The region all lay within the province (Il) of Yozgat. It included the following districts (Ilceler): Sorgun (formerly Büyük Khône, sometime Yesilova) north of the main highway from the northern boundary to just east as far as the Samsun - Kayseri road, and Çekerek (formerly Haciköy) west of the Çekerek Irmak and the Samsun - Kayseri road. The region comprises rolling and hilly country northwards as far as the Dagni Dag, a range that separates the sub-district of Eymir from that of Aydincik (formerly Mamure, Eskiköy). Here the stream all form part of the Kanak Su system that eventually joins the Kizilirmak well to the south. The Aydincik region is called the Kümbet Ovasi and is famed for its onions. Here drainage is into the Çekerek Irmak. On the north side of the Kümbet Ovasi is the Alan Dag, another steep range, along the top of which runs the border between Yozgat and Çorum. The Alan Dag is dramatically cleft in two by the Kazankaya Canyon, an impressive gorge through which the Çekerek Irmak is said to be forced through a 10 m wide passage, a roaring torrent in flood, chest deep in high summer. From Kazankaya the river valley afford easy passage eastwards. East and south-east of the Kümbet Ovasi the terrain is hilly, often rocky, and deeply incised. It is worthy of note that neither the Alan Dag nor the Dagni Dag are higher or more exposed than the Kerkenes Dag and, while dramatic in appearance, were no great obstacle in themselves. PREVIOUS WORK IN THE REGION Earlier sporadic survey and rescue excavations had been undertaken by the excavation team from Masat Höyük under the direction of Prof. Dr Tahsin Özgüç (1978, 69-88; 1982, 143) and by the late Dr Erol Atalay and Mr Ahmet Ertekin (1986). Dr David French had traversed the region in the course of his study of Roman and other roads. Mr Selahattin Yalçin made an examination of the tourist potential in the region in the course of which he reported a number of ancient sites, notably Kale Tepe Höyük near Aydincik (1988, reprinted 1995).

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