of the extra-mural building situated in Sector VIII A were discovered. The rooms belonged to the second construction period dated from AD 186 (judging from a brick with the stamp of Consul Marulus) to AD 280 – 300. Room B measured 4.20 m by 6.50 m. Its walls were built in opus emplectum and were preserved up to 1.40 m in height. The floor had a hypocaust. The bricks of the columns had stamps of Legio I Italica. Room B1, 3.50 m by 6.60 m in size, was situated to the west of room B and had identical structure. The bricks of the columns of the hypocaust had stamps of Legio I Italica. Room V was situated to the south of rooms B and B1 and had a Г-like layout. The bricks of the columns of the hypocaust had stamps of Legio I Italica. Walls from the first construction period dated to c. AD 100 – 180 were discovered under the columns of the hypocaust. The finds included fragmentary building ceramics with stamps LEGIITALI, a lead ingot, fragments from a glass vessel and a copper one, fragmentary painted wall plaster, and two coins of Macrinus and Gordian III which dated the destruction of the hypocaust around the middle of the 3rd century AD. Eight bases of columns, belonging to a stylobate 19 m long, were discovered. The bases had plinths, 43 – 44 cm long and 30 – 40 cm high, while their cylindrical parts were 20 cm high and 36 – 37 cm in diameter. The intercolumnar space was 2.20 – 2.30 m long. A drain or a water conduit, related to the baths of the first construction period, was discovered to the west of the stylobate. The inner yard was synchronous to the pool, which was 3.80 m by 2 m in size and was situated to the south of the stylobate. Coins of Tacitus and Diocletian were found and they dated the destruction of the inner yard to AD 280 – 300. The necropolis related to the Ostrogoths of Theodoric the Great or any buildings synchronous to the Christian basilica that functioned in c. AD 500 – 590 were not documented in this part of the site.

NOVAE (Pavlina Vladkova – pavlina_v@yahoo.com) During the third construction period (4th century AD) Room D measured 16.50 m by 4.50 m. Its walls were constructed with sun-dried bricks over a plinth of stones. A floor of trampled clay was discovered with a burned roof construction with tegulae and imbrices that collapsed over it. There were entrances on the eastern and the southern walls of the building, which were subsequently closed, and drains that existed during the first phase of the second construction period (end of the 2nd – beginning of the 3rd centuries AD). During the second construction period (AD 180 – 280) the room measured 13 m by 4.50 m and it was separated in two parts: the western one with a hypocaust and 4.50 m by 7 m in size and the eastern one 4.50 m by 5.50 m in size. A water-conduit in the prefurnium was explored, 1.60 m long and 45 cm wide, and a coin of Julia Soaemias was found inside. During the third phase of the second construction period (AD 250 – 280) the hypocaust in the room was not functional, but the entrance from the east continued to exist. The southern wall was decorated with frescoes, showing panels with altars, 1.30 m long and separated with vertical black bands. A red band was painted above the altars and a vessel with fruits was depicted on each altar. Room E1 had a hypocaust and dated to AD 250 – 280. A collapsed burned roof construction was discovered over the floors in both rooms and more than 20 coins were found above the debris dated from Aurelian to Justinian I, including coins of Marcian, Leo I the Thracian and Zeno. The wall of Room I of the first construction period (from the beginning of the 2nd century AD to the AD 170s) was discovered close to Room E1. The residential building was situated at 200 – 250 m to the west of the western fortification wall of Novae. A street, 4.50 m wide, was situated to the north of it. During the first construction period, the canabae of Legio I Italica were situated there.

NOVAE (Pavlina Vladkova – pavlina_v@yahoo.com) The exploration of Room E, constructed over the foundations of earlier buildings, continued. The lower part of its walls was built of stones, while bricks were also incorporated in the upper parts. A pavement of bricks was documented. The room was probably repaired, after some earthquake, or after the floor had collapsed due to the existence of a hypocaust in the earlier building. The room functioned during AD 200 – 290. During the next construction period, the floor level was raised with a layer of trampled clay and the entrance on the northern wall of the room was walled. The finds from the layer of trampled clay included a lead buckle, a lead ingot and a coin of Valens. Room V was discovered. It had a hypocaust both under the floor and inside the walls which were plastered with mortar. The southern part of Room V was cut by the southern wall of Room E. Bricks with stamps of Legio I Italica from the supporting columns of the hypocaust were discovered. Supporting terracotta tubes were also used for the hypocaust. Two construction periods were documented in the room. Room VI was documented to the east of Room V. The architectural remains discovered during the excavations so far belonged to four separate houses and a street between them. The first construction period in the architectural complex dated to AD 100 – 170.

NOVAE (Pavlina Vladkova – pavlina_v@yahoo.com) The explorations of Rooms B and B1 continued in the northwestern part of the _extra muros_ Building. A hypocaust with _pilae_ constructed of bricks was discovered. A coin of Galerius minted in AD 295 – 296 was found in the wall of Room B, dating its construction. Judging from the coins, the building was destroyed during AD 400 – 410. Room V had a L-like layout and a hypocaust with _pilae_ constructed of bricks. The distance between the floor of the room and the bottom of the hypocaust was 1 m. The finds included a bronze pendant from a belt, iron and lead clamps for the terracotta _tubuli_ of the hypocaust, fragments from marble veneer, fragmentary painted plaster, sherds from amphorae and jugs and two terracotta lamps. There were stamps on the bricks and the roof-tiles. Some imbrices had a stamp that reads: LEGIITALI (Legio I Italica). The opening for the hot air and smoke from the furnace of the hypocaust was discovered. The opening was reconstructed after AD 225, judging from a brick with a stamp of Marcus Aurelius Statianus, attested in inscriptions, stamps and a military diploma. The hypocaust in Room B functioned until c. AD 250, judging from a coin of Gordian III. Rooms of the late 3rd – 4th centuries AD with three construction periods were explored in the southwestern part of the building. During the first construction period, there was a room in a row of parallel rooms arranged in a line. A portico was constructed in Room D during the second construction period and it was walled during the third construction period. Room E paved with bricks was discovered. Parts of Rooms Zh, Z and I were explored. Rooms of the 2nd – 3rd centuries were documented as well. Room VI was situated to the south of Room V and had a hypocaust with _pilae_ constructed of bricks. The furnace of the hypocaust was situated to the west of the room. Room VII functioned during the 2nd century AD, judging from the sherds, a terracotta lamp, fragments from glass and copper vessels a coin of Trajan found there.

NOVAE (Pavlina Vladkova – pavlina_v@yahoo.com) The explorations continued in the Southwestern Sector. A timber structure of the end of the 1st – beginning of the 2nd centuries AD was documented. Rooms V, VI, VII and VIII with hypocaust and wall heating dated to the 2nd – 3rd centuries AD. The _pilae_ of the hypocaust were terracotta tubes or were built of bricks. Hollow bricks with openings or _tegulae mammatae_ were used in the wall heating. The furnaces of the hypocaust were situated in an inner yard. Part of the building ceramics had stamps of Legio I Italica: LEGIITAL inside _tabula ansata_ or an emblem of a ship. After the rooms were destroyed, new ones were constructed over the ruins that changed the layout of the building. Rooms Zh and Z paved with bricks placed over an earlier mortar floor were explored. The bricks had stamps of Legio I Italica. A corridor was also discovered. The rooms and the corridor dated to the late 3rd – 4th centuries AD. A wall built in rubble masonry was discovered, probably related to the basilica of the 6th century AD. A fragment from a votive inscription devoted to Apollo, Diana and Minerva was reused in the wall. In the Central Sector the explorations of the portico of the building continued. It has two construction periods: 2nd – 3rd centuries AD and 4th century AD. The finds from the excavations included coins, sherds and fragments from glass vessels.

NOVAE (Pavlina Vladkova – pavlina_v@yahoo.com) The excavations continued in Sector VIIIA _extra muros_. Strata from the 2nd to 6th centuries AD were documented. A leveling layer was discovered beneath the Christian basilica of the 6th century AD; its floor was built over this. Four graves were discovered in the Christian necropolis of AD 475 – 500, situated beneath the floor of the nave of the basilica. The body in Grave No. 4 was laid to the north of the southern wall of the tablinum; a lead stand for wooden cross was discovered to the right of the skull. Walls of the 5th century AD, 80 cm wide, were documented in the northern part of the nave of the basilica; a brick in the wall had a stamp with the name of a private producer: ALEX. Part of a curved wall of piscina was documented in the northern aisle of the basilica. The wall was 65 – 70 cm wide, built over the ruins of the tablinum; the lowest course of its foundations was constructed of bricks from the hypocaust of an earlier building. The southwestern corner of the tablinum was situated beneath the nave and the northern aisle of the basilica. The tablinum was built after AD 176 and existed with some reconstructions until AD 375 – 400. Sectors of its eastern and western walls were explored, 1.45 m wide and plastered with mortar. A coin of Constantine the Great was found there. The floor was plastered with mortar and a collapsed burned roof was documented on it. Some of the roof-tiles had stamps that read: LEG I ITAL and LEG I ITALI. The _pilae_ of the hypocaust were terracotta pipes or were built of bricks. The southern wall of the tablinum was built over the foundations of an earlier wall and probably had an entrance with a wooden door, since burned iron nails and clamps were found. A wall, 50 cm wide, belonging to an earlier building of AD 100 – 170 was discovered close to the southern wall of the tablinum. A drain was excavated. It was 24 cm wide, its walls were built of cut stones, its bottom was paved with imbrices and it was covered with bricks, some of them with stamps of Legio I Italica.