Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Sjoerd van der Linde who undertook the field collection and processing of the audio, podcast and video files. He also designed the blog site, the Institute of Archaeology Merv website and managed the data deposition with the ADS. Thanks also go to Nikki Harriss for her background research into köshks and caravanserais, and her work on the cataloguing and metadata of the photographic archive. All our work in Turkmenistan would not have been possible without Gaigysyz Joraev, who translated the Turkmen interviews, organised so much of the work in the field, and fixed problems when they inevitably arose.

The project is a partnership with the Ancient Merv Archaeological Park and thanks go to the Director, Rejeb Jepbarow, for his organisational help, and the excellent work of his team: Annamyrat Orazow, Merdan Jumanazarow, and particularly Jumageldy Pirliew, who undertook a number of activities in support of this project, including oral narratives. Thanks also go to Perman Dowrangeldiew, from the Lebap Velayat Atamyrat City Park, for his work both in the field and on the narratives.

The work in Turkmenistan is co-directed by Dr Mukhammed Mamedov, Head of the National Department for the Protection, Study and Restoration of Historical and Cultural Monuments, within the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan and the project has benefited both from his input and that of his staff, particularly Dr Ruslan Muradov and Igor Zubanov.

Thanks to Georgina Herrmann, the Director of the International Merv Project at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL, who did so much to document the standing buildings of the delta, and was also inspirational in planning the acquisition of the IKONOS imagery upon which so much of this work is based. Peter Dare (University of New Brunswick) undertook the vital GPS survey of control points for IKONOS satellite image in September 2000, and thanks are due also to Leica Geosystems UK for the loan of their System 500 geodetic GPS receivers for this work. The IKONOS image was geo-referenced by the excellent work of Marek Ziebart and Cordelia Hall (UCL Department of Geomatics).

A major piece of work was also undertaken by Dominic Powlesland, of The Landscape Research Centre, who first geo-rectified the Russian 1970s vertical aerial photographs, using his excellent GSYS package, which has provided an important platform for the project every since. Thanks also to Ceri Rutter (and Mark Lake) at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL, who explored the problems with the rectification and accuracy of these images. I am also very grateful to Louise Cooke who did so much of the initial work on organising the data and was a constant source of support through the fieldwork seasons. I am also grateful to Francesca Bingham for her comments on the gardens and horticulture.

The work of the Ancient Merv Project has been generously supported by World Monuments Fund, with support from American Express and The J.M. Kaplan Fund, Inc., who have funded a programme of 'at risk' emergency conservation for the buildings within the Park. Very special thanks go to Gaetano Palumbo and Mark Webber for their support throughout this project.

I would also particularly like to thank the Committee for Central and Inner Asia and the British Academy for a grant to support research work on the aerial photography transcription and interpretation, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, for work on the ceramics.

The work at Merv would not be possible without a large project team, made up of both Turkmen and international archaeologists: the real thanks to go them.

At Internet Archaeology I would particularly like to thank Judith Winters for her help and patience, and Catherine Hardman, the Collections Development Manager at the Archaeology Data Service at the University of York.

My deepest thanks go to Jackie Keily, without whose love and support I would never finish anything!

PREVIOUS NEXT CONTENTS HOME