SONDAGE EXPLORATIONS IN THE GOLEMI PECH CAVE (Stefanka Ivanova – ivanova.stefanka@gmail.com, Stanimira Taneva) The Golemi Pech Cave was formed within Jurassic limestone. A sondage, measuring 2 m by 2.50 m and 3.80 m in depth, was carried out at 10.50 m from the cave entrance. Nine litho-stratigraphic strata were specified: stratum 0 – contemporary, strata 1–3 – Holocene series and strata 4–8 – Pleistocene series. The study of the small mammals shows the presence of steppe (Ochotona sp., Lagurus lagurus, Microtus gregalis, Cricetulus migratorius, Mesocricetus newtoni) and mountain (Chionomys nivalis) species, which indicates of continental and cold climate connected with some stages of the early Würm. This paleo-ecological interpretation is supported in the sedimentological observations of strata 6 and 7. The following big faunal species were registered in the Holocene strata: Bos Taurus, Capra hircus, Ovis aries and Sus scrofa domesticus. Small number of remains from Ursus spelaeus, Vulpes vulpes, Cervus elaphus and Artiodactyla ind. were found in the Pleistocene series. Sherds from the Late Antiquity were found in the Holocene strata. There are a small number of flint artifacts. Four artifacts, including a nucleus for chips and an untypical scraper, were found in the Holocene series. A fragment with a facet lower part, which could be related with some of the Levallois chips from the Levallois – Mousterian assemblages in the Kozarnika Cave, deserves attention in the Pleistocene strata. The specificities of the Pleistocene fauna allow us to date the Pleistocene strata to the first half of the Upper Pleistocene (c. 126 000 – 10 000 BP). This chronology corresponds to the presumable Levallois affiliation of the flint artifact from stratum 4, which may belong to a Mousterian assemblage.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN GOLEMI PECH CAVE (Stanimira Taneva – stanimira_taneva@abv.bg) Two sondages were carried out: No. 2 located in the cave entrance and No. 3 in the cave interior. Sherds, flint artifacts and bones were found in layer 1 from the Holocene. Thracian pottery from the Early Iron Age (11th – 6th centuries BC) prevails: sherds with stamped decoration (interconnected “S” and circles) and with cannelures under the rim of the mouth. The Pleistocene sequence covers layers 2 – 6 and is c. 2 m in depth. A small quantity of flint artifacts and paleontological remains were found. There are no diagnostic shapes among the flint artifacts found in the layers from the Holocene and the Pleistocene sequence. The bones from the Pleistocene layers show the presence of Ursus spelaea, Lynx spelaea, Capra cf. caucasica, Canis lupus, Carnivore ind. The presence of bones from cave bear (a fragment of skull and teeth from four individuals at different age) and other Pleistocene species allow the relevant layers to be dated to the Upper Pleistocene. The dividing line between the Pleistocene and the Holocene lies between layers 1 and 2. According to the flint artifacts and the bones, layers 2 and 3 could be related to the end of the Upper Pleistocene, i.e. they are chronologically related to the Upper Paleolithic period. The lower part of the Pleistocene sequence (layers 4 – 6) is related to earlier stages of the Upper Pleistocene and to the Middle Paleolithic period. This is also supported by the Levallois design of some artifacts found in 2007 in sondage No. 1.