KABYLE (Stefan Bakardzhiev – st_bakarjiev@abv.bg) A stratum up to 50 cm thick was explored, dated to the 4th – beginning of the 5th centuries AD, judging from the coins and the pottery. A part of a bronze belt buckle was found in Trench 43 with a Greek inscription that read: ΚΥΡΙΕΒΟΗΘΙCΟΝ (Κύριε, βοήθισον) – “God help!”, dated to the 5th century AD. Two pottery kilns were discovered in Trenches 43 and 44. In 1978, five more pottery kilns dated from AD 378 to the first decades of the 5th century AD had been discovered close to Basilica No. 1 situated at 20 m to the west of the site. A stratum of the second half of the 3rd – beginning of the 2nd centuries BC was also explored. The finds included a coin of Apollonia Pontica minted in c. 250 BC, a fragment from a terracotta figurine of Cybele and sherds from stamped amphorae from Rhodes, Knidos and Ephesus. A stratum of the second half of the 4th – beginning of the 3rd centuries BC was explored, containing Thracian and imported Greek pottery, a bronze coin of Maroneia and sherds from stamped amphorae from Akanthos, Rhodes and Thasos. The southern fortification wall of Kabyle has not been located so far.

KABYLE (Stefan Bakardzhiev – st_bakarjiev@abv.bg) In quarters LX and LI, a layer of mortar debris from the fortification wall was explored, situated over a building constructed in rubble masonry and dated to the mid 3rd century BC. The coins of Probus and Numerian that were found, indicated that the fortification wall was built during the AD 280s. It was destroyed probably at the end of the 4th century AD. Building D, 34.10 m by 28.70 m in size, was explored at 8 m to the northeast of the fortification wall. The western, southern and part of the eastern wings were discovered with 16 rooms in total. The rooms were situated around an atrium 14.80 m by 12 m in size, with _impluvium_ that measured 8 m by 8 m and had a water-conduit to take out the water. The _impluvium_ was surrounded with porticos 2 m wide from the north, east and south, while the portico from the west was 4.75 m wide and had a colonnade with two timber pillars. A base of a column of the first half of the 2nd century AD was reused in the colonnade. The house was single-storey. The walls were 55 cm wide, built of stones bonded with mortar up to 50 – 60 cm in height, while the upper parts of the walls were constructed of sun-dried bricks. The roof was covered with tiles. The main entrance was on the eastern wall and there was a portico along the eastern side. Official rooms 3, 4, 5 and 6 were situated in the western wing and their inner walls were plastered with mortar. The building was reconstructed at least twice and had two occupation periods. The first one dated from the end of the 3rd century AD to AD 377 – 378, dated by coins from Diocletian to Julian found under the collapsed roof. The second period was dated by coins of Theodosius II and Justinian I and other finds of the 5th – 6th centuries AD. Two streets were explored along the eastern and the western sides of the building. The western street was 6 m wide and the eastern one was 12 m wide. The streets were paved with a layer 25 – 35 cm thick, consisting of small stones, rubble and sherds. A terracotta water-conduit was discovered beneath the eastern street.

KABYLE (Stefan Bakardzhiev – st_bakarjiev@abv.bg) Three rooms were excavated in the northern wing of Building D. Room 17 measured 10/8.50 m by 15 m and its northern outer wall was 50 – 55 cm wide, built of roughly-cut stones bonded with mortar and an upper part constructed of sun-dried bricks. Fragmentary amphorae of AD 300 – 350 were found in the room. Room 18 was situated to the west of Room 17 and measured 3.75 m by 9.50/10 m. Room 19 was situated between Rooms 1 and 18 and measured 2.50 m by 3.50/3.75 m. In the eastern wing of the building, a later floor paved with bricks and roof-tiles was discovered in Room 11 and coins of the beginning of the 4th century AD were found beneath. In the southeastern corner of the building, the floor of a pool of the first building period, 3.25 m by 3.25 m in size, was documented in Room 12. During the construction of the building, a hypocaust was probably set up in Room 13, but subsequently it was dismantled. Rooms 14 and 16 had entrances towards the street, while Room 15 was a passage between the street and the atrium. The main gate of the building was on its eastern side and was 2.60 m wide. Judging from coins of Constantius II, Rooms 14, 15 and 16 were reconstructed around AD 350. Parts of the northern and the eastern streets were explored; buildings in rubble masonry were constructed over them during the 5th – 6th centuries AD. Building D measured 34.10 m by 28.70 m and was peristyle, with an atrium 14.80 m by 12 m in size and an impluvium, 8 m by 8 m in size. A triclinium was documented in the western wing, which had two floors. The northern wing was probably a warehouse, while the rooms were in the southern wing. The building was constructed after AD 270 over a stratum of the Hellenistic period and was occupied until the Gothic invasions in AD 377/378. Two reconstructions were documented: in the beginning of the AD 300s and c. AD 350. The northern and the western wings of the building were still used during the 5th – first half of the 6th centuries AD.

KABYLE (Stefan Bakardzhiev – st_bakarjiev@abv.bg) The excavations of Building F continued. It was situated to the north of peristyle Building D and to the east of the partly excavated cardo. Three construction periods were documented in Building F. The first one dated to AD 150 – 250. The walls were built of bricks bonded with mortar and were 1.05 m, 85 cm and 70 cm wide. The finds included a fragment from a bronze statue, a fragment from a bronze head of an eagle, bronze and silver coins minted from Antoninus Pius to Severus Alexander, a Latin inscription indicating the construction of thermae during the reign of Marcus Aurelius that was reused in the floor of the second construction period. The second construction period dated to AD 250 – 275 when Gothic invasions occurred and in the following decades. The walls were built of roughly-cut stones bonded with mortar and were 55 – 60 cm wide, preserved up to 50 cm in height. Their upper parts were constructed of sun-dried bricks. Coins minted from Claudius Gothicus to Diocletian were found. The building was probably destroyed in AD 377/378 when the Goths sacked Kabyle. The third construction period dated to the reign of Justinian I. The walls were built in rubble masonry. Parts of the rooms were reused, while the building already lost its initial purposes. An impluvium, 50 cm deep and 7 m by 4.25 m in size, was discovered in the center of the atrium of Building D. Its bottom was paved with bricks, plastered with hydraulic mortar. During the construction of the impluvium, part of an _eschara_ and a floor of a Hellenistic building were destroyed, dated by a coin of Antiochus II Theos countermarked by Kabyle. Two layers with traces from fire were documented beneath, the lower one containing a coin of Abdera minted in mid 4th century BC, related to the military campaigns of Philip of Macedon in Thrace when the Macedonian army conquered Kabyle.

KABYLE (Stefan Bakardzhiev – st_bakarjiev@abv.bg) The northern part of Building F was excavated. Only different segments of the walls were preserved, built of roughly-cut stones bonded with mortar and 55 – 60 cm wide. Building F probably had a П-like layout. A pavement of fragmentary building ceramics bonded with mortar was dismantled in the room that measured 6.50 m by 26 m, situated in the northwestern corner of the atrium. Four square foundations, 65 cm by 65 cm in size, were discovered beneath the pavement. The foundations supported square pillars built of bricks, 50 cm by 50 cm in size, which belonged to an earlier portico from the southeastern side of the central wing of the building. After the portico was dismantled, a covered gallery was built in its place, opened to the southeast towards the atrium. The gallery had a stylobate built of bricks, which supported square pillars constructed of bricks, 1 m by 1 m in size and situated at c. 4 m apart. The finds included coins of Licinius and Constantine the Great, minted in AD 318 – 320 in Siscia, indicating that the gallery was built during the AD 320s. The room in Square XLIII/48 continued to be occupied during the 5th – 6th centuries AD and a bronze lamp was discovered inside. A cardo, 6 m wide, was explored between Building A and Building F. The street was paved with small roughly-cut stones, fragmentary building ceramics and sherds. Three silver antoniani of Aurelian were discovered over the street, while an antonianus of Philip the Arab and a fragment from an inscription from the reign of Elagabalus were discovered within the street pavement, indicating that it was constructed in the mid 3rd century AD. A decumanus, 6 m wide, was explored between Building D and Building F.