Site Conservation at Gordion

Gordion site conservators at work. Photo by Andrea Berlin.

An average visit to Gordion will include three stops: the museum, the Midas Tumulus, and the site located on the mound. For the last few seasons, Frank Matero and his students at the University of Pennsylvania programs in Architecture and Historic Preservation have been diligently working on preserving the site.

This season, site conservation projects include the installation of viewing pavilions, documentation, soft capping, and stabilizing the stone walls of the site. Objects conservation intern Lily Doan was able to join the site conservators for a day of injection grouting.

Here are some highlights from this season's site conservation projects:

The viewing pavilions, constructed from locally purchased
metal pipes and fabric, provide much needed shade for
visitors to the site.

UPenn students document the site. Photo by Andrea Berlin.

Locally produced mud bricks drying in the hot Turkish sun.
These bricks are a component of soft capping, a system where
the introduction of moisture, which may cause damage to the
stone walls, is regulated with plants installed on top of the wall.

Site conservator Alex Lim sifting lime in preparation
for grouting. Photo by Andrea Berlin.

Meredith Keller, site conservator, mixing the grout.

Objects conservator Lily Doan uses an air compressor to 

clean cracks in preparation for grouting.