INTRODUCTION

Each year brings new surprises at Kerkenes, and 2006 was no exception. The spectacular total eclipse of the sun (Cover and Fig. 1) in March was a good omen indeed!
Trial with geophysical survey over the stony terrain at the palatial complex was unexpectedly successful, thus determining strategy for the 2007 campaign. At the beginning of the season, when Murat Akar moved floodlights and tripod to photograph from every possible angle the statue that had crashed over the pavement of the Monumental Entrance to the Palace Complex, we trusted to the ancient gods that the three large mended fragments, precariously balanced one on top of the other, would not topple over... In the conservation laboratory Noël Siver, assisted by many willing hands, sorted through thousands of sandstone fragments to reassemble parts of the huge smashed sandstone blocks carved in Phrygian style. These anthropomorphic or semi-iconic representations seem to be part of an architectural order previously known only from rock-cut façades in the Phrygian highlands. Meanwhile foundations were laid for a new building to house the important collection of architectural elements and stone fragments. Main achievements on the publication front were Professor Claude Brixhe's definitive publication of the Old Phrygian inscription in the journal Kadmos and Catherine Draycott's completion of the catalogue and discussion of the sculptural fragments.
The Erdogan Akdag Center for Research and Education (Fig. 2) was officially opened on July 2nd and will not only welcome visitors to Kerkenes but is to be the venue for educational activities as well as rural development initiatives undertaken by the Kerkenes Eco-Center Project team in collaboration with the Sahmuratli Village Association.