INTRODUCTION
Each
year brings new surprises at Kerkenes, and 2006 was no exception.
The spectacular total eclipse of the sun (Cover and Fig. 1)
in March was a good omen indeed!
Trial with geophysical survey over the stony terrain at the
palatial complex was unexpectedly successful, thus determining
strategy for the 2007 campaign. At the beginning of the season,
when Murat Akar moved floodlights and tripod to photograph from
every possible angle the statue that had crashed over the pavement
of the Monumental Entrance to the Palace Complex, we trusted
to the ancient gods that the three large mended fragments, precariously
balanced one on top of the other, would not topple over... In
the conservation laboratory Noël Siver, assisted by many
willing hands, sorted through thousands of sandstone fragments
to reassemble parts of the huge smashed sandstone blocks carved
in Phrygian style. These anthropomorphic or semi-iconic representations
seem to be part of an architectural order previously known only
from rock-cut façades in the Phrygian highlands. Meanwhile
foundations were laid for a new building to house the important
collection of architectural elements and stone fragments. Main
achievements on the publication front were Professor Claude
Brixhe's definitive publication of the Old Phrygian inscription
in the journal Kadmos and Catherine Draycott's completion of
the catalogue and discussion of the sculptural fragments.
The Erdogan Akdag Center for Research and Education (Fig. 2)
was officially opened on July 2nd and will not only welcome
visitors to Kerkenes but is to be the venue for educational
activities as well as rural development initiatives undertaken
by the Kerkenes Eco-Center Project team in collaboration with
the Sahmuratli Village Association.