excavation of the famous archaeological site of Alacahoyuk in Turkey's Corum Province has proved a boon to local farmers, who are now getting irrigation water from a dam built by the Hittites around 1240 BCE. Professor Aykut Cinaroglu of Ankara University, who directs the excavation, said that the restoration of the dam was unique in history and that its ancient purification pond and irrigation canals still functioned after 2.5 million cubic meters of mud were removed by the Turkish government.