Author(s): Sami PATACI*1
In this article, four different archaeological sites detected in the village of Balçe?me in the Göle district of Ardahan and in the immediate vicinity of the village are evaluated. The distance of Balçe?me village to Göle district center is 22 km and it is located to the northeast of the center, near the border with Kars province. The archaeological finds evaluated in this article are the Kay?nl?k Tower, ?ip?irik Tower, Tekmezar Settlement and Tower, and finally an Ancient Archaeological site which we believe was built in the direction of the transhumance activities. The towers and the settlement are located near the creeks of the Kura River. The buildings were generally constructed with dry-wall technique with medium craftsmanship stones. The archaeological sites other than the Kay?nl?k Tower are unfortunately quite destroyed. Kay?nl?k Tower is located to the north of Balçe?me. It has a semicircular plan and a peripheral wall. Very few Iron Age pottery fragments could be identified other than the Middle Age ceramics. ?ip?irik Tower is located to the south of Balçe?me and has a rectangular plan. Apart from the tower structure, another group of buildings which cannot be understood is located just south of this observation tower. Settlement and Tower of Tekmezar is located on the eastern edge of Balçe?me village. According to our field observations, it is understood that it consists of at least 15-20 square and quadrangular planned rooms. It is located 60 meters south of Tekmezar Creek. There is also a rectangular tower in the center of the settlement. The ancient archaeological site is located in the center of the pine forest, which starts from 2 km northwest of the Balçe?me village and extends for 5 km to the west. Here, the single row wall structure forms a trapezoidal plan according to the conditions of the land on which it is located, and there are no residues other than this structure
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