SOMAK-ASARLIK: A NEW 2nd MILLENNIUM BC FORTRESS NEAR THE BEYCESULTAN

Somak-asarlık, is a fortress type settlement which is located in the north western highlands of beycesultan höyük and dominates the routes opening from north and east to the plain of çivril. somak-asarlık, 5.7 km beeline to beycesultan höyük, was detected in 2014 within the scope of the systematic archaeological surveys that we have continued to record the prehistoric settlements in the mountainous areas of the districts of çivril, çal and baklan of denizli in the upper menderes basin since 2010. the settlement was founded one of the crests lying to the plain from the plateau in the plateau-plain threshold dividing the parts of the plain and plateau of the basin. this is the most important factor of the selection of the site location placed in a strategic point that sees beycesultan and its hinterland. likewise, beycesultan höyük might be described as a regional center in the 17th-16th century in which somak-asarlık was founded. the excavations have proved that the settlement inhabited around a wide area in 35 hectares and had an advanced organization inside the settlement with the administrative and elite structures in this process. the works about the hinterland feeding a population of beycesultan höyük in the characteristics of an administrative center which includes a great population in this process, have revealed the existences of satellite settlements depended on beycesultan and each of them 4 hectare in size. in this settlement model, somak-asarlık might be considered as a part of defensive system protects the hinterland including beycesultan höyük and its satellite settlements. in this paper, the archeological data obtained from somak-asarlık that we have considered it as a fortress related to beycesultan höyük, will be presented in detail and its place in the settlement model of the region will be discussed.