| Entry: | I have to say that I had an awful day today, truely awful. It started off bad and ended worse. The morning was kicked off with a difference of opinion on the blocking between spaces 108 and 107. I am really unhappy about the pace of work in this particular area. We have stratigraphy in section that at its maximum is 0.2m wide with sliver of a few centimetres at the S end. It's been drawn indetail, it's being dug stratigraphically but this endless messing with lenses and discussion slows everything right down. Overall it's a really good guide for sequences we may come across in the future, it is also linking us with what Mellaart did but we've had this information for the last few days! The other aspect of work that's slow is the Turkish students, they're very keen and want to learn and we want to teach them but its incredibly time consuming. Our recording system is very detailed and specific, the terms we use are unfamiliar to them, some are not comfortable with the english language let alone archaeological terms. Some have problems with basic stratigraphy. If we are to use them effectively with a view to them coping on their own at some stage in the future we have to teach them but we're not running a training excavation. May be they should have evening seminars? What else went wrong today? The workmen. They're work load is down to zero, there are a few who sieve but when they see their colleagues crouching in corners because there is no work for them they whiz through their sieves, what's that doing to the recovery rate? If they're not crouching in corners of the trench they're huddled around excavators in a very distracting way, getting in the way, some try to help but end up being the opposite. Tomorrow Anwen and Jon will take out an arbitrary layer that a couple of the workmen can do under supervision, but this arrangement is not always possible. Are we going to have to put up with this until the Greek team arrive in a couple of weeks when the will use some men or can we put them to use more effectively.
Overall work is progressing at an even pace. The problem with the TBM,s has been resolved, we have to add 0.523m on to all levels taken this season ( at least it's not minus!). Area 107, unit (1074), an ashy 'midden' deposit lay below (1078) with a cluster (1093) within/same as (1074). Ali inadvertantly removed the next deposit (after long discussion on how to define the next stratigraphic layer to remove) without recording it. I think he has a problem with how to go about investigating stratigraphy. Anyway this will have to be recorded retrospectvely tomorrow. Ian had to go to Konya today and Mira worked for the morning only.Entered By: Shahina Farid |
