ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR HARMANLI (Veselin Ignatov – ignatov_v@abv.bg, Krasimir Nikov, Tatyana Kancheva–Ruseva, Krasimir Velkov) Thracian sherds of the 8th – 6th centuries BC were found. A pit containing sherds of the Roman period was explored. Six dugouts of the Early Middle Ages with stoves constructed of stones bonded with mud were explored. The dugouts had square layout and measured 3 – 4 m by 3 – 4 m. The finds included iron arrowheads, bone, bronze and iron awls, a silver earring, a bronze finger-ring and a ring, ceramic vessels, an iron cross, querns and iron nails. Two other dugouts were discovered, 2 m by 4 m in size, with large domestic ovens. The finds included a bronze belt buckle, a ceramic vessel and a quern. Sixteen Early Mediaeval pits were explored, containing animal bones, horns, fragmentary burned wattle-and-daub, slag and sherds. Two human skeletons were discovered in Pit No. 40 and one in Pit No. 31.