1) What advice you would offer future participants (i.e. what to expect, what to pack, what to study beforehand, where to go while in Turkey, what food to try, etc.).
I would advise that people bring an extra pair of sheets (the sheets often come off of the beds), a portable charger/power port for your phone and/or computer, and shower flip-flops or slippers. For food to get here: Cin orange cookies from any store, wafer cookies, baklava, and Turkish ice cream (the texture is so unique and satisfying). Try any bread that you find, it will always be good, especially the frybread, and also try any meat product—but don’t ask which animal it was, figure it out after.
In terms of what to study beforehand, I definitely would have liked it if I was more familiar with pottery types (which sounds painfully boring, but is actually fairly important & interesting), as well as the house plans from this area. The provisional readings were definitely super informative and I’m very glad I actually read them properly.
2) Why you would (or would not) participate in another archaeological excavation:
I would absolutely work at another archaeological excavation. If I can come back here, I will. However, I would also be interested in going to an excavation in a colder climate (Scotland, France, Germany, or Alaska) would also be a bucket list thing for me. The camaraderie and fun I found in shared labor and interest here has inspired me to look for more similar situations and experiences.
3) What you’ve learned (one honest academic answer; one funny, witty, but appropriate answer).
The first thing that I’ve learnt here is the significance of minuscule details in a larger area. The single coin we found at a particular level in one of our loci on site could be the thing that allows future researchers to figure out the exact location of origin and date a particular surrounding feature. I also will never look at a statistical dataset the same way again after knowing how much work goes into obtaining each piece of data as physical entities and then attaching information to them.
My second lesson is that I should never EVER trust Riley with food that hasn’t been checked for allergens, choking hazards, or high caffeine levels. My third lesson is NEVER TURN RAMI DOWN FOR A DANCE PARTY.
4) Your most memorable experience here working on our research project.
Getting invited to a Turkish wedding, hands down. Dancing with Rami and Ayse and all the Turkish workers was so much fun, and watching Riley interact with people was utterly unreal.
5) How our project has changed your perspective, for example, on you and your life/career goals, on Turkey, or on being an archaeologist, or on being a “first witness” to historical material, or on being a college student abroad.
This experience has made me firmly believe that all college students should be given the opportunity, or even required, to participate in a program abroad, specifically in one where they will live and engage with foreign language students. The friends and connections that I’ve made here will be both lifelong and incredibly beneficial to me, and I think that I have expanded my social abilities beyond what I knew was possible throughout this experience.
