Researchers working on the Archaeological Settlements in Turkey (TAY) project have discovered 120 previously unknown ancient settlement areas in various locations in eastern Anatolia, the project's manager said. Assistant Professor Alparslan Ceylan, a lecturer at Erzurum's Atatürk University and the project's leader, said that the 120 settlement areas, thought to belong to the Iron Age, included a temple and several fortresses. Ceylan said inventories for 480 ancient settlements in the region - including the newly discovered sites- were also prepared as part of the project, which has been under way for the last one-and-a-half years.
     He and his team traveled 7,500 kilometers for the project, which once again proved the abundance of archaeological remains in Anatolia, according to Ceylan. "The presence of 480 settlement areas in eastern Anatolia alone is the biggest proof of Anatolia's historical wealth," he said. The results of their research will be available online soon, Ceylan noted. Among the most significant sites they discovered were an Iron Age fortress at a site named Ağababa, located in Erzincan's district of Tercan, and a fortress and temple with still-intact altars in the same district, he said.

Source: Turkish Daily News (23 November 2006)