Middle East Technical University, Ankara
Thursday, November 9th
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.