Sami PATACI

Özlem ORAL PATACI

Field surveys in Ardahan in 2017 were conducted in Çıldır, Göle and the central district of Ardahan. During the survey in 2017, settlements of Ölçek, Gölgeli, Balıkçılar, Sulakyurt and Beşiktaş in the central district; Çobanköy, Bellitepe, Kuzupınarı, Dedeşen in Göle district and finally Kotanlı, Eskibeyrehatun, Doğankaya and Yıldırımtepe in Çıldır were researched. Northern Fortress of Ölçek, Southeastern Fortress of Gölgeli and its settlement, Fortress of Beşiktaş with its settlement and the kurgan cemetery, Fortress of Çobanköy and its settlement, Çobanköy Höyük, Fortress of Kuzupınarı and its settlement, two towers and a sheep pen in Bellitepe and an ancient archaeological site in Kotanlı were detected in the survey. In addition, two sites of ceramic finds from the Iron Age and Medieval Period in Sulakyurt and Doğankaya were discovered and the Devil’s Fortress in Çıldır was researched by our survey team. Besides the architectural ruins from Bronze and Iron Ages, two medieval churches in Bellitepe and Dedeşen and four chapels in Balıkçılar, Ölçek, Sulakyurt and Eskibeyrehatun were identified during the research. The chapels are from the typical single-naved religious buildings built in infill wall technique in Ardahan. Comparing to the chapels, the churches in Bellitepe and Dedeşen are more complex with their additional rooms and larger dimensions.

Keywords: Ardahan, Iron Age, Beşiktaş Fortress, Middle Age, Çıldır, Devil’s Fortress.