Abstract:

The “Iron Age and Hellenistic Age Tunceli Survey” project, which has been carried out within the provincial borders of Tunceli since 2016, aims to identify new settlements belonging to the Iron Age and Antiquity and to obtain new data on archaeological remains of which little information is known. As a result of the observation and documentation studies carried out within the scope of the 2021 season of the survey project, a new archaeological settlement named Masumu-Pak Fortress has been identified in the Tunceli region, and some archaeological features of the Aşağı (Lower) Doluca Fortress, which was brought to the archaeology literature before, have been examined. While the Iron Age traces are intense in Aşağı Doluca Fortress, Iron Age and Medieval structures are evident in Masumu-Pak Fortress. It has been determined that the structures considered as open-air temples in Masumu-Pak Fortress and Aşağı Doluca Fortress settlements have common features of form and construction. The main common aspect of the open-air worship areas in both settlements is the architectural elements that can be considered as an altar carved into the rocks with a platform in front of it.

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