EXPLORATION OF EARLY MEDIAEVAL SITE IN SBORYANOVO (Diana Gergova – dianagergova@hotmail.com) The exploration included mapping of the group of stone buildings on the eastern bank of the river of Krapinets and excavations of particular key elements of the structure of the early mediaeval settlement on the western river bank. A sunken-floored building with walls faced with uncut stones was excavated. It measures 4.50 m by 4.50 m and a stone-built oven was discovered in its northeastern corner. A stone pan, a fragment of millstone and significant quantity of iron slag found inside the building testify that most likely, this was a workshop. The second building excavated was a sunken-floored dwelling with stone-faced walls, which has two rooms and an entrance from the northwest. It measures 5 m by 5 m and there is a well-preserved oven of broken stones built into the southwestern wall of the northeastern room. An early mediaeval single-nave chapel was discovered in the central part of the complex. Its walls are 80 cm thick and were built of rough stones, while a stone block served as an altar table. A bronze cross-enkolpion of the 9th – beginning of the 10th centuries was found in the southeastern corner of the apse. Excavations of the large building constructed of stones and located in the southeastern part of the site were carried out. The discovered sherds and the bronze cross-enkolpion date the site between the 8th and the beginning of the 10th centuries. The exploration reveals the character of the settlement pattern in the region during the early mediaeval period, before and after the First Bulgarian Kingdom converted to Christianity.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS IN SBORYANOVO (Diana Gergova – dianagergova@gmail.com, Radoslav Vasilev, Yavor Ivanov) The geodetic surveying provided data for the existence of even parceled terrains surrounded with stone walls. They have an area of 12 ha and were related to the farming activities carried out by the inhabitants of the settlement. Seven buildings were identified inside the settlement, which was surrounded with stone walls and has an area of 2700 sq. m. The exploration of the Early Mediaeval single-nave chapel was completed. Its foundations were built of uneven stones and its entrance is from the western side. In 2004, a square-cut stone, presumably used for an altar table, was discovered in the apse and a bronze cross-encolpion containing a relic of cedar wood was found. In 2006, a house with two rooms was explored near the chapel. It is partly dug into the ground and its walls are faced with stones. There is an oven with partly preserved stone vault situated in the center of the building. The exploration of the single-room building situated in the northern periphery of the settlement was completed. The building is partly dug into the ground with walls faced with stones and has an area of 30 sq. m. Four pairs of postholes from the supporting construction, an oven in the northern corner and parts of millstone were discovered. The iron slag found in the building allows us to suppose that this was probably a forge. A building with stone foundations and two rooms, presumably with farming function, was discovered to the east of the gate on the southwestern wall of the settlement. The constructions of the buildings that stood on the stone foundations were probably of timber. The small number of finds: pottery, few bone awls and flint plates, show that the settlement dates to the 9th – 11th centuries and that the inhabitants probably abandoned it.