HOTALICH FORTRESS (Nadezhda Boteva – nadejda_boteva@abv.bg) The explorations of the postern on the western fortification wall, 1.75 – 1.80 m wide, continued. The entrance was 2.30 m wide, situated on a section of the wall that was 9 m long and located between two rock massifs. The sides of the entrance were 3.30 m long and preserved up to 2.40 m in height. The postern was walled with stones bonded with mud in a hurry, under some military threat. Early Byzantine sherds and a bone spindle whorl were found. The explorations of the southern fortification wall, 1.75 – 1.80 m wide, continued. A section, 7.50 m long, was discovered and two construction periods were documented. The southern fortification wall was built of stones bonded with mud, unlike the rest of the Early Byzantine fortress constructed of stones bonded with mortar. The fortress most probably dated to the 6th century AD. A few Roman sherds of the 3rd – 4th centuries AD and Mediaeval ones of the 10th – 11th centuries were found as well.