Residing in Turkey for four weeks and participating in an archaeological dig has given me countless opportunities to learn something new about myself, others, and archaeology. When I applied for this academic internship, I had zero background knowledge in Archaeology and was not well versed in Roman history. In February, I intended to try Archaeology and experience Turkey for four weeks. Archaeology, as I understood, would be a physically daunting task – which I quickly learned. However, I did not know the foundations of archaeology, like the mental framework for archaeology and its dimensions of thinking.
As I’ve previously stated in my prior blog posts, getting rid of assumptions and objectively analyzing findings are crucial tactics for an archaeologist’s understanding of their work. Which I tried using, being careful to avoid assumptions when observing our work. Towards the end of our time at the site, I enjoyed stepping back and looking at other groups’ work and the formation of the whole structure. Reading about and learning about Roman housing, specifically terrace housing, gave me the basic knowledge of the room structure/courtyard for the terrace. I knew how multi-versed Roman housing was and how housing was interwoven into their culture. I had to drop my expectations about how a house should function because a Roman house differed in many aspects compared to my own knowledge and expectations. For example, we have designated rooms for specific purposes, whereas Roman rooms were more multifaceted. Even though this approach to housing differed from my own, it made me realize that different generations and cultures of humans can have vastly distinct ways of approaching housing, which is a substantial facet of day-to-day life.
Reflecting on what we accomplished, I think about the day-to-day process of getting to our final product. I remember packing up and looking at the site on the last day with fulfillment of what we achieved—knowing all the steps and effort it took to get there. This sense of accomplishment was satisfying and has left me wondering about other fields within archaeology. From a career perspective, I am pretty clueless about what I want to do after graduation, and I don’t know if archaeology will be a career I will want to pursue. However, I would be interested in participating in another dig in the future. Archaeology offered insight into working in a large group outside athletics, so I learned additional skills when communicating and working with others – such as using “please and thank you.”
My advice for others who plan on going on this trip would be to expect the work to push you physically and mentally. Do not show up and expect that it will be physically easy. The consistent physical demands can also be mentally disruptive. The usual way to escape physical or mental distress, I found, was through humor. Being lighthearted and not taking anything too seriously can go a long way. Culturally, the people are incredibly hospitable and kind, and the food is unbelievable. Also, expect to drink a lot of tea and try to avoid cigarettes – it can sometimes be tempting.
Overall, this experience has been enriching. Trying archaeology has been eye-opening and gratifying, and experiencing Turkish culture has taught me much about myself and other human beings. I hope to return to Turkey someday and possibly do more archaeological digs.