The inaugural year of ARCS Field School at the Roman town of Parthicopolis, located underneath the modern town of Sandanski (pictured below) in southwestern Bulgaria, just came to an end. The group enjoyed a very successful and quite an eventful excavation season full of fascinating discoveries and unforgettable trips in Southern Bulgaria and Northern Greece.

 After a couple of days devoted to Roman Serdica and before reaching our project base in Sandanski, we visited a number of important early Christian, Medieval and Revival period sites, e.g. the Red Church in Perishtica, the basilicas in Philippopolis, St. Nicholas church in Germaneia and St. Mary in Blagoevgrad.

ARCS excavations took place in the atrium of the Bishop’s basilica dated to AD 300-600, where a splendid array of finds, including coins, metal tools, whole pottery vessels, among others, revealed the existence of a public building of unknown function which existed before the construction of the basilica.

ARCS would like to extend gratitude to Assist. Prof. Stanislav Stanev, the Field School lecturers, as well as the whole staff of the Archaeological museum in Sandanski whose efforts contributed to a smooth and enjoyable field season.

I would like to take a moment to thank all Field School participants who vigorously and with much care strove to unfold the unknown history of Parthicopolis. We hope to see you again, guys! And thank you once more for a wonderful season!

 Stanislav Stanev (Institute of Art Studies, BAS), Alexandrina Tsoneva (New Bulgarian University), Teodor Todorov (NAIM-BAS), Elizabeth Bews (St. Olaf College), Philip Kolev (Sofia University), Amber Kearns (Austin Peay State University), Anna Lund (St. Olaf College)