KOZARNIKA CAVE (Nikolai Sirakov – nikolaysirakov@gmail.com, Jean-Luc Guadelli) The explorations continued in Sectors DE7–DE10 in the entry hall of the cave. Layers from the earliest phases of the Kozarnika Culture of the transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic periods and the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic period (43,000 – 38,000 BP) were explored. In Sector III, it was proved that the layers belonged to the transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic periods and the earliest phases of the Upper Paleolithic period. In addition, it was proved that the contacts with the Aurignacian traditions were occasional. The earliest phases of the Kozarnika Culture were documented in layers VIIIa and VIIIb. Typical artifacts were flint leaf-like points attested in the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic sequence (>150 Kа BP) at the earliest, but also present in the early and the middle phases of the Upper Paleolithic period. Special interest deserved the Upper Paleolithic flint flake nuclei and chips from their production which were subsequently transformed into Middle Paleolithic scrapes. Probably, Middle Paleolithic groups visited or occupied the cave, following the Upper Paleolithic groups, and thus they transformed abandoned Upper Paleolithic flint artifacts, or Upper Paleolithic groups inherited from the Middle Paleolithic groups not only producing the leaf-like points, but also other tools like the scrapes. This indicated a longer coexistence of Middle and Upper Paleolithic groups. Special interest deserved a bone fragment with incised image of a fish dated to 43,000 – 41,000 BP. The faunal remains indicated hunting of horses, donkeys, wild goats and bison. A fragment of a rib and a tooth of a child and a tooth of another individual were found in the two sectors, probably belonging to Homo sapiens.