Good nights’ sleep. Woke up refreshed and ready to go. Met my man Salih at the door, after a hefty buffet breakfast. Salih is the taxi driver who drove me to the hotel last night. We made a deal: he will drive me every day back and forth for a reasonable price. I was relieved to not to have to drive myself in crazy Konya traffic.. He’s very flexible and sweet and is grateful to have the work.
My driver Salih
| Salih has three sons. Ahmet 13, Furkan 10 and Abdullah 5. The boys have the summer off from school but the older one attends Koran school and must take English classes as well. Salih says this job will help him send his sons to school. |
He’s always talkative, informative, and articulate about many political and religious issues. His wife is “covered” he says but that’s her choice, and has nothing to do with him. He thinks all religions are equal and people should respect each other. He’s fasting now - which means no drink or food until sundown, which, in August, is 8:30 pm. He says he finds fasting refreshing and renewing.
The drive to Çatalhöyük takes about 45 minutes. Salih says he avoids the highway and takes the short cut. It’s kind of an adventurous road with lots of farms, chickens and cows crossing roads, and motorcyles whizzing by, driven by mad men with no helmets. This morning there was a small child sitting on the handle of a motorcycle. No helmet.
Çatalhöyük is truly in the middle of nowhere. Höyük means hill - and Çatal means fork. I think what’s meant is that a fork cuts two large hills. It wasn’t until the early sixties that it was discovered that these hills, and many more across Anatolia, cover pre-historic cities. Mellaart, a German archeologist first discovered Çatal in 1963 but then got in trouble with the govermnment for some smuggling issue - he was banned from digging and the site was closed. In 1993, English archeologist, Ian Hodder, finally got permission to dig again. It’s his visionary method and archaeological philosophy that drives the excavation today.
Of course you notice that I’m using the British spelling of the word archaeology - it’s not because I’m pretentious. It’s because my mentor, the eminent Ruth Tringham, took a digital red pen and corrected every instance of the word on a proposal I wrote. It’s the correct way, she said. I’m grateful to her for that and for many other intellectual and inspirational gifts.
The drive to Çatalhöyük takes about 45 minutes. Salih says he avoids the highway and takes the short cut. It’s kind of an adventurous road with lots of farms, chickens and cows crossing roads, and motorcyles whizzing by, driven by mad men with no helmets. This morning there was a small child sitting on the handle of a motorcycle. No helmet.
Çatalhöyük is truly in the middle of nowhere. Höyük means hill - and Çatal means fork. I think what’s meant is that a fork cuts two large hills. It wasn’t until the early sixties that it was discovered that these hills, and many more across Anatolia, cover pre-historic cities. Mellaart, a German archeologist first discovered Çatal in 1963 but then got in trouble with the govermnment for some smuggling issue - he was banned from digging and the site was closed. In 1993, English archeologist, Ian Hodder, finally got permission to dig again. It’s his visionary method and archaeological philosophy that drives the excavation today.
Of course you notice that I’m using the British spelling of the word archaeology - it’s not because I’m pretentious. It’s because my mentor, the eminent Ruth Tringham, took a digital red pen and corrected every instance of the word on a proposal I wrote. It’s the correct way, she said. I’m grateful to her for that and for many other intellectual and inspirational gifts.
Site tour at Çatalhöyük
The scientists take a site tour each week to discuss the previous week's work. This was quite informative but also sometimes difficult to grasp. Overall I had a great day. Here are a few more photos:
My friend Banu Aydınoğlugil is project coordinator. She helped me make this trip.
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The kitchen crew - about to serve lunch
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The Neolithics of Çatalhöyük buried their dead inside their houses - often several individuals side by side or on top of each other. One of the many mysteries of Çatalhöyük. More on that later.
Below, two burials.
Below, two burials.
Two skulls side by side
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Single burial
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