Geoffrey Summers
Middle East Technical University, Ankara
A City Gate, Palatial Complex and Sculpted Icons at Kerkenes, an Iron Age Capital in Central Turkey
Thursday, November 9th
7:30 pm
Mencoff Hall (The Cabinet), 68 Waterman Street
Kerkenes is an Iron Age Capital, probably Pteria, located in the
highlands of central Turkey. The huge
metropolis was founded around 600 BC and destroyed by Croesus King of
Lydia around 547 BC. The short
life of this city, the largest in pre-Hellenistic Anatolia, makes it
an ideal laboratory for various methods of
remote sensing which have revealed an entire urban plan in remarkable
detail. GIS studies are beginning to
explain some aspects of the urban dynamics, such as transportation,
water catchment and defences, while
excavation is revealing monumental architecture embellished with
unexpected iconography.