The evaluation of the pottery storage room in area IX at Ayanis Fortress

The theme of the so entitled thesis study, "The Evaluation of the Pottery Storage Room in the Area IX in Ayanis Fortress", is the "Pottery Storage Room" just found in the east of the Temple Complex in Ayanis Fortress. During the archaeological excavations in the area called No IX, a pillared hall was unearthed, and it was detected that the basement room on the South side was filled with potteries. Even though similar samples of the pottery storage rooms of Urartu Archaeology were seem in centers like Karmir Blur and Bastam, the pottery storage room in Ayanis Kalesi is different with its distinguishing features not only from the mentioned settlements but also from other pottery storage rooms in the Ayanis citadel. The most significant characteristics of the other pottery storage rooms in the both the centers Karmir Blur and Ayanis is that the pottery storage rooms were filled with a specific group of wares. Thousands of pottery sherds have been found in the Pottery Storage and they are detected compose of multiple ware groups and forms. Apart from the few exceptional publications, research on Urartian pottery usually concentrates on "Red Burnished Ware". However, only 1% of the pottery sherds from thesis subject belong to this ware group. Being a closed context, this storage room has a great significance for the complete evaluation of the Urartian pottery repertoire. The thesis starts with the introduction of the "Pottery Storage Room in Area IX" in Ayanis Fortress, its architecture. Then, I discuss the archaeological finds coming from this room. I group the pottery found in the storage room based on their ware groups and typologies, identify their parallels, and finally, discuss the place and importance of these wares in the Urartian archaeology.