RESCUE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS IN THE ‘BALAK DERE’ FORTRESS (Boni Petrunova – boni_boon@abv.bg) The ‘Balak Dere’ fortress is situated on the riverbank of Arda, near the town of Ivailovgrad. Treasure hunting excavations within the ruins of the fortress were registered. The so-called ‘large building’ partly damaged by a clandestine excavation was explored. The preserved parts of the wall are of dry-stone construction. A sondage was made within the building’s interior, close to the northwestern curved part of the wall. A floor level of mortar, sand and ancient bricks was registered at c. 1 m in depth. The ‘large building’ was presumably constructed in modern times, but its wall lies on earlier buildings. A sketch of the fortress was prepared. The fortress has an area of c. 1 ha. and its western and eastern gates were located. Some of the significant finds are: a gilded bronze applique that belongs to the first sub-type of the so-called ‘Preslav’ belt adornments with heart-like shape and palmetto decoration coming from the 9th – 10th centuries, a small spherical copper bell and a small double-pyramid-like bronze bell both dated to the 8th – 9th centuries. Thirty-four coins were found during the excavations: the earliest coins date to the 4th century AD and were minted by Constantius II, seven Byzantine coins date to the 13th century, while the latest coins are three Ottoman akce of the 15th – 17th centuries, which determine the latest period of occupation in the fortress.

EXPLORATIONS NEAR IVAILOVGRAD (Ivailo Kanev – tapanar@abv.bg) A pile of stones and eight graves of a Christian cemetery were discovered in trench No. 88. A coin of Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos and a coin of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos were found in the embankment of the graves. Twenty-one glass and bronze bracelets were found in a grave of a woman. The walls of building No. 2, consisting of parallel rooms arranged in a line, were discovered. Traces of fire and roof tiles were documented and an Early Byzantine coin of the 5th century AD was found. A construction of stones and a Christian grave of the 11th century, dug within the construction, were discovered in trench No. 98. Traces from fire and a rectangular room were documented. A pile of stones and seven graves from the Christian cemetery were discovered in trench No. 78. The burial pits were shaped over the pile of stones. The grave goods include two bronze crosses of 11th century. A wall, 60 cm wide, and traces of fire were discovered in trench No. 79. Sherds of five dolia were found. A Christian grave of a child was discovered between trenches Nos. 88 and 89. The grave goods included jewelry of the end of the 10th – first half of the 11th century. The southern part of the western gate of the fortress was discovered. The fortification wall is 2 m wide and is preserved at 4.20 m in height. Probably, during the 1st – 3rd centuries AD, an open settlement existed on the site. The fortification wall and building No. 2 were probably constructed during the 4th century AD. The fire may have been caused during the Barbarian invasions in the 6th century AD. A cemetery appeared in that part of the fortress at the end of the 10th – first half of the 11th century. The coins found during the excavations date to the 4th – 6th centuries AD, 10th – 11th centuries and 13th century, and the pottery dates to the 1st – 3rd centuries AD, 4th – 6th centuries AD and 12th – 14th centuries.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR IVAILOVGRAD (Ivailo Kanev – tapanar@abv.bg) The fortress could be identified as Rodestuic mentioned in the mediaeval historical sources. It functioned during the end of the 4th and the 5th centuries AD, while in the 6th century AD it was burned during barbarian invasions. The fortress was burned again during the wars of the Bulgarian Khan Krum in Thrace carried on in AD 813. The explorations of Building No.2 continued. The fire in the building was documented in square 79. Walls were discovered. Two Christian graves dug into the level of the fire were explored. A staircase was discovered in square 78. The building was constructed during the 4th century AD, when the fortification wall was built. Later, the building was reconstructed. In the 6th century AD the building was burned and later it was reconstructed again. Building No.2 existed until the 10th century AD when a Christian necropolis appeared over its ruins.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR IVAILOVGRAD (Ivailo Kanev – tapanar@abv.bg) A room in Public Building No. 2 was explored in trench No. 89. Charcoal and building pottery were found in the upper layers. A number of nails and decorative tacks, probably originating from a burned wooden door, were found in front of one of the walls. A cylindrical marble base was discovered. A hoard of 194 bronze minimi of the first half of the 4th century AD was found.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR IVAILOVGRAD (Ivailo Kanev – tapanar@abv.bg) Christian graves Nos. 21 and 22 were explored in trenches Nos. 79 and 89. A fragmentary marble slab with an inscription was reused as a side wall of grave No. 22. Sherds and Latin imitations of the first half of the 13th century minted in Constantinople were found in trenches Nos. 99 and 100. Four burials were explored in the Christian cemetery of the 11th century. Walls of rooms were discovered and Proto-Bulgarian appliqués and a belt point of the 10th century were found. Room No. 2 with an entrance towards Room No. 1 was documented in trench No. 99. Rooms Nos. 3 and 4 were documented in trench No. 100. The explorations of Room No. 1 continued in trenches Nos. 80 and 90. A layer with traces from fire was documented, containing fragmentary building ceramics and dolia and sherds. The excavated rooms belonged to a building that was reconstructed throughout the 6th – 10th centuries. In the 11th century a cemetery appeared over the debris of the building.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR IVAILOVGRAD (Ivailo Kanev – tapanar@abv.bg) Sondage No. 1 was carried out in the northeastern part of the fortress close to the supposed entrance. The finds included nails, fragments from blue glass bracelets and sherds. Sondage No. 2 was carried out at 25 m to the west of Sondage No. 1. The finds included sherds, fragmentary building ceramics, nails and wedges. Sondage No. 3 was carried out at 27 m to the north of Sondage No. 2. The finds included coins of the 4th – 5th centuries AD and a terracotta loom weight. Sondage No. 4 was carried out at 30 m to the west of Sondage No. 3. A silver coin of the 14th century was found, minted by a crusader state in the Balkans. The explorations of Public Building No. 2 continued. The finds included nails, wedges, fragmentary building ceramics, sherds, Latin and Constantinoplean imitative coins of the first half of the 13th century. A street, oriented southeast – northwest and paved with slabs, with a water-conduit under its central part, was discovered. Most probably, it was constructed during the 4th – 6th centuries AD. Grave No. 37 was discovered over the street, which belonged to the Christian necropolis of the end of the 10th – beginning of the 11th centuries.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR IVAILOVGRAD (Ivailo Kanev – tapanar@abv.bg) The fortress covered an area of 1 ha. A sondage was carried out on the southern Late Antique fortification wall near to the pilaster that was discovered. A kempfer capital with a cross in relief was found and it originated from a Late Antique basilica. Building No. 3 with two rooms and walls 80 cm wide was discovered in Sector A in the central part of the site. Fragmentary mortar and building ceramics were found and traces from fire were documented. Room No. 1 was paved with reused Late Antique marble slabs and a marble column. The finds included coins of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, anonymous Byzantine coins of the 11th century and Latin imitative coins of the first quarter of the 13th century minted in Constantinople. Building No. 3 was most probably constructed in the 10th century.

BALAK DERE FORTRESS (Ivailo Kanev – tapanar@abv.bg) The explorations of Building No. 3 continued. Proto-Bulgarian belt appliqués of the 10th century, anonymous Byzantine folles of the 11th century and Latin imitative coins minted in Constantinople in 1205 – 1225 were found in the layers above the remains of the building. Six graves belonging to the cemetery of the 11th century were also discovered above the remains of the building. The grave goods included glass and bronze bracelets and earrings. The walls of Building No. 3 were 80 cm wide, built of roughly-cut stones bonded with mortar. A corridor was explored, located between Rooms Nos. 1 – 2 and the newly discovered Rooms Nos. 3 and 4. A layer with traces from fire of the end of the 6th – beginning of the 7th century AD was documented, synchronous to the fire documented in Building No. 2. A hoard of 18 bronze coins was discovered in the corridor: the earliest coin was minted by Justinian I in AD 527 – 538, several coins were minted by Justin II in AD 577 – 578 and most of the coins were minted by Phocas. A pavement of stone slabs was explored in front of Building No. 3. The building was constructed in the beginning of the 4th century AD over an earlier building and marble columns from its structure were reused in the new building. Building No. 3 was burned during the invasions of Slavs and Avars at the end of the 6th – beginning of the 7th centuries AD.

BALAK DERE FORTRESS (Ivailo Kanev – tapanar@abv.bg) The yard in front of the southern entrance of Building No. 3 was explored. Fragmentary building ceramics were found. The western surrounding wall of the yard adjoined the wall of the building. Both walls were built of mortared stones. The finds dated from the 4th century AD to the 13th century.

BALAK DERE FORTRESS (Ivailo Kanev – tapanar@abv.bg) Building No. 3 existed from the first half of the 4th to the beginning of the 7th centuries AD. During the second half of the 5th century AD, the building was burned during the invasions of Slavs and Avars and subsequently, it was restored. In AD 1200 – 1225, parts of the walls of the building were reused for construction of separate rooms. Parts of their walls were discovered, built in rubble masonry. Room No. 7 of the building was explored beneath these structures. Its walls were 60 cm wide, built in rubble masonry. Room No. 7 was built over a layer with debris from the fire of the second half of the 5th century AD. A coin hoard of the middle of the 5th century AD, discovered in the layer beneath the floor of Room No. 2, testified that the repair of the room was part of the reconstruction of the building after the fire of the second half of the 5th century AD.

BALAK DERE FORTRESS (Mariela Inkova – inkovam@mail.bg, Ivailo Kanev) The exploration of Bulding No. 3 continued. A stratum was explored above the pavement of stone slabs situated to the south of the building, containing two Latin imitative coins of AD 1205 – 1250 minted in Constantinople, an anonymous Byzantine follis of the Class B (AD 1030 – 1042), a quarter of a coin of Galeria Valeria minted in AD 305 – 311, a proto-Bulgarian belt appliqué, an iron knife, clamps and a fragment from a bronze bracelet. The finds over the pavement of slabs included two anonymous Byzantine folles of the Class K (AD 1085 – 1089), a follis of Constantine X Doukas and Eudokia Makrembolitissa minted in AD 1059 – 1067, a coin of Philip the Arab, a bronze cross of the 11th century, an iron knife, arrowheads, a bronze belt appliqué of the 10th century AD. Sherds and two burned coins of the 5th century AD were found under that pavement of stone slabs. Parts of the eastern and western surrounding walls, 80 cm wide, were discovered.

BALAK DERE FORTRESS (Ivailo Kanev – tapanar@abv.bg) Building No. 3 was explored. The eastern surrounding wall was 80 cm wide. The open area paved with stone slabs was 27 m by 15 m in size with two entrances from the south and one from the east. The ground beneath the pavement was leveled with debris from the reconstruction of the fortress which was carried out after the fire that happened in AD 450 – 500. The southern wall of Room No. 6 was 60 cm wide, built in rubble masonry. The finds from the excavations included coins: Bulgarian imitations of Constantinopolitan coins of the first half of the 13th century, coins minted by Emperors of Thessalonica (Manuel Doukas and John Komnenos Doukas), Latin imitations of Constantinopolitan coins of the first half of the 13th century, coins of Alexios I Komnenos minted in Thessalonica, anonymous Byzantine folles of the Class A1 minted by John I Tzimiskes, the Class D (AD 1050 – 1060) and the Class K (AD 1085 – 1092), coins of Crispus and Constantius II, a silver coin of the 15th century minted by some Latin Principality in Greece and a silver akçe of Sultan Osman II, a bronze appliqué, iron knives, clamps and arrowheads.

BALAK DERE FORTRESS (Ivailo Kanev – tapanar@abv.bg) The excavations continued to the south of Building No. 2 towards the southern fortification wall. The finds discovered in the layer from 20 cm to 60 cm included sherds, iron wedges and coins, mostly Latin imitative coins of the first quarter of the 13th century minted in Constantinople. The already known street was discovered in Trench No. 82 as well. Grave No. 38 was discovered, belonging to the cemetery of the end of the 10th – beginning of the 11th centuries. A young woman, c. 17 years old, was buried in the grave. The grave goods included glass and bronze bracelets, a necklace of glass beads. In Trench 92, a fragment of a marble column with a Greek inscription was found. The inscription reads: “Good Fortune. To master A…”, apparently a votive inscription dedicated to Apollo or Asclepius. The inscription showed that during the 2nd – 3rd centuries AD a sanctuary existed on the peak. The Roman coins, marble columns, marble bases and decorative architectural fragments discovered so far originated from that sanctuary.