ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION OF PUBLIC BUILDING IN DEULTUM (Hristo Preshlenov – hristo.preshlenov@abv.bg) An occupation level, 0.75 – 1.40 m in thickness and dating to the 4th – 7th centuries, was explored in a sondage of 100 sq. m, situated to the west of the commercial premises excavated in 1991–1992. The level was formed because of the inhabitation of monumental late antique buildings, which were reconstructed several times, some of them being with presumable farming functions, and other ramshackle early mediaeval dwellings. These constructions covered the area of a late Roman decumanus, already not in function, and its adjoining buildings. In the southwestern quarter of the sondage, a clay layer levels some archaeological structures set on fire before the end of the 330s AD. The placing of the layer was related to the inhabitation of a monumental building. During two later occupation periods its floor level was raised and the entrance was partly blocked from the inside with re-used bricks, while being narrowed from the west. The superstructure of the building is constructed of masonry in horizontal courses. The wall has outer faces made of roughly hewn blocks and a core of small broken stones and bricks bonded with mortar. Another wall made of broken stones bonded with mortar and leveling courses of bricks, coming from an earlier period, was discovered in the southwestern quarter of the sondage. After the beginning of the 4th century AD, it was transformed into a western wall of the building. The southeastern corner of another monumental building was found in the northwestern quarter of the sondage. It was built of broken stones and re-used big ashlars bonded with mortar. The latest occupation remains in this part of the late antique town date to the beginning of the 7th century.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN DEULTUM (Hristo Preshlenov – hristo.preshlenov@abv.bg) The explorations of the ‘Public Building’ Site were carried out in 1986 – 1992 and in 2004 over an area of c. 1250 sq. m. The following structures were discovered: monumental buildings related to the cult of Asclepius from the time of the Severan dynasty, houses and farm buildings constructed of stones or mud bricks, and a fortification wall with a bastion which barred the decumanus from the east. The explorations continued over an area of 100 sq. m. A segment of the decumanus was discovered. The pavement consisted of huge stone slabs placed over trampled clay. The curbstone consisted of two rows of ashlars. The finds include two coins of Emperor Constantine I, one minted in Antiochia in AD 325/326 and one in Cyzicus in AD 332/335. A drum of a column and a fragment of a capital were discovered. A room with roofing covered with tiles, which had been burned, was documented. Changes in the urban model in this part of Deultum occurred after the middle of the 4th century AD. A building with an entrance from the east, which covered part of the decumanus, was constructed. Probably during the 5th century AD, the building was partitioned. Its walls were 75 cm wide and were constructed of uneven stones and reused ashlars bonded with mortar. The building had a floor paved with bricks and a roof covered with tiles. At the moment, the ramshackle building, discovered in 2004 and dated by a coin of Emperor Maurice minted in AD 594/595 and a coin of Emperor Phokas minted in Nicomedia in AD 604/605, indicate the latest occupation period of this part of Deultum.

EXPLORATIONS IN DEULTUM (Hristo Preshlenov – hristo.preshlenov@abv.bg) The explorations of the decumanus and the adjacent buildings continued. Sector of the street, 13.50 m long, was discovered. It was paved with irregular slabs, from 45 cm by 55 cm to 1 m by 2 m in size and 10 – 30 cm thick, which were arranged over a leveled embankment that contained Early Roman sherds. The sidewalk consisted of two rows of ashlars. The ashlars in the outer row were 25 cm wide, 1.10 – 3.45 m long and 25 cm high, while the ashlars in the inner row were 65 cm wide. To the west of the pair of parallel rooms arranged in a line another one with similar functions was discovered. The street in front of the western parallel room was reconstructed not earlier than AD 330. A drain, 35 cm by 30 cm in size, was discovered to the north of the sidewalk. The secondary construction of two buildings over the decumanus had transformed it into a passage, 1.55 – 1.75 m wide. The western building was constructed in opus mixtum. A pavement of bricks and a collapsed roof of tiles were documented. Fragmentary roof tiles, bricks, sun-dried bricks, burned wattle-and-daub and a follis of Justinian I were found between both buildings. Bronze coins of Licinius I minted in AD 313 – 317, Constantius II or Constans minted in AD 347/348, Constantius II minted in AD 355 – 361 and Valens were found over the decumanus or in the joints between the slabs. A layer with burned debris was discovered. The deformation of the decumanus and the fire probably were related to the seismic activity registered along the Western Black Sea coast in the middle of the 4th century AD. During the second half of the 6th century AD the passage was abandoned. A drain was discovered. It was built inside an occupation layer containing charcoal, burned sun-dried bricks, a follis of Justinian I minted in AD 538/539 and a fragment of amphora of the second half of the 6th – beginning of the 7th century AD.

DEULTUM (Hristo Preshlenov – hristo.preshlenov@abv.bg) Exploration of the decumanus continued in the area of its supposed junction with the cardo, discovered during the 1980s to the west of the thermae. Building I preceded the decumanus, which reached the temple of Septimius Severus. The building and the decumanus were dismantled before the end of the 4th century AD, during the construction of Building II, which was burned three times until the beginning of the 6th century AD. During the 6th – beginning of the 7th century AD, Building III took the place of the abandoned street to the east of Building II. Building I was built of roughly cut stones and bricks bonded with mortar. The walls of Building II were 65 – 75 cm wide, built in opus mixtum with ashlars and bands of four courses of bricks. The walls were covered with plaster of two layers with races of brown and green paints. An ashlar with two grooves from the passing of carts with an axle track of c. 1.45 m was reused in the foundation of the wall. Axle track with the same width was documented on the threshold of the eastern gate of Deultum. Building II had an entrance to the east. The decumanus was paved with ashlars, from 1.70 m by 0.60 m to 0.55 m by 0.60 m in size. Traces from fire were documented over the decumanus and the earliest floor of Building II and charcoal, roof-tiles, pottery and four bronze coins minted from AD 383 to 408 were found. The fire was probably caused during a Hunnic attack that occurred after AD 383 and was documented at the eastern and the western gates of Deultum. A fire of the 5th century AD was documented on the later floor of Building II and charcoal, bricks, roof-tiles and pottery were found. A third fire occurred during the beginning of the reign of Anastasius I Dicorus, which was also documented at the eastern gate of Deultum. The finds included roof-tiles, charcoal, pottery and a bronze coin minted in AD 491/498. The walls of Building III were 90 cm wide, built of roughly cut stones bonded with mud.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN DEULTUM (Hristo Preshlenov – hristo.preshlenov@abv.bg) The explorations in the northern part of Deultum continued. The distance between the cardo maximus and the cardo to the east was 61 m and the distance between the decumanus and the decumanus maximus to the south was 101 m, thus the average area of the insulae was 1.2 iugerum. The cardo maximus was 8.30 m wide, paved with slabs and dated to the 2nd century AD. There was a drain in the middle of the street and the latest coin found inside the drain was a follis of Justinian I minted in AD 560/561. A water-conduit of terracotta pipes, 50 cm long, 10 – 13 cm in diameter and bonded with mortar, was documented. The southern curb stones of the decumanus were constructed of two rows of ashlars. Reconstructions were documented, probably carried out after an earthquake and a fire that occurred after AD 351/355. The decumanus was narrowed up to 1.65 m and a drain was constructed, which cut the earlier water-conduit. Debris from a burned building was discovered close to the decumanus and material of the 5th century AD and a bronze coin of AD 395 – 408 were found. In AD 350 – 375 a building with portico was constructed to the north of the decumanus, after the pavement was dismantled. The building was reconstructed and burned twice until the end of the 5th century AD. The debris from the earliest fire contained two coins of AD 408 – 423. A fire was documented in the building located to the west of cardo maximus and a bronze coin of AD 425 – 455 was found above it. A second fire was dated by a coin of Anastasius I Dicorus. The principles of the Roman urbanism in this part of the town were abandoned during the 6th century AD when buildings were constructed over the decumanus. After the end of the 7th – beginning of the 8th century buildings were also constructed over the cardo maximus. The finds included sherds from Byzantine pots and amphorae of the end of the 7th – 10th centuries.

DEULTUM (Hristo Preshlenov – hristo.preshlenov@abv.bg) The northeastern corner of the insula was discovered at 59 m to the east from its northwestern corner and the adjacent cardo that run along the eastern side of the Temple of the Imperial Cult was located. The drain was located under the slabs of the street and was built of stones bonded with mortar. The decumanus to the west of the junction was 6.50 m wide with two kerbs, 20 cm and 70 cm wide respectively. The water-conduit of the insula run at 1.50 m to the south of the decumanus and at 1.70 m to the west of the cardo and was constructed of terracotta pipes, 17 cm in diameter, placed in a mantle of stones covered with bricks. After a fire in the 3rd century AD, a new water-conduit was constructed with terracotta pipes 11.5 cm in diameter. At the end of the 4th century AD the decumanus was narrowed up to 1.35 m with a building constructed on part of it. The room to the south of the decumanus, 8.70 m by 4.85 m in size, was divided in two parts. Coins of Constantius II and Valentinian I were found. A portico was built to the east of the room on the southern kerb of the street and two reused marble Ionic-Attic bases were discovered. A bronze coin of Valens was found on a pavement of bricks to the south of the portico. Two coins of Licinius I of AD 312/313 and 316 were discovered among burned sun-dried and terracotta bricks, situated on the level of the dismantled stone slabs of the street. Coins of Constantius Gallus, Constantius II, Valentinian I, Valens, Valentinian II, Arcadius, Honorius, Theodosius I and Theodosius II were found during the excavations. A coin of Honorius minted in AD 406 – 408 was found under the tiles of collapsed roof of a building constructed from sun-dried bricks to the south of the junction of cardo and decumanus, which was burned during some invasion, probably of Huns. The eastern fortification wall of Late Antique Deultum, built around the middle of the 5th century AD in _opus mixtum_ and 2.35 m wide, crossed the earlier decumanus at 16 m to the west from the cardo.

DEULTUM (Hristo Preshlenov – hristo.preshlenov@abv.bg) The explorations continued in the southeastern sector of the insula situated to the north of the thermae and explored during 1986 – 1990 and 2004 – 2012 when a temple of the Imperial cult, houses, fortification wall, decumanus, eastern and western cardines were discovered. In 2016, Sondage West was carried out in the northwestern sector of the area explored in 1986 – 1988. A room was documented. Its northern wall was dismantled. The finds included fragmentary building ceramics, sherds from amphorae and red-gloss vessels of the 2nd – 3rd centuries AD, a bronze coin of AD 348 – 352. Remains of houses were documented, which were burned during the second half of the 4th century AD. A pavement of bricks and reused marble veneer was made over a layer, containing burned timber beams, nails, fragmentary bricks and roof-tiles, sherds from amphorae and red-gloss vessels of the 4th century AD, fragmentary marble veneer, bronze coins (the latest one of Theodosius I of AD 383 – 394). The northern wall of a room built of bricks was discovered. It was burned after AD 401 – 403, judging by a bronze coin of Honorius. Sondages South and Western Profile were carried out in the area to the east of the western profile of 1988 and to the north of the decumanus. The northern kerbs of the decumanus were probably dismantled in the beginning of the 4th century AD. A building was documented, reconstructed after AD 270 – 275. The occupation level was raised with a layer of burned debris, containing sherds from amphorae, a terracotta lamp of the 2nd – 3rd century AD, fragmentary marble veneer, _tesserae_ from mosaics, fragmentary roof-tiles, terracotta tubes that were _pilae_ in a hypocaust, a marble relief, a statuette, a torso of a statue, legs of bronze statues, coins of Gordian III, Gallienus and Aurelian. A wall in _opus mixtum_ and a pavement of stone slabs were discovered. After a fire, the occupation level was raised with a layer, containing fragmentary building ceramics, fragments from glass vessels of the 3rd – 4th centuries AD, a brick with s stamp that reads: CFP[D], a bone pin. Sondage East was carried out to the north and to the west of the fortification wall built in the mid 5th century AD, in the northeastern sector of the area excavated in 1986 – 1988. A room was documented in the northeastern corner of the area that was occupied by the temple of the Imperial cult until AD 275 – 300.

DEULTUM (Hristo Preshlenov – hristo.preshlenov@abv.bg) The explorations continued in the southeastern part of insula, to the north of the Roman thermae, in the area excavated during 1986 – 1990 and to the west of it. Rooms arranged in a line were documented to the south of the fortification wall; they had plinths of stones, walls built of sun-dried bricks, roofs covered with tiles and were burned after AD 498/517. Debris of a building was documented beneath, burned after AD 408/423. The debris was related to the wall whose foundations contained fragments of bricks, roof-tiles, marble veneer, an Ionic capital and window frames bonded with mortar. Sherds, including from dolia and amphorae, and terracotta and lead weights for fishing nets were found in the room paved with bricks arranged over a mortar bed, which was burned after AD 364/367. During 1986 – 1989 excavations in Trenches S3, S4 and S5, fragments from marble statues and from a bronze statue of Septimius Severus, and bases of statues of Philip the Arab and Otacilia Severa were discovered. In 2017, the foundations of two buildings were excavated: probably a temenos and the Temple of the imperial cult that functioned until AD 275 – 300. The first building was constructed of ashlars bonded with mortar. A provincial bronze coin of Hadrian minted in Tomis and a coin of Vespasian minted in AD 76 were found between the southern wall of the building and the northern stylobate of the decumanus. The second building was constructed of ashlars bonded with mortar. A rectangular structure built of bricks and plastered with hydraulic cement was discovered to the north of it. The structure was probably a cistern and was filled with fragmentary bricks, tegulae, nails, a terracotta tubular _pila_ of a hypocaust, marble (including Proconnesian) window frames and veneer, fragments from torsos of bronze and marble statues, a mortarium, a stone pestle and sherds of the 2nd – first half of the 5th centuries AD. Rooms in a Late Roman house were discovered. Plaster painted in white and red was preserved on their walls. The rooms were reconstructed, probably during AD 350 – 375.

DEULTUM (Hristo Preshlenov – hristo.preshlenov@abv.bg, Milena Raicheva) The excavations of the Temple of the imperial cult continued. At the end of the 3rd century AD, two Rooms of the Roman period were dismantled during the construction of the Late Roman house. The leveling Late Roman layer contained a silver _antonianus_ of Cornelia Salonina. The suspensura of the hypocaust of the Late Roman house was discovered. The floor was constructed of bricks paved with marble slabs placed over a mortar layer, with marble socle. The suspensura consisted of terracotta _tubulae_ 26 cm in diameter and 79 cm in height. The bottom of the hypocaust was paved with bricks and its walls were covered with hydraulic plaster. Coins from the end of the 1st century BC to mid 5th century AD were found, including coins of the Thracian King Rhoimetalkas I, Domitian, Maximian of AD 293 and Arcadius. The debris of the hypocaust destroyed after AD 401/403 contained capitals, socle, plates, fragments from inscriptions, window frames, coins of the Late Classical, Roman and early Byzantine periods, including coins of Maroneia of 398 – 200 BC, Hadrian of AD 125 – 128, Gordian III and Claudius Gothicus of AD 268 – 270. The layer over the hypocaust contained roof-tiles, marble architectural fragments, bronze and silver coins, including coins of Faustina the Elder of AD 141, a colonial bronze coin of Caracalla minted in Deultum in AD 212 and Aurelian. An Early Byzantine building was constructed over the debris, occupied during the first half of the 5th century AD. An Early Byzantine building was also constructed over the northern half of the decumanus. Coins of Constantius II of AD 337 – 340 and Julian were found. The cistern built of bricks measured 3.80/4 m by 1.85/1.90 m and was 1.35 m deep. Its walls were plastered with hydraulic mortar. After the cistern was abandoned, it was filled with bricks, roof-tiles, burned pieces for wood, nails, iron wedges, terracotta _tubulae_ of hypocaust, marble fragments from columns, socle, window frames and veneer, fragments from marble and bronze statues, coins of Antoninus Pius, Gordian III, Philip II, Arcadius and Honorius.

DEULTUM (Hristo Preshlenov – hristo.preshlenov@abv.bg, Milena Raicheva) The excavations of the houses and the fortification wall built in the mid 5th century AD continued. The houses had stone plinths and walls built of sun-dried bricks; they were burned down at the end of the 5th – beginning of the 6th century AD. In the 8th century AD, rooms were dug into their debris. Debris from a fire that occurred after AD 408/423 was documented. The finds included iron tools and clamps, bronze coins, a small cross, a fibula, a belt buckle, a small axe-amulet, a fragment from a chlamys of a Roman bronze statue, and were spread over a hypocaust abandoned at the end of the 4th century AD. Capitals of pilasters, marble veneer and floor slabs, frames from windows and bricks were fallen over the floor of the hypocaust. A room, 7.50 m by 3.40 m in size, was explored in 1990–1992, 2004 and 2008. In 2019, four floor levels were identified with traces from fires that occurred at the end of the 5th – beginning of the 6th century AD, after AD 457/474, after AD 408/423 and after AD 367/374. Occupation during the 8th century AD was documented and a corner of a room was discovered. The finds included sherds from amphorae of the Saraçhane Type, glazed vessels and pots.