After two weeks of working, I have learned the deep intricacies of Archaeology, which extend beyond the limits of the ground in which we dig. Coming into this, I knew very little past the science of it, and the practice of doing it. Dig artifacts up from the earth, and use them as context to build a narrative of history, from there, historians take the research and study it to learn more about humanity, how we got to where we are, and how we should live in accordance with what we have learned. This is all true, but it is so much more complex than just this. For example, archaeology is being done in real-time, in real space, meaning it is part of history itself. It is not excluded from humanity. Research on literary text is not spacial in the same way, so the research sort of lives outside of the context under which the original texts were written. Archaeology is different. This has effects on how we do archaeology, how we view the ethics of it, and how we work with those in power to do the research. On Thursday, there was a large assembly between those who worked on the site and the Turkish ministry. The assembly exists because of the complications of doing history and research in another country, on someone’s land. We have to do it according to them, but still use our ethical reasoning on the site as it stands. This is so deeply complicated and is not something I have been able to work out well. How do you determine what to dig, where, when, how fast, and for what purpose? It is so complicated when you work with the government, researchers, students, volunteers, local laborers, and predetermined practice methodology. With so many factors it seems like it is impossible to satisfy everyone. When these factors are all put together it is often the case that it is easiest just to orient around one principle, which functions as a goal. In a competitive sport, the goal is to win, in a publicly traded company, it is to maximize shareholder value, but in archaeology, it is more complicated. You can’t say that it is to maximize perfect research because Turkey does not care about the research, they want a tourist site. You cannot have the principle be to build a perfect tourist site, because we researchers have an ethical understanding that we need to do right by the finite amount of researchable structures on site. These two often conflict in my mind, for several reasons, and I can imagine it is not uncommon for these two forces to collide.
As for me though, I have certainly learned about myself. There are three primary things. 1. I miss my loved ones. I deeply miss people from home, and I realize that It is very difficult not to be around them. I think this to the degree that I feel as if I am not living life the way I want to here. I think education is valuable in and of itself, and I am totally loving this experience, but I would want to do it with someone I love. 2. I am far more fascinated by the group dynamics, the ethics, and the philosophy of archaeology than the research. As you may be able to tell by my blog posts thus far, reader, I love thinking about how the archaeology works in practice, the people here, the kinds of personalities, and how they work together. The government entities and the zealots of the science, are all fascinating and relevant things to me. 3. I love physical labor. I am exhilarated every morning to get up and work. I thought it would be not easy, but it is not. I love digging, I love uncovering history, and I love the artifacts. I love the whole thing. The sun and the sweat make me feel alive, which I rarely do when I sit behind my computer.