We explored the northern periphery of a stratified site comprising features and artifacts from the Neolithic (a settlement), the late Iron Age (a 5th – early 3rd cent. BC pit sanctuary), and the Middle Ages. The Medieval structures have been dug immediately into the earlier ones thus compromising them. In 2004 I determined one more cultural layer dating to AD 4th – 7th cent. on the grounds of ceramics available.

The Medieval features appeared just bellow the sod and upper humus layer. We revealed a stone construction. The walls are made of crushed stone fastened by mud, 0.60 m wide. The manner of building suggests at least two building stages. The house perished in fire. The numerous burnt sherds certainly date the fire, and the final stage of the house, to the end of AD 12th cent.

The exploration of a dugout began too. The pottery found in it determines its date to AD 12th cent. This fact suggests that dugouts and stone houses have been in use together within the medieval settlement.

The medieval settlement emerged next to a ford across Maritsa River, along a busy trade road in the past. Later the Maritsa River bed removed about 3 km northward. The settlement perished in fire at the very beginning of AD 13th cent. Its end might be associated with the dramatic terms between Tsar Kaloyan and the knights of the Fourth Crusade.

Katya Melamed