Aras Türkiye Eski Yakın Doğu Araştırmaları Dergisi

Yazarlar: Sabahattin ERDOĞAN, Mikail ERCEK, Murat ŞEN

Konular:Arkeoloji

Anahtar Kelimeler:Kayalıdere Fortress,Urartu,Middle Iron Age

Özet: Kayalıdere fortress is one of the important centers that on the Urartian Kingdom's road network which opens to the west. İts also an important provincial center controlling these regions as of its location. Although it was only one season, the 1966 excavations clearly reveal the importance of the fortress in terms of the wealth of finds and the qualityof the data. Two season-long rescue excavations have been carried out in 2018 and 2019 at the fortress which will be turn into an island after the water retention operations of the Muş Alpaslan II dam have been completed. Determinationof the fortifications connected with the areas which will underwater, determination of the architecture in the citadel areas and excavation, cleaning and temporary conservation works were carried out for the protection of existing architectural tissues ( temple, store room, rock tomb etc.). Remarkable data has also been obtained from recent excavation. The most important of these is the stone paved area and the lower citadel, where the architectural units are located, and the stelea area where religious ceremonies are carried out. The failure to identify any inscriptions during the entire excavations seasons has been causing controversy in the dating of the Kayalıdere. Raw information from carbon analyses currently allows the fortress to be associated with the early period of Urartu.

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