| Entry: | Yesterday, 03/08/2010, I started cleaning unit 15146 in order to trace the outline of grave F.3316. for now it's put on the back burner though, as another burial overlaying it (3317) needs to be removed first. after a few days of looking at grayish-brown hoping to see an irregular wall pattern, I couldn't help getting excited by the change of colour to bright orange, and the clear straight lines in the NW corner of the grave. even though it's only Byzantine kirpich. This grave promises to be much more like the archaeology I know – straight lines, recognisable materials, bright colours. it's reassuring to stop by something nameable if not 'familiar' (the Byzantine empire), before going down to the Chalcolithic.
today I'm more inclined to say that these burials, nice through they look, are a detour on our the way to the deep prehistory. it's difficult to keep a sense of perspective – doing them well, but quickly and moving on to the actual research objective, which seems to be the Chalcolithic settlement layout. similarly, with the room-fills, I have the impression that our progress is slow. many reasons for that: the archaeology is tough, most of us lack either experience or confidence to go ahead quicker, we are learning, and exploring a largely unknown area. however, I do think part of the problem is that the organisational set up does not help us keep a sense of perspective. everyone focuses on their own interest and desire to do things well. and the season's research aim is open-ended. (I guess all archaeology is though)
it's odd to say but I think as a team we need to make a choice or a compromise - to sacrifice some information aspects in favour of others. for example, go down through the house much quicker, taking a risk in order to quicken up the learning curve. but that has been done many times before, who says there is no better way of digging - slowly and carefully?
moreover, much of the philosophy of Catal seems to be aimed at working out solutions that avoid compromises. for example the East Mound conservation people say it's impossible to preserve the walls on the long term. yet the project pours money and efforts every year into a conservation team, trying to work out a solution to overcome this problem. while I like this optimism, I remain sceptical. promising to work on preservation problems, not necessarily finding solutions could be a strategic move. this way the project gets a nice attitude from heritage conservation authorities, the Turkish government and probably more funding. anyway, in both challenges - the preservation and working out the West mound houses quicker without compromising quality, I feel some kind of compromise will have to be made in order to achieve results.
upon rereading this entry, it's obvious I miss typing and the way it helps me order my thoughts. It's getting overly abstract and ranty though, so I'd better go and do some pot-counting. |
