The Archaeology of Midas and the Phrygians: Recent Work At Gordion

3 Old Problems and New Solutions: Recent Excavations at Gordion

This chapter briefly summarizes research at Gordion since 1988, setting out the questions we sought to answer and some of our results, providing an example of the ways in which a small-scale re-study project can enhance and supplement data from large-scale older excavations (Fig. 3-1). Many of our questions arose directly from the work of Rodney Young and his colleagues (see Chapter 2 this volume). Other questions and the methods used to address them were new, stemming from the interests of archaeologists trained in anthropology rather than classical archaeology. For example, in order to infer changes in political and economic systems and to propose factors that influenced such changes, we used generalizations or models derived from a cross-cultural or comparative approach. Documents and the historical narrative constructed from them were considered but were not privileged in the way that they had been by Young. For the most part our goals have been achieved through careful planning and hard work. But like any archaeological project we also posed strategies that failed, balanced by unexpected finds that provided crucial pieces of information. Our current understanding of the long-term urban settlement at Yassıhöyük/Gordion is based on three different kinds of data: large area clearances made by Rodney S. Young and his colleagues G. Roger Edwards and Machteld J. Mellink between 1950 and 1972 (see Figs. 3-2 to 3-4); small stratigraphic soundings made under my direction between 1988 and 2001; and intensive surface survey conducted since 1987 and currently directed by Lisa Kealhofer. Surface survey and limited soundings have shown that the large mound known as Yassıhöyük and the tall, relatively small mound to the south anchoring a crescent-shaped fortification system (the Küçük Höyük) are surrounded by a low-lying settlement that reached an area of nearly 1 km2 when the city was at its maximum size (Fig. 3-1). BUILDING A NEW RESEARCH PROGRAM: GOALS AND STRATEGIES In the summer of 1987 a team organized and led by Robert H. Dyson, Jr. (then Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology), went to Gordion to design a new program of fieldwork at the site. Team members included archaeologists William Sumner and myself and 3 OLD PROBLEMS AND NEW SOLUTIONS Recent Excavations at Gordion MARY M. VOIGT 23 architectural conservator and surveyor William Remsen, all of whom had worked with Dyson in Iran as part of the Hasanlu Project. Excavation at Gordion had stopped with the death of Rodney Young in 1973. Fourteen years later there were good reasons for a new cycle of research. First, Keith DeVries, who had served as Gordion Project Director since shortly before Young’s accidental death in 1973, wanted to be relieved of administrative responsibilities in order to concentrate on his own research and writing. Second, Turkish officials were worried about the deterioration of buildings within the Early Phrygian Destruction Level excavated between 1950 and 1972. They suggested a major program of site conservation, as well as Figure 3-1 Plan of Settlement showing topography of site. The Sakarya River is shown in its modern location, rather than its location during the 1st millennium BC. See Marsh (1999). OLD PROBLEMS AND NEW SOLUTIONS THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF MIDAS AND THE PHRYGIANS 24 new archaeological fieldwork. Third, Gordion offered an opportunity to conduct research at a large urban site for Sumner and myself who had previously worked on similar sites in Iran. During a brief three-week season, Remsen mapped the eroded edges of the Main Excavation Area and began to work with G. Kenneth Sams (a member of the Gordion Project since 1967) on the conservation of the Early Phrygian gateway (Fig. 3-2). Sumner walked, biked, and drove the 1961 Gordion pickup truck across the countryside looking for remnants of past human activities. Dyson and I reviewed Young’s publications and began work on the Citadel Mound, examining standing architecture and the eroding edges of Young’s excavations in order to obtain a basic understanding of building techniques and stratigraphic processes. In fall 1987, Dyson appointed G. Kenneth Sams as Gordion Project Director, responsible for site and object conservation and the publication of Young’s excavations. I was appointed Associate Project Director, responsible for the new Figure 3-2 Plan of the Early Phrygian Period/YHSS 6A. 25 excavation and...