CHAPTER EIGHT

THE KERKENES PROJECT 2015–2016

SCOTT BRANTING, JOSEPH W. LEHNER,

SEVİL BALTALI-TIRPAN, SARAH R. GRAFF,
JOHN M. MARSTON, TUNA KALAYCI,
YASEMIN ÖZARSLAN, DOMINIQUE LANGIS-
BARSETTI, LUCAS PROCTOR,
AND PAIGE PAULSEN

INTRODUCTION
Kerkenes, a Late Iron Age walled city located on top of the high ridge
of Kerkenes Dağı in the Sorgun district of Yozgat Province, no doubt
played an important role for a brief time in the social and political
landscape of ancient Anatolia at the end of the 7th to the mid-6th century
BCE. The city is immense, with the seven kilometer long stone city wall
encompassing an urban area of 271 hectares. This is the largest city in
Anatolia up to that time and dwarfs most contemporary cities across the
Near East (Fig. 8-1). From excavation and survey it is evident that the long
city wall was completed and the interior was filled with buildings, urban
blocks, and infrastructure that suggest a fair level of city planning. The
enormous investment of vision and labor that went into planning and
constructing this new city on top of the high ridge hints at its ancient
importance and has certainly contributed, alongside the innovative
methods used by the teams of archaeologists that have investigated it, to
the attention this city has received by modern scholars.

BACKGROUND OF KERKENES
The physical location of the city on Kerkenes Dağı was selected in part
due to the high vantage point it commands within this portion of central
Anatolia, as well as the ability to control the water resources contained
 The Kerkenes Project 155

within the city. From the city, the surrounding landscape can be seen
stretching out for scores of kilometers (Fig. 8-2). To the east and southeast
the view runs all the way to the Akdağ Mountains, to the west and the
southwest to the mountains surrounding Yozgat, and to the north up into
the southernmost reaches of the Pontus Mountains. Within this area run
important north-south and east-west routes of trade, routes that crossed
just to the east of Sorgun, which the city would have overlooked and over
which it would thereby have wielded some measure of control (Branting
1996). At the same time, the specific location of the city was also likely
determined by the springs and pools of water that the city architects made
use of to supply water management systems within the city (Atalan 2006).

Figure 8-1. Areas of work at Kerkenes in 2015–2016.

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Figure 8-2. View to the southeast from the city wall at Kerkenes.

The geopolitical and historical aspects of the city have been more
difficult to determine. Przeworski (1929) first suggested that the city might
be Pteria, a city briefly mentioned by Herodotus at I.76 as a casus belli for
the war between Croesus and Cyrus the Great in the 540s BCE which
ended in the Persian conquest of the Lydian Empire. Summers, building
off this passage, initially suggested that evidence at Kerkenes might
indicate that Pteria was built by the Medes (Summers 2000). However,
subsequently excavated archaeological evidence of Phrygian material
culture and writing in the city led to Summers rethinking this initial
hypothesis and reinterpreting the city as Phrygian (Summers et al. 2004).
The presence of such a large city far to the east of the Phrygian capital at
Gordion does raise geopolitical questions, particularly as cities like
Gordion fall within the orbit of the Lydian Empire during this time (Rose
2012: 16). While dendrochronological evidence remains inconclusive in
nailing down the precise dating of the foundation and destruction of the
city, the archaeological evidence is in line with a late 7th to mid-6th century
BCE date for the brief period in which the city was inhabited.
The short-lived occupation of the city, likely no more than two
generations between its initial foundation and its final fiery destruction, is
also an interesting characteristic of Kerkenes. Evidence for the short-lived
nature of the city and its final destruction, accompanied by looting and
intentional burning, has been found across the site through extensive
surveys and excavations (Summers et al. 1996; Summers and Summers
 The Kerkenes Project 157

1998; Summers et al. 2004; Branting 2006; Branting et al. 2016; Summers
2017). Paired with minimal later overburden across an overwhelming
majority of the city, Kerkenes offers a nearly optimal opportunity to
investigate the social organization of cities. Large areas can be relatively
easily excavated down to the original surfaces, in many cases preserved
beneath the collapse of buildings, at depths of 50 cm to 2 m. In addition,
geophysical surveys have proved highly successful under these conditions
for reconstructing the plan of the city (Branting 2004; Summers and
Summers 2010).

Prior Archaeological Research

Archaeological excavation at Kerkenes preceded Przeworski’s 1929

identification. In 1926 the first survey of the site was accomplished by von
der Osten (1928). This was followed by excavations under the direction of
Erich Schmidt in 1928 (Schmidt 1929). While the excavations were brief,
8 days, they were able to make use of the characteristics of the site and
scores of workers to excavate 18 trenches across the city. The goals of
both the survey and excavations were to test the idea that the city was a
Bronze Age rival of the Hittites, whose capital of Ḫattuša is only 47 km to
the northwest. Through these means they were successful in disproving the
Bronze Age dating of the city, instead placing it firmly within the Iron
Age. However, the Iron Age was not of interest to the project at that time,
and so excavations ceased at the site for the next sixty-five years.
Excavations were restarted in 1993 under the direction of Geoffrey and
Françoise Summers. A particular methodological focus of the renewed
project was large-scale remote sensing through geophysical and geospatial
surveys (Summers and Summers 2010), a suite of techniques that had been
unavailable in the 1920s but which would allow the new project to map
the surface and subsurface remains in order to expose the plan of the city.
The remote sensing data would also provide locations of buried walls and
structures to guide precision excavation of select features. Work was
undertaken with aerial photography, magnetometry, resistivity, ground
penetrating radar, and Global Positioning System (GPS) micro-
topographic terrain survey alongside traditional surveying techniques. The
work undertaken over a twenty-year span was groundbreaking for the
application of these techniques on such a large scale (Kvamme 2003: 437),
and it brought international attention to the site. It also guided the
excavation of 7000 m² of area in the city between 1993 and 2012, with
particular concentrations of effort in the Palatial Complex and in one of
the seven city gates. Finally, it also laid the foundation for advances in
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archaeological transportation simulations to better understand social

organization of the settlement from the city plan that was revealed
(Branting 2004).
In 2014, the Kerkenes Project continued under the direction of Scott
Branting. The first two years were undertaken under the auspices of the
Yozgat Museum, with the 2016 season the first under a full foreign
excavation permit. The project has experienced a great deal of continuity
since 2014, while also introducing new directions of research. The remote
sensing surveys and excavations have continued during this time within
methodologies compatible with those used in preceding years. The
recording methodologies at Kerkenes have always been adaptable and
seek to incorporate the latest technologies as they become available. This
led to the use of GPS receivers for topographic mapping as early as 1997
(Branting and Summers 2002), handheld devices and tablet computers
beginning in 2006 (Branting 2007; Summers et al. 2007), and
photogrammetry from 1999 (Summers et al. 1999; Summers and Summers
2017:11). An increased use of unmanned aerial vehicles for overhead
imagery and more advanced photogrammetry and 3D scanning have been
new advances incorporated into the recording methodologies of the project
since 2011.
In addition, there has been a conceptual shift in the focus of the project
towards a more dynamic exploration of the city and its broad social
organization and to also expand ethnographic research within the adjacent
village of Şahmuratlı in relation to the project and this important living
cultural heritage site. This builds upon earlier work at Kerkenes, including
the remote sensing surveys and transportation simulations, some of which
incorporated agent-based modeling (Branting 2004; Branting et al. 2007).
It also builds upon ethnographic work around Kerkenes and in the region
since the 1920s (Morrison 1939; Bittel 1960/61; Ergenekon 1999). The
remote sensing surveys revealed ca. 757 urban blocks laid out across the
city during its initial foundation, walled spaces which were then filled in
with less formalized structures and features by the inhabitants. Initial work
with transportation simulations has allowed initial models of how these
urban blocks related to one another across different demographic groups.
The current project seeks to take this further by exploring one main urban
block to reveal the range of activity areas present therein and to compare
them to prior and current excavations elsewhere in the city. With a focus
on defining households from these activity areas, these excavations will be
able to leverage the knowledge gained in these urban blocks and apply it
to the social organization of the city as a whole through the city plan,
simulations, and social network analysis.
 The Kerkenes Project 159

2015-2016 SEASONS
During the 2015 and 2016 seasons work concentrated on three primary
research objectives: excavations in Urban Block 8, the urban block
selected for wide area excavations; the expansion of the resistivity survey
in the south-central portion of the city; and ethnographic research focused
on understanding local perceptions and memories of Kerkenes Dağı and of
the project. Ongoing conservation work both in the laboratory and in the
city was also a focus of the project in both years.

Geophysical Survey

Between 2012 and 2014 the timing of the issuing of permits did not
allow for a continuation of the highly successful resistivity survey at
Kerkenes. The survey was resumed in 2015 when the permit was issued
early enough to allow a May season, a time of the year at Kerkenes when
there is sufficient water in the soil to allow this electrically based
technique to yield useful results. Over these two seasons 83,200 m² (8.32
hectares) of area was surveyed within the city walls, focused on the south-
central portion of the city. This was despite equipment issues and logistics
that limited the amount of survey possible in 2015 to just under 2 hectares.
While the amount of survey area in 2015 was well below the areas seen in
past seasons, it was nonetheless a very welcomed return to the field for
this survey technique. It was also only made possible by the successful
collaboration on the survey with the Institute for Mediterranean Studies
(FORTH), a collaboration that will be built upon in future years to further
increase the speed of survey.
The south-central portion of the city is adjacent to one of the largest
contiguous areas of resistivity survey in the low and relatively flat portion
of the city center. This central area had been the focus of the early years of
the resistivity survey in 2001–2006. The area to the south of this is
comprised of a steadily rising series of slopes that lead up to the much
higher southern ridge, on top of which are structures such as the Palatial
Complex, the Cappadocia Gate, and numerous additional urban blocks.
While resistivity survey has been undertaken on the top of the southern
ridge, very little work had been done to determine the utility of the
resistivity survey on the steeper slopes, slopes which comprise a majority
of areas that remain to be surveyed by this technique within the city. It was
unknown exactly how much of the footings of buildings remained
preserved on these slopes as well as how long into May the slopes would
retain sufficient soil moisture.
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The results from 2015–2016 clearly demonstrate the preservation of

building footprints high up onto these slopes and the utility of resistivity
survey, in most years, across these slopes into late May (Fig. 8-3). This is
both an exciting and daunting result, as it confirms the range of areas that
will need to be covered with resistivity survey in future years. Direct
comparison of the resistivity survey data with the results of the
magnetometry survey had previously shown the presence of structures not
seen in the magnetometry data, structures that had presumably not been as
heavily burnt in the final destruction of the city (Summers et al. 2007: 7).
This same result can be clearly seen throughout the area of the 2015-2016
survey. Numerous structures on these higher slopes, which were not
evident in the magnetometry data, can clearly be delineated and mapped
(Branting et al. 2016: 4-5).

Figure 8-3. Data from the resistivity survey in 2015-2016.

In addition to resistivity survey within the city walls, the opportunity

arose in 2016 to undertake limited resistivity survey around a Roman bath
complex that had been found in a field near Şahmuratlı village,
approximately 2.6 km from Kerkenes and revealed by emergency
excavations undertaken by the Yozgat Museum in 2015. Questions
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regarding the extent of the complex and possible settlement in this area
were raised, and the project surveyed 6400 m² around the complex on the
museum’s behalf to try and determine if this was an isolated complex. One
additional building was discovered by this technique beyond the core bath
complex, suggesting that this might indeed be a part of a larger settlement.

Excavations

The focus of excavations in both 2015 and 2016 was in Urban Block 8,
located in the far northern portion of the city. This is the urban block that
the project has selected for wide area excavation with a long-term project
goal of exposing the full extents of the 6000 m² urban block. This will
provide the project’s first look at the range of activities that took place
across an urban block and reveal particular configurations of buildings and
open spaces used for specific types of activities that might define
households within the urban block.
Previous test excavations in 1996–1997 within Urban Block 8 had
revealed the presence of well-preserved contexts, including plaster floors
with a variety of artifacts upon them. Of particular note was an ivory,
amber, and gold plaque with a carved frieze of animals upon it (Korolnik
1997; Dusinberre 2002). In addition, a trench excavated in 2007, as one of
a series of transportation trenches, extended just within the western side of
the urban block. It revealed a possible location for cooking activities. The
information gained from these excavations was instrumental in the
selection of Urban Block 8 in 2011 as the place to conduct wide area
excavations. In 2011, 2012, and 2014 preliminary excavations were
continued within Urban Block 8, lasting only a few weeks each season and
less than that in 2012. During this time several rooms of a multi-room
building surrounding a large hall were excavated. A section of pavement
in front of the hall was also revealed as well as a portion of the hall itself.
These preliminary excavations not only provided useful results but also
had the additional benefit of helping to establish the intensive soil
sampling methodology that is instrumental to the project’s research design.
In 2015–2016 the major goals of excavation were to excavate the
extent of the large hall within Trench 40 (TR40), to complete the
excavation of the stone pavement immediately in front of the hall in
Trench 33 (TR33), to join up the excavations within the multi-room
structure in Trenches 29 (TR29) and 31 (TR31) with the excavations
within the hall, and to expand the excavations along the multi-room
structure in Trench 31 (Fig. 8-4). In each of these trenches all artifact
findspots were mapped, and a strategy of intensive soil sampling was
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employed to gain a better picture of the spatial distribution of

archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological, and in some cases small artefactual
remains. The soil at Kerkenes is a dense clay, which makes dry sieving of
the soil on site impossible. Our sampling strategy since 2011, therefore,
employs both a systematic and an opportunistic sampling component.

Figure 8-4. Excavation areas in Urban Block 8.

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The systematic portion of the sampling strategy employs 10 liter

samples collected every 2 m along a hexagonal grid within and in the
vicinity of structures, with a wider 4 m hexagonal grid utilized in areas
well away from any structures. In addition, smaller 2 liter samples have
been collected at the midway point between the larger samples. The
hexagonal grid, as opposed to a square grid, is used in order to minimize
linear artifacts in the subsequent spatial interpolation and analysis of the
data points (Wells 2010). From each sample a sub-sample of greater than
100 milliliters is being collected and stored for additional analysis. Once
the sub-sample has been removed, the remainder of the 10 liter samples
are floated within a Siraf-style water flotation system (Marston and
Branting 2016; Branting et al. in review).
The opportunistic portion of the sampling strategy allows for additional
soil samples to be collected in important areas within the net of the
systematic grid. In some cases these opportunistic samples are not fully
floated but only wet sieved, using a multi-headed attachment to the Siraf-
style water flotation system that was designed by the project. Water in the
village of Şahmuratlı, where the excavation house is located, and up on the
site, is quite often in short supply and so the flotation system is designed
with settling pools to allow the water from flotation and from wet sieving
to be recycled through the system several times before removal and
replacement.
By the end of the 2016 season over 1100 m² of contiguous area had
been excavated down to the original surfaces within Urban Block 8. In
addition, well over 1000 soil samples have been collected and processed
from within the urban block. While analysis of the data is ongoing, a brief
summary of the work and results from each trench can be presented here.

Trench 40 (TR40)

The large 20.5 × 25.5 m hall contained within TR40 appears to be the
largest building within Urban Block 8. It is comprised of a 260 m² interior
room and a 75 m² antechamber separated by an inner wall pierced by a
single doorway. The roof of the building was supported in part by two
rows of four columns in the interior room and a single pair of columns in
the antechamber, all of which stood upon plain stone column bases. A
ninth small column base in the inner room may have been evidence for a
repair to one of the columns during the life of the building. The stone
footings for the walls of the building were topped with several courses of
mudbrick, particularly along the back wall of the building, and then with a
wooden frame superstructure, the supports of which extend down through
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the face of the stone footings of the wall. The stone base of the back wall
of the building additionally functioned as well as a terracing wall
supporting leveling fill upon which a stone paved area and a part of the
multi-room structure in TR29 were built. The roof of the large hall appears
to have been pitched and likely covered in thatch. The floor was a laid
mud plaster, which was not completely preserved across the two rooms,
and evidence for mud plastering was found along the interior faces of the
walls as well.
Within this impressive building two discrete activity areas have so far
been identified. The first is in the antechamber of the building, where over
800 pieces of bone and ivory inlays have been found between 2014 and
2016. These include pieces worked with simple geometric designs, those
with human figures, and a carved corner palmette. They appear at this time
to be loose pieces, not connected in a single object or group of objects.
Within this same context was also found an iron hand-scythe with a
serrated edge that appears unrelated to the inlays. The second activity area
is in the rear of the large inner room, where a sloping stone and plaster bin
was discovered extending across the entire width of the room at a distance
of 1.5 m from the north wall face (Fig. 8-5). In addition, a loose stone
filled base for what was presumably a 1 m wide, low wooden platform
extends across the width of the room just in front of the lip of the bin.
Within the bin were found pieces of wood, carbonized in the fire that
destroyed the building, including some worked and carved pieces of wood
up to 4 cm long. Scores of ivories, including 2 cm long ivory bolsters with
silver alloy pins to hold them in place (Fig. 8-6), and a small square ivory
frame, and worked bone, including a small pierced bone cylinder, were
discovered in close proximity to the wood and may have been inlays that
were attached to wooden furniture. In addition, an amber inlay was found
in the bin. Various metal implements were also uncovered, including an
iron arrowhead, a copper alloy spatula, a small perforated iron band, and
small tacks and rivets. Pottery and discarded animal bone were also found
in this context, including a large vessel that had been mended repeatedly
with lead pot menders (Fig. 8-7). Ongoing analysis of the pottery’s
production, use, and post-depositional wear suggest that it may have been
broken prior to being burnt in the destruction of the building. Perhaps it
even fell from an inlayed wooden table? This work with the ceramics is
part of a new site-wide initiative since 2015, focused on ceramic
morphological and functional analysis and cross-comparison of these
aspects of the ceramic repertoire at Kerkenes with sites such as Gordion,
Çadır Höyük, and Uşaklı Höyük (Branting et al. in review).
 The Kerkenes Project 165

Figure 8-5. The sloping stone and plaster bin in TR40.

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Figure 8-6. Ivory bolster

inlay from TR40.

Figure 8-7. Large vessel mended with lead pot menders in TR40.

Additional objects were discovered across the inner and outer rooms
between 2014 and 2016. These include several iron nails and other
elements that fell from the wooden superstructure of the building, and
 The Kerkenes Project 167

assorted pottery sherds throughout both rooms, including one sherd that
had been reworked into a circular jar stopper and another with incised
markings. Pieces of an iron pin and an iron awl were also found in the
interior room, and a badly melted fibula and wire earring were found in the
antechamber. In addition, a small 3 × 3.5 cm bone plaque bearing the
figure of a canine (Fig. 8-8), and a more fragmentary 8 × 4 cm ivory
plaque bearing three mythical figures, including a sphinx (Fig. 8-9), were
discovered to the south of the bin in the inner room. Pottery and a
fragment of a copper-alloy shaft were also found on the stone paved area
directly behind this large building.
Additional small finds may be recovered as a result of the ongoing
analysis of the opportunistic samples taken from this building and the
areas around it. All the soil from the bin area of the inner room was
gridded and collected for flotation or wet sieving. In addition, minor work
in recessed areas at the edges of the bin and in a long narrow room along
the outside face of the eastern wall of the building may yield a few more
surprises in this coming season.

Figure 8-8. Canine bone plaque from TR40.

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Trench 33 (TR33)

The stone paved area in front of the large building in TR40 had largely
been excavated in the abbreviated 2012 and 2014 seasons. A variety of
objects had been uncovered on this pavement, including architectural
elements such as iron nails from the superstructure of the building and
what may be a matching wire earring to the one found inside the
antechamber of TR40. In 2015 additional work was undertaken in TR33 to
excavate the accessible fill within a stone covered drain running under the
pavement just to the east of the eastern edge of the large building, and to
collect the soil for flotation. This drainage system will be investigated
further as excavations this coming season connect TR33 with TR31.

Figure 8-9. Ivory plaque with mythical figures from TR40.

Trench 29 (TR29)

The multi-roomed structure partly contained within TR29 was

excavated in 1996, 1997, and 2011. It has yielded excellent evidence for
different activities taking place within the different rooms of the structure,
including valuable storage, bulk storage, and cooking. In 2016, a small
additional portion of TR29 was excavated when joining this trench into
one contiguous area with TR40. In this small area, just outside of the
entrance to Room 2, an iron awl was found. The presence of tools
throughout the interior and exterior spaces of this Urban Block 8 are
encouraging signs in our search for its various activity areas.
 The Kerkenes Project 169

Trench 31 (TR31)

Portions of TR31 had been excavated during ten days in 2012,

including a stone staircase leading to Room 3 in the multi-roomed
structure in TR29. Room 3 was identified as a kitchen, with a hearth
installation in the room. In 2016, TR31 was expanded to the south and
east. The extent of the bounding walls of a fourth room to the east of the
staircase was defined, but awaits full excavation in 2017. However, a fifth
room, ca. 5 × 8 m in size, further to the south was completely excavated as
well as portions of both roofed and unroofed external spaces. The room
had a well plastered floor and wall plaster along the interior wall faces that
was clearly broken by nine vertical beam slots supporting the wooden
superstructure. Impressed mud plaster fragments also hint as to the nature
of the upper superstructure or thatched roof. Various artifacts discovered
upon the floor suggest there was at least one activity area in this room,
although analysis of floated soil samples may reveal more. Two large
grinding stones, various pieces of pottery including an almost complete
trefoil jar, and animal bone suggest that food preparation may have been
taking place here. Additional artifacts include wood and iron nails, eyelets,
and an iron strap that may have been from the wooden superstructure. In
addition, a bilobate copper alloy arrowhead and a few worked pieces of
stone may hint at other activities also taking place within the room’s
confines.

Conservation

While excavation is ongoing within Urban Block 8, geotextile and a

layer of clean soil is used to cover plaster floors and walls in order to
better protect them during the winters. A modular fencing solution is being
employed to fence the expanding excavation area from year to year. A
sign has been installed for the benefit of visitors to this area of the site in
order to detail the initial work and goals of the project within this urban
block. When excavations are complete within the urban block, a
permanent fence will be installed and a conservation plan will be
implemented. This is intended to provide a balanced approach that lets
visitors see what was found while also protecting more fragile features
such as the hearth and plasters.
Meanwhile, other areas of Kerkenes are also seeing ongoing
conservation efforts. Three main locations were the site of earlier
excavations that require ongoing conservation work: the Cappadocia Gate,
the Palatial Complex, and the “temple” area in the central portion of the
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city. In the temple area a cap of stone was placed over excavated stone
footings of walls in 2010. In 2016 areas of this cap that were starting to
fall were replaced, and a photogrammetric model of the current state of the
conservation cap was created (Fig. 8-10). In the Palatial Complex, work
was undertaken in 2016 to repair portions of the fencing around the

Figure 8-10. Repairing the conservation cap in the “Temple” area.

Figure 8-11. 3D model of the Cappadocia Gate generated by photogrammetry.

 The Kerkenes Project 171

excavation area and to remove modern graffiti that had been applied to the
glacis. In the Cappadocia Gate area, fencing was also repaired in 2016 and
a program of ongoing assessment using visual inspection and
photogrammetric methods was begun in 2014. Extensive restoration work
in the Cappadocia Gate was undertaken by Istanbul Technical University
and Abdullah Gül University, with the approval of the Sivas Regional
Commission on the Conservation of Cultural and Natural Property,
between 2009 and 2010. Our ongoing monitoring project will inform our
applications for future restoration work in other areas of the gate (Fig. 8-
11).
Conservation work also continued throughout the 2015–2016 season
within the excavation depot and laboratory. During the excavation season
conservators work diligently on cleaning, triaging, and undertaking
treatments for stabilization of artifacts found on site. They coordinate with
excavators and specialists to undertake field conservation and the lifting of
artifacts in the excavations and during analysis in the excavation depot.
Conservators are also involved with longer-term treatment and housing of
samples in the depot. A good example of this is the ongoing work of
encasing iron objects, which are most at risk of permanent damage
following removal from the soil, in bags of specialized conservation
material that allows oxygen to be removed, preserving the iron from
corrosion. Iron treated in this manner years ago remains in excellent
condition today.

Ethnographic Research

In 2010 an ethnographic field project was started within the village of

Şahmuratlı to collect, preserve, and understand our local collaborators’
ideas, memories, narratives, and conceptualizations of the ongoing project
and of the landscape within the city walls, of Kerkenes Dağı more broadly,
and of surrounding areas. Very few archaeological projects are conducted
in isolation. Instead they take place within a social and physical landscape
that is filled with living people, their memories, and their understanding of
the world around them. It is critical to preserve and incorporate all of these
perspectives and to encourage interaction between all the stakeholders
involved with or affected by a project like Kerkenes. Properly placing it
within the modern living landscapes is crucial to the future of the project
and long-term heritage management of Kerkenes Dağı. In 2016 interviews
and digital ethnography continued, and follow-up interviews were
conducted within the framework of this ongoing effort.
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CONCLUSION
The multifaceted and interdisciplinary project at Kerkenes has long
garnered international attention to this Late Iron Age city in central
Turkey. The 2015–2016 seasons represent both a continuation of the
project and a reconceptualization of the project with expanded goals.
However, the Kerkenes project will only be able to achieve these goals by
building upon the strong foundations laid out in earlier decades of the
project and by the varied communities which enable the research to be
accomplished. Future plans for engagement with stakeholders,
conservation and restoration of structures, excavation, and geophysical
survey incorporating the newest technologies will only succeed through
the combined efforts of all participants, sponsors, and stakeholders.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The 2015–2016 seasons of the Kerkenes Project were made possible
through permission granted by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and
Tourism. We are grateful to Hasan K. Şenyurt, Director of the Yozgat
Museum, and his staff for their help and assistance, especially in 2015
when the permit was issued through the Yozgat Museum. We are also
grateful to Hüseyin Toprak of the Antalya Museum and Bahar Hasırcı of
the Yozgat Museum for serving as the Ministry Representatives. In
addition, we received support from the Yozgat Governors Abdulkadir
Yazıcı and Kemal Yurtnaç, the Sorgun District Governor Ali Arslantaş,
the Sorgun Mayor Ahmet Şimşek, and the Yozgat Director of Culture and
Tourism Lütfi İbiş. Financial support for the project in 2015–2016 was
provided by the Merops Foundation, the National Science Foundation
(NSF) Grant Award #1624105, “Investigation into the Social Organization
of an Early City”, the University of Central Florida, and the American
Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT)-National Endowment for the
Humanities (NEH). This work could not have been completed without the
efforts of all its team members across both years as well as the local
support of the people of Şahmuratlı and their mayor, Turan Baştürk.
 The Kerkenes Project 173

REFERENCES CITED

Atalan, N. 2006. Relationships between Topography and Kerkenes

(Turkey), A GIS analysis. MSc, Department of Settlement
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