After long-term surveys 2012 a German-Bulgarian team started excavations in the valleys of the rivers Struma and Mesta in south-western Bulgaria. The goal of our research is get a better understanding of the execution of power by the population of these mountain valleys as well as to reveal the processes of transfer and exchange of objects and technologies between the Aegean and the Danube regions. For this reason the excavations were conducted on the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age hillfort Kresna in the Mesta valley near Sandanski and on the Early Iron Age settlement Bresto near Raslog located close to the upper course of the Mesta river. Similar to the hillforts in the valley of Struma near Blagoevgrad, possible large-sized grain storages were exposed in Kresna. Bresto stands out for its massive fortified walls dated to the Early Iron Age as well as for the thousands secondary burnt daub fragments often supplied with plastic decorations. The comparison of various parts of the valleys of the rivers Struma and Mesta demonstrates the difference of interest for foreign objects and the acquisition of technologies on the micro-region level.