The Survey ... of the City Walls and Cappadocia Gate of the Iron Age Settlement on Kerkenes Dag ... 
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The material is unshaped or crudely shaped granite, cut from extruded outcrops of bedrock on the mountain, making use of their 
natural tractuie planes. All ot the elements were constructed with a rubble stone core retained by wall faces of a “cyclopean” 
technique, this is a toim ot loosely fitted stonework ot individual blocks, chinked with smaller sized ones. The stones seem to have 
been placed as they weie quairied trom nearby bedrock. Blocks vary in size with a limited attempt at coursing; the exterior wall faces 
appear to be formed ol larger stones and even larger flat stones were used to construct the glacis faces. (Figs. 2-4; Figs. 5a and 5b in 
Baturayoglu et al.) The wall thickness is 5±0.5m with a height of c. 2m on the interior side; the wall top may have been stepped 
where it descends steep slopes, and internal projections of 0.8-1.5m may have been incorporated for ramps or stairways. The towers 
along the wall and on either sides ot the gates were bonded with more carefully shaped stone blocks at the interior and the exterior 
comers. The towers are generally 5-6m in width and project some 10-12m. The smaller buttresses generally protruding c. 2.5m 
appear to be butted rather than bonded and might have been added as required. Tumuli, shelters and animal pens constructed on top 
ol the wall and tracks opened through the gateways in later periods obscure the original plan at many places, making interpretation 
more difficult (Fig. 6a). The stone used for such structures and the quantity of the debris on either side appears to indicate that there 
was a stone upper wall, perhaps narrower than the base and reaching a few meters in height. The stone glacis encloses the visible 
exterior faces of the stone base, presenting a smooth façade that would have impeded attempts at scaling and reducing any danger of 
sapping. Its angle is around 60° but may be steeper with rounded comers around sharp turns and towers (Figs. 3a, 3b and 3c). 
Figures 2a and 2b: Kerkenes Dag city wall: the outline follows the topography of the mountain covering its ridge (left); and the stone 
glacis is still partially visible among the rubble along the exterior side of the wall (right). 
Figures 3a, 3b and 3c: Cappadocia Gate: western section of the glacis on the exterior (left); the glacis curving around the exterior 
tower on the west side of the passage (middle); detail from the glacis edge on the eastern exterior corner of the passage (right). 
2.2 The Cappadocia or Southeast Gate 
Each of the seven gates along the wall has been individually planned, relating to the position of routes leading to the city, the 
concerns of military strategy and the internal urban dynamics. The position, monumental appearance and strong defensive structure 
of this gate on the high southeastern ridge of the city where the line of the wall forms an elbow, identifies it as one ol the most 
important. It is located adjacent to what have been identified as major public and military zones and the Palace Complex (Fig. lb in 
Baturayoglu et al.). A broad road descends from it down the hillside towards the Cappadocian Plain on the south, facing Mount 
Erciyes in Kayseri. Its asymmetrical plan may be a reflection of the topography (Figs. 6 and 8). 
The gate has been modified and partially obscured by collapse and subsequent clearance, the construction of tumuli, shepherds’ 
shelters and animal pens (Fig. 6a); therefore, the exact dimensions of the gate passage and some of the walls cannot be determined. 
The passage is c 6m in width and at least 25m in length. An inner chamber is located on the northeastern side of the passage. On the 
exterior, there are twin towers on the northeast and a single tower on the southwest with single towers on either side of the interior 
(Fig. 6b). Burnt debris encountered on the exterior side during the clearance of 1999- 2000 may indicate the existence of wooden 
parapets on top of the stone superstructure, especially on and around the gateway and tow ers.