i'm not an archaeologist, not yet a geologist [part II--week one]

I will not lie to you, I didn’t know what to expect from my month at Kerkenes. Ok, ok, that’s not entirely true. I knew my priorities:

1. Explore within a five kilometer radius of the site, doing some general geologic mapping of the area and trying to find rocks of certain types
2. Collect samples in a systematic manner for thin sectioning back in Ankara

Ok, so, that’s not too hard. I didn’t ask for much, just a little flexibility on the part of the people I was working with…which, I was told, would be possible. In addition, and as partial repayment for allotting me the necessary resources, I was happy to go and help out with excavations—in fact, I wanted to. My project wasn’t just about geology, I wanted to get an archeological experience, too. It was a GeoArcheological project, i.e. the two fields combined.

So, as I said, I was told before coming that the resources would be there. And, really, all I needed was a vehicle to drive around in maybe two or three times a week.

Cool.

But, what about the rest of the time?
Well, I didn’t really know. I didn’t know who would be at the site and what we would be excavating. I just knew that I was going.

And that’s how I left Ankara on the afternoon of June 1. And that’s how I arrived at Kerkenes at 8pm that evening. I was greeted by a cheery Kara Mehmet, Ismael Bey, Scott, Sepi, and Tiffin. Robert, I was told, would be arriving later that night from Chicago and I shouldn’t expect him to be so cheery.

After having some tea, Scott and I discussed what I wanted to do. He agreed that there’d be resources, but mentioned that it might be tough to do much before the last two weeks of the field season.

Umm…ok…I guess I’ll just work on the excavations and then do my stuff? Sure. So, what exactly are we doing?

Well, basically, we’re looking for streets. Ancient streets. Oh, and by the way, the excavation season starts tomorrow morning at 5:30 am.

WOAH!

Ok.
So, I was a bit frazzled, but I figured I would be alright. I hadn’t been able to sleep past 5 am that entire week anyway. Noooo problem.

Ha! Why is it that when you want to wake up early you can’t, but when you don’t want to wake up early you seem to have no control? Yeah…

Needless to say, that next morning was a bit rough. I don’t know how Robert did it, coming straight from the US and all. But, we made it. Albeit, in a bit of a mind haze for the first few hours.

We got up to site—a bumpy ride in the Land Rover that would come to haunt my dreams—and met the workmen. We split into two teams: Tiffin+Robert, Sepi+Me. Tiffin and Sepi were head directors while Robert and I were apparently swing people.

The first day was lackluster and relatively quiet. We were introduced to the workmen and slowly began the descent down into the ground. Tahir was a fearsome picker and we were lucky to have him, despite the fact that he is a punkmonkey. Conversationwise, the guys would talk to each other and occasionally to us…actually, it was more that Tahir and Ilhamid would talk while everyone else kept their traps shut. At the end of the day, we were well into digging, didn’t seem to be having any problems with the guys, had found one of our walls, and went home satisfied.

The rest of the week was not nearly so pleasant.

On the second day, the workmen started picking on me with absolutely no remorse. They really couldn’t understand how I could have a Turkish father but not be able to speak/understand Turkish perfectly. So, they started making fun of me because they thought I couldn’t understand…but I did. At one point, I told a couple of guys to do something and Tahir said “they can’t understand you. Tell me and I will explain it to them.” So, to appease his ego, I did. And guess what, he repeated what I said near exactly.

But, I can’t say I was that surprised, just frustrated. I mean, here I am, a young girl telling a bunch of Turkish guys from the village what to do…with poor Turkish. Yeah, they had a problem with it. Agh, it was such a change from my experience in Ankara where people were encouraging!

At some point, it got to be too much. The kicker came when Talking Mehmet wouldn’t stop saying how perfect Sepi’s Turkish was and that I was awful at it…that I was awful at everything. That really pushed my buttons. Sure, you can say shrug it off. But, I tried really hard to communicate with them and I think I did it well enough. It’s not like they tried to learn English to communicate with me and I was neither condescending nor disrespectful. Additionally, his comment just wasn’t true.

You see, Sepi knows a lot of Turkish but I think we are about equal in what we know. I think I actually understood the guys pretty well. So, for Talking Mehmet to say that really got my goat, especially because Sepi either didn't understand or wasn't listening...either way, throughout it all, Sepi never came to my defense. And it dragged on.

This hatred towards me wasn’t just relegated to the workmen, however. On that first Monday, Robert and I went to get our residence permits sorted out at the Emniyet. We went with a man from the village who had gone through the process a few times before. Throughout the day he kept saying that I was pathetic and it was so sad that I had a Turkish name but couldn’t speak Turkish.

Sidenote: At the same time, when we got to the Emniyet this guy wouldn’t stop bragging about how I was Turkish. So, I don’t get it! He thinks I’m pathetic but is also proud of me? It was additionally ironic because Tiffin said “if you speak any Turkish at all he’ll love you.” Ha! He also hates overweight people, even though he is one himself. I did, however, redeem some status when we went for lunch. The Emniyet is located in Yozgat so we just had to try the regional specialty: the Testi Kebap. Every town has a large sculpture showing what they’re product of fame, so Yozgat has a large ceramic Testi. The Testi Kebap consists of meat, garlic, and veggies cooked in a large ceramic pot. The pot is then cracked open and you eat what is inside. When combined with a kaymakli ekmek kadayif for dessert, the meal is quite delicious. For some reason, the fact that I loved kaymakli ekmek kadayif seemed to make him happy.

In the end, the only people who accepted me that first week were the girls in the kitchen...and that was because I helped them so they didn't have to work as much.

To top it off, as the newcomer and non-archaeologist, I was given the responsibility of compiling the Photo Archive--a most despised job. This was because, apparently, I didn't have the same amount of work to do as everyone else. You know, the non-archaeologist newbie...except I had a project of my own, remember? Wait, that's right, I did have work to do...

Basically, by the end of the week my spirit was pretty well broken. “I’m gonna have to put up with this torture, with no one to defend me—not Scott or the other kids—and just take it?! I’m not even here to work on this project! NO!,” I thought. Needless to say, I was miserable, and by the time Thursday rolled around I was about ready to head back to Ankara. The one thing that kept me going was the knowledge that if I waited it out, I would get to do my project…and I really wanted to do my project!

An additional help was the prospect of Friday, our day off, which would give me a little time to be away from the workmen scene. The day off, however, was a fiasco unto itself…

The plan was to go to a mountainous region with a big quarry. It was supposed to be beautiful and there was some geology there.

Osman Bey picked us up around 9 am and we headed off. From the start, the sky was cloudy and foreboding. Two hours later we arrive at the village nearby the quarry. It starts to drizzle, but we’re dedicated to the idea and intent on going. When we finally find the place there is a guard there:

Guard: Yasak
Ismael Bey to Scott: Yasaktir
Scott: Great! Can we park?

Ismael Bey: Yasak. Yasak.

Me: No, we can’t park…yasak means prohibited
Scott: Oh…why is it prohibited?
Ismael Bey: Dinamite
Me: Dynamite.

So, that was unsuccessful.

The crew had already been to most of the nearby archaeological sites so, despite Osman Bey’s protestations, we tried to go to one further away. One hour later, Tiffin has to pee and we can’t get there because the town is laying pipes and the road is in shambles.

Ok, how about some lunch. Sepi wants Iskender. Can we find Iskender?
Nope.
Ok, we’ll have a super greasy different type of kebab instead.

Ok, now Scott remembers this other hoyuk which he visited years ago and wrote up a report for. Let’s try finding that.

Rock on!

So, we make our way there. Of course, at some point the Jandarma has closed the road and we end up going through a section illegally. That’s a good addition to the day. Luckily, we weren’t stopped.

Soon thereafter, we get to the site. Success? Well, lo and behold…

there’s a frickin’ bulldozer there illegally mowing it down!

Luckily, Ismael Bey, the government representative for the Turkish Ministry of Culture, was there. He called the Jandarma, who we then had to wait for. It started pouring, I had to pee really badly, and we waited there another hour or so for the Jandarma. Boy, did I have to pee.

Finally, the Jandarma showed up and we headed back to Sahmuratli. Of course we take the long way, great on the bladder. And, of course, we get there and it’s been sunny sunny sunny warm allll day!

By the end of that day I think I actually relished the idea of getting back to digging trenches…or not. Adventure. Gotta love it. Especially when it’s filled with explosives, police, illegal activity…all viewed from the comfort of a van with a bag of misir fistigi in hand!