Proceedings 18 th International Symposium CIPA 2001 
Potsdam (Germany), September 18 - 21, 2001 
THE SURVEY AND DOCUMENTATION OF AN IRON AGE CITY IN CENTRAL ANATOLIA: 
KERKENES DAG 
Niliifer Baturayoglu (1), Geoffrey D. Summers (2), Françoise Summers (3), Nahide Aydin (4) 1 
(1) Res. Asst., Department of Restoration, Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey: niluferb@superonline.com 
(2) Asst. Prof. Dr., Department of Political Science and Public Administration, METU, Ankara, Turkey: summers@metu.edu.tr 
(3) Inst., Department of Architecture, METU, Ankara, Turkey: fsummers@metu.edu.tr 
(4) Res. Asst., Kerkenes Project, Department of Architecture, METU, Ankara, Turkey; nahideaydin@hotmail.com 
KEYWORDS: Archaeological Survey, Central Anatolia, Iron Age, Non-Destructive Methods of Survey and Documentation 
ABSTRACT 
Kerkenes Dag located in central Turkey is a large Iron Age settlement that has been studied by a multi-disciplinery research team 
since 1993. Its sheer size and surface area have led to the development and experimentation of modern survey methods non 
destructive in character, ranging from balloon photography to geomagnetics. This paper aims to introduce these various techniques 
that have been applied and combined at this scale in the field of archaeology and archaeological and architectural survey for the first 
time. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
The largest known pre-Hellenistic city on the Anatolian Plateau was founded 
on the Kerkenes Dag, a low granitic mountain on the northern edge of the 
Cappadocian plain in central Turkey (Fig. la). The densely built up urban 
area of 2.5km' is surrounded by c. 7km of strong stone defenses that can be 
seen from space 2 (Summers 1997; Summers 2000) (Fig. lb). The site is most 
probably the same place that Herodotus called Pteria, in which case it would 
have been founded by the Medes around 600 B.C. and totally burnt by 
Croesus, the Lydian king of Sardis in, traditionally, 547 B.C. and thereafter 
abandoned. 
Figure 1: Kerkenes Dag (left) and its Location (right) 
Whatever the correctness of this historical reconstruction, the Iron Age 
city at Kerkenes was a new centre on an imperial scale that was totally 
destroyed by fire within two or three generations of its foundation. The 
Kerkenes Project has become an unprecedented focus of research into 
the application and development of non-destructive methods of 
archaeological and architectural survey and documentation together with 
very precisely targeted test excavation and the clearance of monumental 
stone architecture. A combination of remote sensing techniques are being 
used in order to plan the remains of the entire city in most remarkable 
detail. Completion of this unique urban plan will permit study of the 
urban dynamics. A secondary aim of the Project is to examine human 
impact on the surrounding region from early prehistoric times to the end 
of the Iron Age. This paper aims to present some of the various 
techniques that are now being applied at Kerkenes Dag and to address 
some of the issues concerning data management, archiving and 
dissemination. 
2. PREVIOUS EXPLORATION 
The size of city and the visibility of so much detail has proved daunting 
to earlier generations of archaeologists who have tended to prefer multi 
period sites where excavation can address problems of chronology and 
culture change. In 1927 H. H. von der Osten and F. H. Blackburn 
produced the first map of the defenses (von der Osten 1928; Fig. 1 in 
Baturayoglu also in this volume) and in 1928 E. F. Schmidt established 
the Iron Age date of the city at Kerkenes by digging 14 Test Trenches in 
only five days (Schmidt 1929). No further work was carried out until a 
new series of annual campaigns of survey was begun in 1993 by 
1 We gratefully acknowledge the support of many institutions, organisations and individuals for sponsorship, advice and, above all, 
friendship. Our deepest thanks go to the many participants, some of whom will doubtless recognise that their own ideas have 
somehow become ours, and who may rightly feel that their own hard and diligent work is not adequately acknowledged. 
Much background, many images and a full bibliography can be found on the Kerkenes Project Web Site at: 
http: Wwww .metu.edu. tr\home\ww wkerk.