Abstract:

The fortress of the Old Ahlat is situated on the northwestern shore of Lake Van, at the edge of the Keş Stream, which flows into the lake from the west of the Ahlat district center. The fortress was used intensely from the middle of the 12th century to the end of the 14th century but was determined to have existed in earlier periods. During a visit in 2018, it was understood that there might be a prehistoric settlement under the mentioned fortress, thanks to the sherds incidentally found on the surface. The following year, archaeological excavations were initiated under the leadership of the Ahlat Museum Directorate and with the support of the Medieval Cemetery Project. The fortress is located on a 430x60 m rocky hill extending north-south at the western side of the ruins of the Old Ahlat. To the north of the fortress area, surrounded by a fortification wall built with lime mortar and stone building technique, the citadel is situated on the relatively broader and higher part. Archaeological excavations were started here in two places with visible wall remains, which were the foundations of large medieval structures. Especially during the excavations in the grid-square R16 in the southeastern part of the citadel, a large number of Early Bronze Age sherds were found in the debris piled up on the outside of the wall thought to be the citadel wall. It was observed that these sherds increased as one went deeper. The sherds are black-burnished known as Karaz type in Anatolian archaeology. Among these, some local pottery features not encountered in the distribution area of Karaz culture were also determined. Among the finds are sherds belonging to gray and brown wares, chipped stone tools and ground stones. This paper will try to show that the citadel of the historical town of Ahlat was built on an unrecorded Early Bronze Age mound around Lake Van, based on the data obtained from the excavations carried out for four years.