EXPLORATIONS NEAR BURGAS (Miroslav Klasnakov – miro_klasnakov@abv.bg) The sterile ground beneath the settlement mound was reached in trench N8-9 at 3.30 – 3.40 m in depth. The Late Neolithic stratum was 40 – 60 cm thick and it began at 2.80 m in depth. The finds included sherds (Karanovo III – IV) with incised decoration and cannelures and fragmentary small terracotta cult tables. Late Chalcolithic sherds were found on the surface of the settlement mound. Part of House No. 4 of the Early Chalcolithic period was explored. Postholes of the walls, 8 – 20 cm in diameter, were documented. There were freestanding wooden posts inside the rooms, which supported the roof of the house. The layer of debris and the floor were 0.80 – 1 m thick. There were traces of fire. House No. 1/2 of the Early Chalcolithic period, 10.75 m by 7.70 m in size, was explored. Postholes of the walls, 10 – 22 cm in diameter, were documented. The layer of debris and the floor were 50 – 70 cm thick. There were traces of fire. Part of House No. 6 of the Middle Chalcolithic period was explored. Postholes of the walls, 18 – 20 cm in diameter, were documented. The layer of debris and the floor were 50 – 60 cm thick. Part of domestic oven and a millstone platform with clay borders and two lower millstones were documented. There were traces of fire. The Chalcolithic pottery included pots, bowls, dishes, jugs, lily-like vessels, anthropomorphic vessels, lids and dolia. The decoration was incised, pierced, stamped, bands and buds in relief, white- and red- and graphite-painted, and white- and red-encrusted. The flint assemblage belonged to the Chalcolithic technological complex and included retouched flakes, flakes from sickles, scrapers, etc. The osteological material included bones from domesticated (ox, sheep, goats, pigs and dogs) and wild animals (deer, fallow deer, roe deer, boars, rabbits and wild birds) in 85% : 15% ratio.