{"id":4011,"date":"2026-08-16T13:47:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T18:47:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/?p=4011"},"modified":"2026-08-16T13:47:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T18:47:59","slug":"funny-witty-but-appropriate-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/2026\/08\/16\/funny-witty-but-appropriate-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Funny, Witty, but Appropriate Title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spending this summer in T\u00fcrkiye has been an experience that I know I will be thinking about for a long time. Before arriving, I had some idea of what archaeological fieldwork would involve, but there is a big difference between learning about archaeology in a classroom and actually participating in it, in another country. Living and working in Gazipa\u015fa has taught me a whole lot about archaeology, teamwork, travel, and myself. <\/span>For future participants, my first piece of advice is to expect hard physical labor. First off, the actual archaeological work is not easy and you can expect hot, humid days and uncomfortable conditions. But after the digging, you have to be prepared to do pottery for two hours and walk ten minutes to the restaurant for dinner. When work at the site ends at 1:00, you can\u2019t mentally check out or else the rest of the day will seem more grueling. Also, it\u2019s okay to look dirty and tired, and you should prioritize comfort over appearance. <\/span>Studying up before coming to T\u00fcrkiye will make the experience much easier and more fun. I would recommend at least reading up on Turkish history (recent and ancient), as well as the readings provided to you before travelling. Learning about Antiochia ad Cragum beforehand won\u2019t necessarily make you an expert, but it gives you a good basis to build on. Also, you should learn a few key words and phrases in Turkish, since you can\u2019t expect all of the locals to cater to English.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside of work, go outside and explore. It\u2019s okay to take a day off to write a blog post or rest, but Gazipa\u015fa is a really cool place. I would suggest going to BidiBidi Beach, where you can eat chicken burgers, pet the big cat, and swim. Although the waves can get pretty big, depending on the winds. It\u2019s an especially good idea to go with other people, since I was able to make good friends just by walking with people. And to quote Drake, \u201cit’s the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination.\u201d I went to some amazing places, but just walking there with my teammates was even more memorable.<\/span><\/p>\n

I learned that archaeology is a social science. It is not a measure of objectivity, and bias is unavoidable. Turkish people use the data that I have found, as well as those before me, to understand their backgrounds better (whether it be historical or mythological, i.e. Troy). Everything I do has to be documented, interpreted, questioned, compared, and discussed, in order for subjective claims to be made. What I find can significantly change how someone thinks of their own past. I realize how dependent archaeological research is on collaboration, and not one single person sees the whole story. Everyone contributes a different perspective, skill, or idea. I also learned that Paul McCartney was replaced by Billy Shears and the Beatles left hidden clues about the replacement across their album covers and backward-played tracks.<\/span><\/p>\n

My most memorable experience was when I was at the Great Bath for an afternoon. There were these tiles, around one foot squared, and they all had two finger marks making a cross through them. The tiles had finger marks so that the plaster would stick to them better, and I guess this really struck me because I do the same thing with ceramics (slip and score), and I thought about how the only thing separating me from these people is time. I ran my fingers through the marks, and they fit.\u00a0<\/span>This project has changed the way I think about being an archaeologist and being a \u201cfirst witness\u201d to historical material. There is something really unique about realizing that the material that I unearthed has survived for centuries or even millennia, and that I am one of the people responsible for documenting it. At the same time, great power comes with great responsibility. Being a first witness does not only mean that I get to see something exciting before everyone else. It means that I have to treat the material carefully and record it accurately, and recognize that future researchers may depend on the information we create today. <\/span>All in all, my experience in T\u00fcrkiye has made archaeology feel less like an academic subject and more like a way of understanding people and places. On the same page, living abroad changed my perspective and broadened my horizons, and I would never have been able to experience archaeology the same way if I had just stayed home all summer. Leaving T\u00fcrkiye, I have gained greater appreciation for the past, a better understanding of the work required to study it, and a clearer sense of my future.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spending this summer in T\u00fcrkiye has been an experience that I know I will be thinking about for a long time. Before arriving, I had some idea of what archaeological fieldwork would involve, but there is a big difference between learning about archaeology in a classroom and actually participating in it, in another country. Living […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5735,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Iz8A-12H","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5735"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4011"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4017,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4011\/revisions\/4017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}