Day Three

Our morning drive. Sheep have right of way.

Salih and I have interesting discussions on our 50 minute drive each way. We come from different perspectives, have very different points of view, and we enjoy sharing them. Well Salih enjoys more than me. He literally doesn’t stop talking the whole way. Sometimes he apologizes - have I worn out your ear? I say of course not. What he says is usually fascinating.

There are several excavation are
as at Çatal.The largest one is covered by an oval shelter. I’ve seen many photos, so seeing it first hand, and touring it is really amazing.

It’s been built to protect the dig from the elements and it shelters the archeologists from the intense heat. I hear arguments: One Polish archeologist complains that it’s sweltering in here. The damn shelter acts like a green house. A woman shouts at him: what else do you want? We have shelter, we have breeze. Where else do you see this?

At first, there were questions about my presence at Çatalhöyük. The Turkish government keeps a close eye on all archeological excavations and there is always a government official at hand. Everything must go through his approval. Ian Hodder must handle things very delicately as any infraction may shut down the dig. I wasn’t allowed to enter the excavation areas without supervision the first three days. 

The bekçi of Çatalhöyük, which means the guard, is usually in charge of accompanying visitors to see the excavations. Mustafa is the man. When visitors arrive, he takes them around.  Ian Hodder told me it would be fine for me to accompany Mustafa and the tourists on the next tour to visit the excavations. 

I was sitting, bored, drinking tea when Mustafa came along and said, we have visitors! Come!

There was an American couple from Florida and one young man from Beijing. Mustafa speaks no English so I served as translator. It was great to see the work up close - not too close since we had to stand behind rails and ropes. And fun, also, to serve as a kind of tour guide. 

One of the stops on the tour is a replica of what archaeologists think would be a neolithic house. The houses are built right next to each other. There are no streets. The entries are from the ceiling. So the Çatalhoöyük people navigated on rooftops and entered there houses from above. There is a staircase that leads down, there is always stove, and a platform. The dead are buried under the platform and we assume that’s where the “family” sat and slept. There are also adornments. Wall paintings and bulls’ horns hanging on the walls. Here are some pics of the Neolithic house. Standing inside in the shadows is Aina (sp?). Ruth Tringham was the instigator in building the house and Aina executed the wall ornaments. The small wall opening is for vistors to get in and out.

The next day - the fourth day, I was given approval to roam about the site as I wish. More on that next time.