As well as attracting local media, Kerkenes was filmed in July by an international television team for the History Channel, USA. They are producing an episode of the television show 'Digging for the Truth' which will focus on the Phrygians and King Midas. Kerkenes Dag will be featured as a part of this program which will be broadcast internationally.
Cultural Heritage has to be presented to the general public if it is to be preserved. At Kerkenes, however, uncovered remains are very fragile because of the intensity of the fire that destroyed the city and what is to remain exposed has to be carefully chosen. The visitor can be taken around with a set of virtual images and explanations while more vulnerable elements remain uncovered.
During the 2007 campaign, the Monumental Entrance to the Palatial Complex and the Cappadocia Gate, the two highlights of a visit, were carefully cleaned and emergency conservation undertaken to conserve the standing monuments, to enhance the appearance of their structures and to make them safe for visitors to the site.


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SITE ENHANCEMENT, CONSERVATION AND CLEARANCE


Figure 37	Figure 38	Figure 39

Figure 40	Figure 41	Figure 42

Figure 43	Figure 44

SITE ENHANCEMENT, CONSERVATION AND CLEARANCE

As well as attracting local media, Kerkenes was filmed in July by an international television team for the History Channel, USA. They are producing an episode of the television show 'Digging for the Truth' which will focus on the Phrygians and King Midas. Kerkenes Dag will be featured as a part of this program which will be broadcast internationally. Cultural Heritage has to be presented to the general public if it is to be preserved. At Kerkenes, however, uncovered remains are very fragile because of the intensity of the fire that destroyed the city and what is to remain exposed has to be carefully chosen. The visitor can be taken around with a set of virtual images and explanations while more vulnerable elements remain uncovered. During the 2007 campaign, the Monumental Entrance to the Palatial Complex and the Cappadocia Gate, the two highlights of a visit, were carefully cleaned and emergency conservation undertaken to conserve the standing monuments, to enhance the appearance of their structures and to make them safe for visitors to the site.

The Monumental Entrance to the Palatial Complex
In the Monumental Entranceway to the Palatial Complex large stones from the southern platform wall that had collapsed onto the pavement during the winter were moved to buttress the remaining wall and to enhance the visual experience of visitors (Fig. 37).

The Cappadocia Gate
At what we have called the Cappadocia Gate, a part of the stone clad timber support for a portion of the glacis at the East Tower was repaired after damage occurred over the winter. Additionally, a portion of the front wall of the South Tower was built up so as to divert flocks of sheep and goats through the original gate passage, thereby preventing further erosion of the rubble core. Stones recovered from clearance were used to support the inclined sidewall of the passageway so as to prevent its collapse. Preparing the final publication of the volume on excavation at the Cappadocia Gate raised questions about the angle of the passageway and the depth of unexcavated fill in the gate court. Two more operations, a new Clearance Trench CT52 located along the back of the South Tower (Figs 38 and 39) and a sondage in Trench TR13 (Fig. 40 and 41), were carried out in an attempt to elucidate further the construction of the gate. Clearance Trench CT52 In Clearance Trench CT52 a section of wall was articulated to investigate the possible presence of a staircase. No evidence for a staircase was forthcoming (Figs 38) but burnt beam slots in the facing of the inner tower wall were observed (Fig. 39).

Trench TR13 In TR13 loose stone fill was removed from the inner, east, corner of the gate chamber to establish the depth and character of the surface (Fig. 40). An attempt to reach the surface was not completed because of the very unstable nature of the loose rubble fill. Sufficient was done, however, to show that the level in the inner corner of the recesses was not raised above that of the passage.
Two layers of thick mud plaster on the wall face added weight to the idea that the recesses were covered. Further cleaning and documentation revealed more evidence for the use of horizontal timber beams in the wall faces of the gate passage, recesses and chamber (Fig 41). An earlier idea that timbers were incorporated in the outer wall face was dismissed, partly because the inclusion of wood might be defensively weak, the wood being combustible, and partly because seven kilometres of timber implied very extensive deforestation. However, the existence of timbers set in the face of the wall just above the top of the glacis would have helped stabilise the masonry and might explain the strangely uniform level to which the entire circuit of the defences was reduced. The loose fill of stones, some very large, prevented completion of this deep sounding. Pending larger scale excavation in a future season, the sondage was lined with geotextile, filled with straw bales and given a covering of earth

Drawings of the Cappadocia Gate The plan of the gate (Fig. 42) confirming the slanted axis of the gate passage and the irregularity of the towers was finalised. As further excavation in Trench TR13 uncovered new stretches of walls, these were recorded and added to the section drawings (Figs 43a and b).


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