ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF BANYA (Bogdan Athanassov – bo.atana@nbu.bg, Iliya Kulov, Zhivko Uzunov) According to the results from the radiocarbon dating of c. 10 samples from seeds and animal bones, Phase 1 dated to the end of the 13th – beginning of the 12th century BC, while Phase 2 dated to the 12th century BC. Judging from the pottery, Phase 3 dated to the 5th – 3rd centuries BC. The outer side of Wall 2 of Phase 1 was discovered in Trench I58. Postholes and a pile of burned fragmentary wattle-and-daub of Phase 1 were discovered in Trenches I58, Н58 and Н57. The exploration of the supporting Wall 1 belonging to Phase 1 or 2, continued in Trench I57. The northern wall of the apse building of Phase 2 was explored in Trenches L58–59. The building had a plinth of dry roughly-cut stones. The floor of the central part of the building was reached in Trench L58 and sherds from a Mycenaean alabastron of the 13th century BC (LH IIIB) were found, while the building dated to Phase 2 (12th century BC). The explorations of the pits of Phase 3 continued in Trenches H57, H58, I58, K58 and M59.