I have never before in my life drank as much water as I am drinking on the site each day. On my second evening in Gaizpaşa, Gabe and I made the trek to the A101 to purchase two 5L jugs of water to bring to the site, as we were both running out well before our 1 pm quitting time. The site is nestled on the northern slope of an outcropping and, as such, receives constant sunlight from the moment we set foot on the site at 6:30, but is sheltered from the cool morning breeze that many of the other units at Antiochia receive. Coming down from the high and dry Rocky Mountains to the wet and warm Mediterranean has been an adjustment to say the least. In addition to drinking more water, I’ve been applying sunscreen regularly for the first time in my life. Finding and adapting to my physiological limitations has been both challenging and insightful.
During the site tour on Friday, we saw the spot where a set of human remains was found inside a wall in the small baths. I was surprised to learn that the remains had been excavated, photographed, published and then placed in a box for storage in the dig site. Growing up just south of the Flathead Reservation, I was aware of NAGPRA and assumed that the guidelines for treating remains were standard practice. However, when I expressed my surprise about the decision to leave the remains in a box, I was laughed at and told that because they were “ancients” they had no living descendants and so the remains were treated largely the same as other cultural objects. This change from my experience of the treatment of remains was jarring and I am intrigued to learn what else that feels intuitive to me will be different here in Turkey.