ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF KOLAROVO (Georgi Mitrev – gmmitrev@yahoo.com, Sotir Ivanov) Fortification walls with a bonding medium of mud, 2.20 – 2.50 m in width, and buttressed walls were discovered on the top of the hill. Most likely, the walls belonged to a tower built in the beginning of the 11th century, during the reign of the Bulgarian King Samuel, when the fortress became an element of the fortification system in the valley between Belasitsa and Ograzhden mountains. Part of a building was discovered. The finds include nails, sherds of the 15th – 17th centuries and a silver Ottoman coin of the 16th – 17th century. The material testifies that the occupation continued into the Ottoman period, when the site presumably had no fortification functions but was used as an initial point of a cart track. Sherds of the 12th – 14th centuries, when the earlier occupation period of the building presumably could be dated, were found under the layer containing material of the 15th – 17th centuries. Separate sherds of the 10th – 11th centuries were found below. Materials of the 5th – 6th centuries AD and the 10th – 14th centuries were found in sondage No. 4. A house that was burned existed there during Late Antiquity. Part of a wall with a bonding medium of mud was discovered. The roof of the house was covered with tiles. The finds include a stone spindle whorl, four stone weights, an iron spearhead and part of a shoe. A layer with material of the 10th – 11th centuries and traces of conflagration was situated above the Late Antique debris. Sherds of the 12th – 14th centuries, an iron belt appliqué, an iron hook, fragment of a buckle, a copper coin of the beginning of the 13th century, etc. were found above the material of the 10th – 11th centuries. Remains of a house and sherds of the 12th – 14th centuries were discovered in sondage No. 5.