Çatalhöyük to Ankara!

Hey everyone!

So the God and Goddess themed party on Thursday was great! There was also a 65 person group from Yale University that came for a special visit so there were more people than usual. I was going to go to the party as one of the 3 fates but our group kinda fell through at the end. There were some great costumes though! Caesar, a Totem Pole, a Chinese philosopher (?), Cupid, Mary ect.

The next day we all packed up and head into Konya. I once again went to the Dedeman Hotel (5 stars) and had a fabulous time!!! That place is heaven! I used the internet and caught up on all my stuff and then had lunch. After that is when the truly fabulous part of the day started! I spent hours swimming and lounging by the pool and then relaxing in the hot tub! I also spent some time in the sauna and the steam room and then my favourite way of bathing... the Turkish Baths! They have a small Turkish Bath room with the marble platform and the sinks around the outside wall. I lounged about for a moment or two and then got right down to playing in the water! I think every home in Canada should install a Turkish Bath, they are good for the soul.

Saturday and Sunday were special days at Çatalhöyük because we were hosting a big conference for all leading archaeologists in the Aegean and Near East. Ian Hodder was speaking as well as other geeky legends such as Ofer Bar-Yoseph. There was also a fabulous lecture on Gobekli Tepe which got me so excited because I will be there in a couple days to see it firsthand! We also had a special catered dinner on Saturday night and then we got to watch the Whirling Dervishes on site! I absolutely loved the chanting and the whirling performers where mesmerizing! Sunday was a very stressful day as it was our last on the site (Carter and I) and we had to finish up a lot of work. I took a “blind test” (which should have been done my first day on the site but oh well) to make sure I am skilled enough to visually characterize the obsidian. This involved visually analyzing 100 pieces of obsidian that had been chemically analyzed so Carter already knew where they came from. Fortunately I got 96% of them right which validates all the work I have been doing.

This morning Carter and I said goodbye to everyone and headed out for the Konya bus terminal. We got on a 4 hour bus ride to Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, and now here we are! We are staying at the very nice British Institute of Archaeology and are going to be leaving tomorrow morning for Van. We will be camping out in a cottage/tent in the middle of our study area which will be very interesting! I have the distinct feeling that these next few weeks will kick my ass with all this physical activity so bring on the new experiences!

And so that is everything up to date! I’m not sure when I will have internet again being out camping in the wilderness but I will try to keep you posted! Talk to you soon!