AKÇALI VILLAGE ILLUSTRATED ROCK SHELTER

X: 41.574760 Y: 38.323184 Z: 761.24

The rock shelter is located in the northwest of Akçalı (Küsket) village, which is within the borders of Kozluk district of Batman province. Akçalı village is located 26km northeast of Kozluk town. At the same time, the rock shelter is located on the edge of the Sevak Stream, which flows to the northwest of the village of Akçalı.

The naturally formed rock shelter is oriented east-west. On the walls of the rock shelter, there are depictions of people and animals with a bow in their hands made with madder. Apart from this, there are Arabic inscriptions that are thought to have been made recently, and there are swastika motifs with a pedestal and classical cross motifs incised on the rock in the northern part of the shelter.

The entrance part of the shelter is wide and narrows inwards, showing a triangular plan. In winter, the rock shelter fills with water due to the rise of the Sevak Stream. The rock shelter is used as an animal shelter in summer. The incised crosses found in the rock shelter suggest that it was used as a place of worship. The depictions of people and animals made with madder suggest that the rock shelter may have been used for sheltering as well as the Upper Paleolithic Period.