|
|
GEOMORPHOLOGICAL RESEARCH
The 1999 summer season witnessed the beginning of a program of geomorphological research,
which seeks to document the evolution of the Kanak Su basin in the Holocene period with
special reference to the impact that the foundation of the Iron Age city on the Kerkenes
Dağ may have had on the surrounding landscape and environment. In this connection a
series of cores were recovered (Fig. 18) from the sediments of the valley of the Eğri Öz
Su - a valley which receives most of the rain and snow-melt from Kerkenes Dağ.
Conclusions
It is clear that over the course of the next few seasons a combination of remote sensing
techniques will reveal the entire plan of the Iron Age city in remarkable detail. The
availability of such a plan should not only lead to a closer understanding of the urban
dynamics of this two hundred and fifty hectare site, but it holds out a prospect that we
can then begin to assess any impact that urban construction at Kerkenes Dağ may have had
on subsequent urban design in Anatolia and beyond.
At the same time the recent clearance
operations have provided new perspectives of their own. They have underlined the truly
imposing nature of the site, the monumental qualities of the bolder sweeps of masonry, and
the undeniable potential that the site holds for tourism. In the near future, moreover, a
precise program of excavation promises to throw welcome light on the intriguing
historical, cultural and economic questions that are necessarily provoked by the very
presence of this exceptional foundation.
|
Figure 15:
The east side of the stone façade to the "Palace Complex" and part of the
central niche. Note the traces of burning on the sloping dry-stone face.
Figure 18:
Geomorphological coring in the Egri Öz Su
|
|
