This portion of the 2011 season began on June 21st immediately following the excavations within the Cappadocia Gate.
    The primary focus of this portion of the project was to begin long-term excavations within one of the main urban blocks of the ancient city (Fig. 92). Over the following six seasons the full extents of this over 6,000 m² area will be excavated and conservation and restoration measures within the urban block will be completed for site visitors. One initial trench was excavated this year exposing three rooms of a multi-room structure adjacent to a large hall within the urban block. As part of this work, the sampling of metals and paleobotanical remains from excavated contexts was accomplished.
   In addition to the excavations, conservation and restoration work was begun on the stone relief, plinth, and material recovered from the excavations earlier in June at the Cappadocia Gate. The depot was closed on July 15th.

     The government representative:
      Çiğdem Demiroğlu

    Participants during the Chicago portion of research:
      Scott Branting, Co-Director
      Sevil Baltalı Tırpan, Assistant Director
      Marko Barisic, archaeologist and graduate student
      Joshua Cannon, archaeologist and graduate student
      Evan Carlson, archaeologist and graduate student
      Robert Jennings, archaeologist and graduate student
      Dominique Langis-Barsetti, illustrator and registrar
      Anthony Lauricella, archaeologist and graduate student
      Joseph Lehner, archaeologist and graduate student
      John Marston, archaeobotanist
      Yasemin Özarslan, archaeologist and graduate student
      Susan Penacho, archaeologist and graduate student
      Lucas Proctor, archaeobotanist
      Noël Siver, conservator

     Location of Trench TR29
    Following the conclusion of the excavations within the Cappadocia Gate, one trench was excavated during the second half of June and the first half of July in the northern portion of the city (Fig. 93). This trench, TR29, was situated to expose three rooms of a multi-roomed building revealed by the geophysical surveys and partially visible on the surface of the ground. The first room of this structure had been excavated in 1996 and 1998 and yielded the remarkable ivory plaque that is now in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. The additional rooms and their contents were expected to provide information about not only this structure but also the large adjacent hall within the urban block.

     Excavation of Trench TR29
     Trench TR29 was ca. 20m in length and 7.7m wide with a small 1m x 3.5m extension to the west. The trench exposed a total area of 159.33m² (Fig. 94). In addition to the three rooms and their doorways, TR29 exposed portions of a possible fourth room or porch to the west. Further excavation will be necessary to elucidate this fourth room, though fragments of plaster suggest that at least part of it was roofed. External thresholds for the doorways to the three fully exposed rooms and portions of external pavements leading up to the doors were also exposed in the southern portion of the trench (Fig. 95). A single meter-wide wall defines the northern and eastern sides of the multi-room structure. It is preserved up to 4 courses of stone and just under 1m in height. As with most walls at Kerkenes Dağ, and all walls in TR29, it is built of large dry-laid uncut granitic facing stones with an interior fill of smaller stones. The base of the wall was laid on both protruding sections of granitic bedrock as well as on fill between them. Three interior walls were built abutting the primary wall. They were bonded with perpendicular segments of walls to the south to form the front of the building between the doorways. These secondary walls were built in a similar style to that of the primary structure wall, although the stones tended to be smaller and the walls on average are only 75cm wide. The two exceptions to this are the wider interior walls to the east and west of Room One which also measure an average of 1m in width.

     Room One
     Room One measures 4.25m by 4.65m and encloses an area of 19.81m². This room was previously excavated in 1996 and 1998. The room was cleared this year down to the level of original excavation (Fig. 96). The level of the floor in Room One was below that of the second and third rooms, though the downward sloping protrusions of bedrock upon which the eastern wall is partially set suggest that the floor levels of the entire multiroom building follow the levels of the undulating underlying bedrock. Two narrow slots for posts in the facing of the eastern wall of the room and one in the northeastern corner were re-exposed. This provides clear evidence for a timber-framed superstructure above the preserved stone foundations. Evidence of a plaster floor and traces of plain wall plaster on the interior wall faces were also found in 1998. The threshold into Room One was the most impressive of those excavated, with a stretch of multilevel pavement running up to a large threshold stone. A small socket for a door pivot was also found just to the west of the interior of the threshold, suggesting that a single-leaved door ca. 1.2m wide was used to close the room.

     Room Two
     Room Two measures 4.62m by 4.9m and encloses an area of 23.03m². As in Room One there was evidence for the timber-framed superstructure in two narrow slots within the facing of the western wall and flat stone post bases in the corners of the room as well as in front of the center of the northern wall (Fig. 97). A section temporarily left through the middle of the room, as well as one through the middle of Room Three, showed no evidence for a second story to the structure in the collapse. Portions of the white plaster floor in the room were still preserved beneath this collapse (Fig. 98). Unlike Room One the doorway and threshold into Room Two are found in the center of the southern wall. No pivot hole was found for the door, though flat stones along the interior of the western portion of the southern wall may have served a similar purpose for a similar-sized door.
    Near the center of Room 2, sherds from at least 6 large storage vessels were excavated. The size of the vessels and the distribution of their sherds point to the placement of these vessels on the floor of the room at the time that the structure was destroyed. Among the sherds one was found that bore an incised mark (Fig. 99). Preliminary analysis of soil samples taken from the floor indicates the presence of wheat, perhaps originally contained in the storage vessels.

     Room Three
     Room Three measures 4.47m by 4.81m and encloses an area of 21.5m2. Flat stone post bases in three corners of the room, along with one in the middle of the northern wall and a possible second small base along the western wall, once again provide evidence for the wooden superstructure (Fig. 100). Large sections of preserved plaster floor were found throughout the northern and eastern halves of the room. A line of black ash, all that remained of one of the vertical posts, was noted running across the floor back towards the post base in the northeastern corner of the room.
    The floor is missing across much of the southwestern quadrant of the room, an area that would have seen extensive use due to the presence there of a 75cm wide U-shaped hearth. Evidence of plain white wall plaster was also found around the base of the inside faces of the east, north and west walls of the room.
    Unlike Room One and Room Two the southern wall did not have a single entranceway into the room. Instead, a broad opening in the center of the wall is separated from a secondary opening right against the eastern wall by a very short stretch of stone walling. This suggests that the short stretch of wall may be an internal division within a two-room suite, with the other room yet to be excavated to the south of Room Three. Future excavation will clarify the relationship between Room Three and the remainder of the structure.

     Artifacts
     Several artifacts were recovered from the destruction layer within Room Three. These include a beautiful colored glass bead (Fig. 101), an iron blade (Fig. 102), and a partial copper alloy pin (Fig. 103). The artifacts were spread around the room and did not cluster in the immediate vicinity of the hearth.

     Soil Sampling
     Preliminary analysis of soil samples taken from the hearth and adjacent areas indicates a heavy preponderance of wheat among the carbonized remains in the room, suggesting the hearth was used for cooking (Figs 104 and 105).

     Conservation and Illustration
     All materials from the excavations in TR29 were conserved, photographed, and drawn during the season. In addition, considerable time was devoted to cleaning, conserving, joinfinding, photographing, and drawing material excavated in the Cappadocia Gate.

     Results
     The excavations of these three rooms show that different activities were undertaken in each of the rooms of this multiroom building. Room One, as evidenced by the ivory, might have been used for storage of important or prestige items. The well-formed doorway and threshold show a level of investment in the construction of the room that is not matched in the other rooms. Room Two offers clear evidence for the storage of grain and perhaps other foodstuffs. It may well have served as a pantry. Room Three appears to have cooking and food preparation functions, likely making use of the foodstuffs from Room Two. Future excavations in the other rooms within this building will better qualify the variety of activities that once took place within all its rooms and their relationship to the large adjacent hall.

     Backfilling
     Following the excavation and recording of trench TR29, geotextile was laid over the tops of the exposed walls and on the floor surfaces. All the walls were then capped with two courses of stone to aid in their preservation (Fig. 106). The floor surfaces were covered with minimal clean backfill so as to protect the fragile surfaces. The southern portion of the trench outside of the walls of the structure was also backfilled so as to support the significantly leaning walls. In the future these walls will be buttressed and rebuilt as part of the restoration effort in this area. Visitors to the site can now clearly see the layout of the portions of the building so far excavated. Future years of excavations will uncover not only this building but the other buildings within this important urban block.