MARKELI FORTRESS (Zhivko Aladzhov, Dimcho Momchilov – karnobat.muzey@mail.bg, Rositsa Hristova) The explorations of the Early Byzantine three-naved basilica with later reconstructions, explored until 1992, were resumed. A house with walls built of uneven and cut stones bonded with clay, 80 cm wide, was thoroughly excavated. The house was situated in front of the western entrance of the Byzantine cross-dome church of the 11th – beginning of the 13th centuries. It was built after the cross-dome church stopped functioning in 1207 when the fortress was destroyed by the crusaders of Henry of Flanders. Christian grave 1/2012 of the 13th century was explored as well. The western wall of the nave of the Early Byzantine basilica was discovered, built of ashlars bonded with mortar. The southwestern corner of the basilica was discovered as well and it was established that the southern nave was 19.30 m long. A dugout was discovered in the western nave and proto-Bulgarian pottery of the 9th century AD was found. The dugout was occupied from the beginning of the 9th century AD until the proto-Bulgarian church was built there at the end of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century AD. The dugout is synchronous with several dugouts discovered in the southern nave of the basilica in 1991. Mixed pottery of the 5th – 7th centuries AD and of the 11th – 12th centuries was found in the narthex of the basilica.