EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF GORNO CHERKOVISHTE (Elena Bozhinova – elena.bozhinova@gmail.com) The Early Iron Age settlement was discovered during field surveys. Thracian sherds, querns and pestles were found. Geomagnetic explorations on the site revealed anomalies. Sondages were carried out in order to explore several geomagnetic anomalies. Occupation layers, over 2 m in thickness, were discovered in the sondages carried out in the central part of the site. The upper occupation layer was up to 30 cm thick and dated to the Early Iron Age. A hiatus, 30 – 40 cm thick, was situated below it. An occupation layer from the Chalcolithic period, over 1 m thick, was discovered below the hiatus. Three Early Iron Age pits, containing Thracian sherds, animal bones, fragments of clay wall plaster and charcoal, were discovered in sondage No. 1. Remains from two sunken-floored houses, dug out at 20 – 25 cm in depth in the ancient terrain, were discovered in sondages Nos. 2 and 3. The walls were ramshackle, constructed of timber material. Ditches from their foundations, c. 20 cm wide and 20 cm deep, with postholes, 7 – 8 cm in diameter, were documented. A domestic oven, c. 70 cm in diameter, and a hearth were discovered in the northern house. Terracotta loom weights and a fragment from a quern were found. Postholes, 6 – 9 cm in diameter, were discovered between the hearth and the oven, supposedly originating from an inner wall dividing the house. An inner dividing wall was discovered in the northern periphery of the second house. It had a clay foundation c. 20 cm high. Terracotta loom weights and an antler tool were found. The Thracian pottery dated to the 11th – 10th centuries BC. Radiocarbon analysis of samples from pit No. 2 gave the date of cal. 820 – 760 BC. The Chalcolithic occupation layer was explored in sondage No.2. A burned structure was documented. The pottery belonged to the Late Chalcolithic cultural complex Kodzhadermen – Gumelniţa – Karanovo VI. Radiocarbon analysis of samples gave the date of cal. 4840 – 4520 BC.