ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The 1998 summer season at Kerkenes was carried out during July and August. There were two parts to the Project: (i) survey of the ancient city under the direction of Geoffrey and Françoise Summers; (ii) test excavations under the Direction of Mr. Musa Özcan, Director of the Yozgat Museum, and Geoffrey Summers. A short spring regional survey took place in May 1998 and was funded by an additional grant from the BIAA. A great debt of gratitude is owed to Mr. Mevlüt Üyümez, the Ministry of Culture Representative from Afyon Museum, who participated in various aspects of the expedition's research, especially the geophysical survey, and who greatly contributed to the smooth running of the expedition. We would particularly like to express our thanks and appreciation to the Vali of Yozgat, Mr. I. Fuat Ugur, the Yozgat Director of Culture, Mrs. Selime Dogan and the Kaymakam of Sorgun, Mr. Mustafa Dündar, for enthusiastic help and advice. Mr. Dündar, also arranged for the provision of transport from the Aydincik, Çigdemli, Dogankent ve Eymir Belediyeleri, to whom we extend our thanks, for the Friday visits to other archaeological sites in the region. The village of Sahmuratli and its Muhtar, Mr. Osman Muratdagi, again extended his hospitality and the expedition house offered the facilities and friendly atmosphere essential to the good progress of work. Special thanks are due to the house staff without whom running the expedition would have been an impossible task and especially to Memis Gençarslan who takes care of the house all year round. Ibrahim Kars, also from Sahmuratli, has become a key member of the geophysical survey team.

The main funding Institutions for the 1998 season were the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara and National Geographic Society. Additionally, we received a grant from the Anatolian Archaeology Research Foundation and a number of generous private donations and contributions without which the 1998 season would have been very significantly reduced. Walkie Talkies were generously donated by the Electronic Times and the Southern California College. The monthly grant for research assistance from Yibitas Lafarge was extended for a further two years. The Faculty of Architecture at METU has recently provided office space which is greatly facilitating the continuing research. A special thanks to Prof. Dr. Mete Nakiboglu who initiated our involvement with the Graduate Programme for Geodesic and Geographical Information Technology (GGIT) at METU. We benefited from the use of facilities as well as from the participation of staff and students. Further cooperation with METU through the METU Development Foundation and METU Press has allowed the project to move forward and we wish to thank particularly Mr. Hasan Dogan and Mrs. Özge Kayakutlu for their help. A particular word of thanks also to the overstretched Ankara staff at the BIAA and Gina Coulthard in the London office for support at all times and help with the equipment in particular. Of the many who freely gave advice and encouragement special thanks are due to Prof. Crawford H. Greenewalt Jr., Dr. David French, Dr. Roger Matthews and Prof. Henry T. Wright Jr. Geoffrey Summers accepted a generous invitation from the University of Berkeley to hold the post of visiting Regent's Lecturer in November 98 has taken this opportunity to accept invitations from UCLA, ASOR, Pennsylvania, Chicago and New York. The Project as a whole remains deeply indebted to its sponsors, listed above, for support towards research and publication. Special thanks go to Scott Branting for bringing with him from the Oriental Institute at Chicago a Trimble GPS system (complete with field computing accessories) and taking charge of the GPS survey; to Hans Birk for all of his expertise, the gift of a power pack that saved the geophysical survey, the loan of his total station and the fun of having him and his big blue lorry; to METU for the loan of a Nikon total station; and to Katherine Geers for obtaining the two walkie-talkie sets for the Project. We regretfully said goodbye to Christine Perrier who has been a key member of the team since 1995 and contributed to all aspects of the project; we wish her good luck as she settles in Peru. Dr. Lewis Somers of GEOSCAN provided training and advice for the geophysical survey. Finally we thank the large international team of staff and students for their invaluable participation. The 1998 team Directors: Geoffrey and Françoise Summers. Excavation Directors: Musa Özcan and Geoffrey Summers. Representative: Mevlüt Üyümez. Archaeologists: Nahide Aydin, Scott Branting, Jesse Casana, Yener Duran, Kathy Geers, Sarah Graff, Ivgenia Grigoriev, Peri Johnson, Jennifer Stewart, Jared Miller, Jenni Ross. Architects: Ömür Harmansah, Deniz Kutay, Françoise Summers. Geologist: Christine Perrier. Surveyors: Hans Birk, Aygün Erdogan, Burak Özmutlu. Conservator: Jodie Glen-Martin. Computer and GIS Consultants: Levent Topaktas, Vedat Toprak, Mustafa Türker. Photographer: Behiç Güner. Students: Stine Bahrt Hansen, Nurdan Atalan, John French, Zenia Hüserich, Torben Larsen, Allan Larsson, Sten Madsen, Oliver Pryce, Ayça Üzel, Line Wedege-Mathiassen. We have been saddened by the sudden death of our colleague and friend Prof. Dr. Ayhan Erler who made a fundamental study of the geology.




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