Voices from the Field (2014-06-24)

Activities continued apace this week with the Kaymakçı Archaeological Project.

We continue to be paperless thanks to the technological expertise of many team members and the patience of many more! The 3D recording of trenches, samples (especially ceramics), and landscapes provides not only visualizations of ancient entities as well as our own workflows and knowledge bases, but also new opportunities for conceptualizing and understanding the holistic endeavor of the human experience over time.

Young Society Leaders – YSL

Elected as Young Society Leaders to the American Turkish Society (ATS) in Fall 2013, Christina and Chris have had opportunities to expand their networks in Turkey and to understand where and how politics, design and development, field work, and education fit best within the arc of policies and U.S. – Turkish relations. A recent summit in İstanbul – a first for the YSL group – was a great success. Christina presented on fieldwork, cultural diplomacy, and policy (“Cultural Relations in the Gediz Valley: US – Turkish – EU Initiatives”) and Chris focused on the many impacts of technology on field research (“Research + Technology: A 21^st Century Approach to the Past in the Gediz Valley”).

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/young-society-leaders-gather-in-istanbul-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=68088&NewsCatID=341

Link to YSLs 2013:

http://www.turkishny.com/english-news/5-english-news/132916-the-american-turkish-society-announces-third-class-of-young-society-leaders/printing

Food!

Our diet has shifted as the hotter and drier summer season begins. The crisp lettuce is now gone; the tomato plants are almost fully ripe; the peppers are not far behind; and patches of mint and oregano grace the fields around us. Among the staples of our diet is now purslane (semiz otu). It grows in abundance as an undergrowth crop in olive groves and even fallow fields. Our cooks have mastered the use of this specific ‘weed’ in many ways, but our favorites are to have it sautéed with garlic and covered with a savory yogurt sauce, mixed with rice or bulgur, or served fresh in cucumber and tomato salads with a hint of mint. Another perennial favorite is stuffed grape leaves rolled long and tight here in the village and stuffed with a rice and bulgur mix and flavored with mint and olive oil (here called sarma, elsewhere dolma). In addition to the fresh breads, we’ve also been treated to fresh gözleme and pişi (complete with cheese made by our hosts as well as pekmez, a grape molasses). The majority of the ingredients for these dishes – grapes, grape leaves, parsley, purslane, onions, and mint – come from the local farm.

As our paleoethnobotany work begins in earnest (with the floatation tank now complete thanks to the expertise of John (Mac) Marston and the welders in the Salihli sanayi), we hope to learn much more about ancient diets.

In addition to enjoying the food, we are continuing to enjoy long days of hard work. The excavation team is seated around the breakfast table at 5:15 am, the conservation and lab crews at 6:15am. Below are the highlights from some of the project’s work over the past week. Look for more to come next week!

Oral Histories and Communities

A long-term component of our work here is to understand landscape changes over time. While we’ve got a firm understanding of the past from 10 years of survey, as well as an understanding of recent policy and landscape changes in the Gediz Valley itself, we hadn’t had the opportunity to work on deep histories within specific communities. We’re in the process of doing so now in academic contexts (via publication) and hope to unveil a community-based website initiative by late Fall. Ongoing conversations with community members include walking tours, object biographies, and place-based experiences. Here cyber-space becomes increasingly meaningful in the context of people-to-people relationships and life-long learning.

Excavation

Jana Mokrišová

This week at Kaymakçı we started uncovering selected parts of the citadel. In my excavation area, we first excavated the topsoil, which was regularly plowed in the past and as such contained modern and ancient artifacts. After having removed it, we began to explore the Bronze Age occupation at the site. In conjunction with architectural features including walls, we have found pottery for storage, eating, and cooking purposes, bone, stone tools such as grinders, and some small finds. All these different classes of artifacts together give us clues about how people lived here and how they engaged with the environment around them.

Sunrise over Kaymakçı. The excavation team begins work at 6am.

Architecture

Tim Frank

Our team is currently focused on the schematic design of our planned research and educational center, a mixed-use facility that will support all Gygaia Projects activities for years to come! Our initial attention has been focused on the development of highly permeable building types, which establish gradual transitions between enclosed interior spaces and exposed outdoor spaces that orient towards the strong characteristics of the immediate context. This approach also allows the region’s abundant natural daylight and cooling prevailing breezes to permeate deep into building interiors. Hand sketching, physical modeling, and digital rendering are used to measure this relationship between interior and exterior space.

Landscape Architecture

Brian Katen and Chris Calorusso

The landscape architects worked this week on design and development at the site of the research and educational center in coordination with the architects. Work included generating design studies and design alternatives based on the spatial and functional relationships of the site, views, ecology, pedestrian and vehicular access and circulation, visitor experience, and site security.

Weather Station

Tim Frank and Chris Roosevelt

We installed a weather station this week at Kaymakçı! Weather data from the excavation site will be transmitted real-time to devices around the world via the WeatherBug network. This data will also be logged long-term to understand better the environmental conditions affecting our conservation and restoration of archaeological remains as well as Bronze Age approaches to spatial organization and design with respect to natural elements.

Conservation

Remy Kneski

This week in conservation we tested three mortar mixes that included different ratios of cement, sand, lime, and soil to see the different characteristics of each. We also analyzed the stickiness of four soil samples that came from excavation areas and locations on the living landscape. Finally, we have been cleaning artifacts that have been coming into the conservation lab from the field.

Faunal Analysis

Adam DiBattista

This week we’ve begun to build the beginnings of a comparative collection. Before cooking local sheep and fish used for our meals, the faunal team worked to preserve and clean the bones for future study. The modern bones provide an invaluable means of studying archaeological bones. In addition to preparing specimens for later comparative collections, we have begun to analyze bones recovered from the excavation.