This AFP grant was awarded
for the study of aspects of an Iron Age imperial city located on
a mountain top at Kerkenes Dað, near Yozgat. The planned city,
enclosed by 7km long defences, comprises a single period of major
building activity. Non-intrusive remote sensing methods have been
the mainstay of the research design and the greater part of the
city plan can thus be recovered in remarkable detail using complex
and sophisticated techniques. Some of the chosen methods are targeted
towards documentation of cultural remains that are visible on the
ground surface while, at the same time, other methods were selected
with the aim of revealing buried, sub-surface, features. Limited
excavation has revealed some architectural and cultural evidence
otherwise unobtainable and has helped the interpretation of the
geophysical survey images. All the available information is being
integrated into a data base to construct a 3D virtual GIS which
will be used to further our understanding of this Iron Age city.
