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Archaeology and Conservation of the Middle Phrygian Gate Complex at Gordion, Turkey

In 2016, a project was undertaken at Gordion, Turkey, to stabilize and conserve the remains of a rubble platform built early in the Middle Phrygian period (ca. 800–700 b.c.e.) under the vast Gate Complex leading to the megarons on the Citadel Mound. In the process, aspects of Middle Phrygian building strategies came to light that enhanced our understanding gained from the original excavation in the 1950s. This article outlines the archaeology of the Middle Phrygian Gate Complex and the sophisticated internal structures that lent stability to the rubble platform upon which it was built, and examines the recent evaluation and stabilization of the remaining rubble. Internal walls that created a casemate-like structure, combined with strategically placed juniper logs, assisted with the construction of the rubble fill and its structural stability. The use of water-soluble gypsum in the rubble led to the eventual collapse of the walls in antiquity. Conservation and stabilization in 2016 illuminated these features, made the rubble safe again, and improved the visitor's experience of the site, allowing the gateway of the Early Phrygian period behind the Middle Phrygian Gate Complex to come into its own as a visible access point to the megarons within.