the ancient site of Hattusa and the death of a geology dream.

Last week the head of the METU geology department emailed me about a trip to the venerable Hattusa, which he was planning with some other professors/grad students. It would be lead by the head of excavations, Andreas, and we would be going to study the archaeological site from a geologic perspective. Seeing as the application of geology to archaeology is one of the two main topics I'm allllll about, it comes as no surprise that I was allllll about getting in on that trip. So, that's what I did this Saturday. It was a long day--6:45am to 9:30pm--but the weather was nice and I didn't have to put on gloves until a record 3pm [granted, the rest of the group still looked at me like I was crazy, but I was proud that I made it that far]!

Hattusa, "the capital city of the Hittites", is yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site in Turkey. Located approximately 2.5hrs drive east of Ankara on the outskirts of Bogazkale, Hattusa is an absolutely beautiful excavation run primarily by the German Institute of Archaeology.

The settlement is split into two main sections, cleverly deemed Upper and Lower. There is also another section being excavated, near a huge rock named Sari Kale [sahruh kahle, yellow castle], which is under water. [pictures are of the three sections, respectively. clicking on photos to biggerfy them will let you actually see the ruins]











There are also three epic gateways into the city: King Gate, Sphinx Gate, Lion Gate. The carving at the King Gate is actually on display in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, so there is an entirely out-of-place replica at the site. The Sphinx Gate carvings are destroyed.






The Lion Gate, however, is gorgeous and bloody real! Since I find it so spectacular I'm including a record 3 pictures of the same thing. You should be so lucky.


















But, let's get real here people. Enough diddly-daddling around...what we are really here to talk about is ROCKS. You all knew it was coming, so don't even think of rolling your eyes.

Andreas is interested in doing something similar to the project I am working on--determining where the different rocks used at the settlement are coming from and why they were used. In studying for a degree in archaeology generally little-to-no emphasis is put on geology. Geology and rocks are, however, oftentimes significantly important to the development of civilizations and sites...but, due to the lack of proper knowledge, geology is often overlooked and rocks are often incorrectly identified by archaeologists. It was so so interesting to see how the geologists could rock [ha ha ha] Andreas' ideas and understanding of the site. There were many instances in which he considered two rocks to be the same and the geologists were all "nope. they ain't got a bit to do with each other. one's a granite, the other's a piece of lint."

Rocks ranged from very soft to very hard. The soft ones were often used for pathways and they are pretty smooth from all that hefty Hittite walking done on them. Harder rocks were generally used for building foundations [buildings themselves were probably wood] or tools.


















There were also a bunch of great metamorphics, like this serpentinite with a brilliant green stripe of needly asbestos beginning to form, and some nice mafic volcanics--my faves, tabii tabii.















How can anyone deny it, this was a great trip. I was bloody zonked at the end of it, but it was good and incredibly interesting...and it was all in Turkish [I was very excited at how much I could understand...at least until the whole obsession with water resources came into the conversation and then I got totally lost]. And heck, it was great to be with a group of people who were obsessed with rocks--I mean, look at those old professors on their hands and knees looking at rocks!

However, the sad fact is that on this trip my dream of becoming a real, live, world-traveling, volcano-hopping, hardhat wearing, rock hammer swinging geologist died a fast and furious death. I say this with a heavy heart and tearing eyes but: It's over kids. Pack up your rocks and take 'em somewhere else. On this trip I realized [for the umpteenth time] that a) I know absolutely nothing about geology; I don't know any of the basics, I can't identify a single rock, I don't know anything about geologic time--I am so never gonna make it and b) I'm a medical liability with all my freak accidents/illnesses that happen on field courses so I'll probably never get any grants...or I'll die before I do. Heck, that serpentinite is probably gonna kill me.

So, a bittersweet trip it turned out to be for me, but I would recommend a visit with no hesitation. It's really a brilliant and beautiful site, both archaeologically and aesthetically.