ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The fourth field season of the
Kerkenes project took place during August and September 1996 under
the auspices of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara (BIAA).
Mr M. Akif Isik and his staff at the General Directorate of Museums
and Monuments provided help and encouragement at every stage and,
in a new collaborative development, issued an excavation permit to
Mr Musa Ozcan, Director of the Yozgat Museum. We are exceptionally
grateful to Mr Ozcan and his staff for their enthusiastic contribution
which we very much hope will continue in the future. We are indebted
to Mr M. Dursun Caglar, our Representative from Eskisehir Museum,
who assisted beyond the call of duty.
The new Vali of Yozgat, Mr Naflz
Kayali, the new Director of the Yozgat office of the Ministry of Culture,
Mr Eyup Kelebi Karaasian and the new Kaymakam of Sorgun, Mr Ekrem
Yaman, were every bit as supportive as their predecessors and their
official visit was extensively covered by the local television and
press.
Grants were awarded by the National Geographic Society, the British
Academy, the BIAA and the Society of Antiquaries. Much valuable help
in kind came from Asian cimento, Core Resources Management, MESA Inc.,
METU, MNG Inc., Sheraton Ankara, Yibitas Lafarge and Yimpas. Dr Ronald
Gorny, Director of the A1isar Project, loaned equipment.
Survey of the city defences was led by Nilufer Baturayoglu, detail
study of gates by
Omür Harmansah, and city planning co-ordinated by Francoise Summers
and Christine Perrier. Test trenches were supervised by Scott Branting,
Elspeth McIntosh and Geoffrey Summers. Fedai Akgun, Fiona Armitage,
Nahide Aydin, Zafer celer, Aylan Erkal, Lutfiye Ersoy, Esen Ertem,
Fatma Karamisir, Evrim Olcer, David Pointer, tlknur Teker and Semiha
Yigit from the Universities of London, Ankara, Bilkent, Eskisehir
Anadolu, Istanbul and METU participated with enthusiasm. Sinan Kayaalp
from MESA solved some of our computer problems. Begumsen Ergenekon
continued her ethno-archaeolgical studies. Lewis Somers of GEOSCAN,
assisted by Jonathan Gillan and J. Zakaria Johnson experimented with
Ground Penetrating Radar. Wendy Matthews extracted soil samples from
floors and occupation for micromorphological analysis.
The village of Sahmuratli and its Muhtar, Mr Osman Muratdagi,
again extended its friendly hospitality and this year provided enthusiastic
workmen who quickly grasped the essentials of excavation.
Graphics and electronic data management are continuing to progress
thanks to the
efforts of Levent Topaktas and Nilüfer Baturayoglu at METU, John
Haigh at the University of Bradford and Jakub Michalski at Bilkent
University. Prof Dr Gönul Tankut and Dr Murat Balamir (METU),
and Prof Dr Bulent Ozguç (Bilkent) offered support and co-operation.
Yibitas Lafarge sponsored a programme of electronic research and archiving
at the METU Dept. of Architecture, to which Asian cimento made a donation.
Unexpected discovery of a superb ivory inlay, in urgent need of expert
conservation, brought a generous response from the Sheraton Ankara
which hosted Simone Korolnik, our conservator, and from the BIAA and
the British Academy who awarded additional grants. Special thanks
are due to Mr Ilhan Temizsoy, Director of the Museum of Anatolian
Civilizations at Ankara, for making the Museum facilities available,
to Nazif Uygur and Latif Ozen and their staff Sinem Tazegul, Ilknur
Anci, Havva Avci and Aynur Asian at the conservation laboratory, and
to photographers Behic Gunel and Huseyin Sen.
John Larsen, archivist at the Oriental Institute at Chicago, together
with Scott Branting and David Pointer, provided copies of the notes
and correspondence relating to Kerkenes from the earlier work of Erich
Schmidt and Hans Henning von der Osten.
Finally, it is a pleasure to thank participants, sponsors and friends
for all the enthusiastic support, donations, hard work and encouragement.
