SONDAGE EXCAVATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF VALCHE POLE (Hristo Popov – popovhristo@yahoo.co.uk) Kush Kaya is a conical hill with two rocky massifs dominant on its top. There is stone debris alongside the western periphery of the ridge. Mixed material from the Roman period (2nd – 3rd centuries AD), Early Iron Age (11th – 6th centuries BC) and single sherds of the Late Bronze Age (16th – 12th centuries BC) were found down to 50 – 60 cm in depth in sondage No. 1. Intact cultural layers of the second phase of the Early Iron Age were found below the mixed material. Remains of a house were discovered: a floor level, a hearth and part of a stone plinth. Several terracotta seals used for stamped pottery decoration, fragmentary terracotta anthropomorphic figurines and a bronze pin were found in addition to the typical pottery. The cultural layers were 1.20 – 1.30 m in thickness. Sondage No. 2 was carried out across the stone debris. The debris came from a destroyed fortification wall built of large uneven stones, preserved up to three courses in height. The foundations of the wall lie on the bedrock. The material found below the foundations allows the construction of the fortification wall to be dated to the 8th – 7th centuries BC. Remains of a house of the Late Bronze Age were discovered in sondage No. 3: a floor level, plasters, part of a fallen wall of lath-and-plaster and a hearth. The house was burnt. The pottery displays the main shapes of coarse and fine tableware and the typical decoration, known from other archaeological sites in the East Rhodope Mountain and the middle river valley of Maritsa.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF VALCHE POLE (Hristo Popov – popovhristo@yahoo.co.uk, Stanislav Iliev) The explorations were carried out in the fortified area of the site. A pile of five fragmentary ceramic vessels of the Late Bronze Age (1600 – 1050 BC) was discovered in Sector I. A three-edge bone arrowhead was also found. Carbonized remains of gruel, consisting mainly of millet, barley and linseed, were preserved in one of the vessels. A rectangular house, measuring 10.50 m by 5.50 m, was entirely discovered in Sector I. The foundation of its walls was constructed of stones. Presumably, the walls were in a light construction built above a plinth of stones. After removing part of the trampled soil in trench E3, it was found that house No. 1 was constructed on an earlier building that also existed during the Late Bronze Age. The exploration of the building dated to the second phase of the Early Iron Age (8th – 6th centuries BC) continued in Sector II. The finds include ceramic vessels and three stamps for pottery decoration. Remains of stone structures that belonged to an earlier occupation period were discovered below the floor. A building of the end of the 2nd – first half of the 3rd centuries AD, well dated by coins, was explored in Sector II. At least five fragmentary dolia and parts of millstones were found. They show that most likely the building was used for farming activities. The discovery of similar finds on the terrain surface situated to the east of Sector I allow us to suggest that a small village existed on the site during the 2nd – 3rd centuries AD.

EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF VALCHE POLE (Hristo Popov – popovhristo@yahoo.co.uk, Stanislav Iliev) House No. 3 of the Late Bronze Age (1600/1500 – 1100 BC) was explored in Sector I. It has two rooms and measures 6.20 m by 3.50 m. A hearth was discovered in the eastern room and a millstone was found in the western room. Fragmentary wattle-and-daub with posts that were 8 – 10 cm in diameter was found. The foundation of the wall is built of stones. The posts were placed between the stones, situated at 30 – 40 cm distance from each other. A building of the Roman period was discovered to the east of Sector I. Its foundation is constructed of stones, while the clamps, the wedges and the nails that were found testify to a timber construction. Surrounding walls, farming buildings and houses were discovered in Sector II. According to the coins, these constructions date from the end of the 2nd century AD until the AD 270s. The stratum of the 8th – 7th centuries BC is significant. The Thracian pottery has stamped decoration. Two hearths and a clay floor with postholes, 15 – 20 cm in diameter, were registered. Terracotta stamps for decoration of pottery were found on an area of 25 – 30 sq. m. Probably, a pottery workshop existed there. Two parallel walls constructed of stones bonded with mud, situated at 3.80 – 4 m distance from each other, were discovered under the clay floor. A hearth was explored. The pottery dates to the first phase of the Early Iron Age (11th – 9th centuries BC) and is decorated with cannelures, polishing and pricking. A mould for the casting of bronze axes, flint and stone tools, and a bone spearhead were found. Rectangular house No. 4 of the Late Bronze Age was explored. It has two rooms and measures 6.40 m by 3.80 m. A hearth and two millstones were discovered in the western room. The foundation of the house is constructed of stones bonded with mud. A terracotta spoon, flint scrapers, spindle whorls and pottery of the end of the Late Bronze Age were found. The western fortification wall in Sector III dates to the 8th – 7th centuries BC.