For anyone who is interested in weather, on July 26th at 6:21 am central time, the temperature in Omaha, NE was 64 degrees Fahrenheit. At the same time in Antalya Turkey (2:21 pm), the temperature was 106 degrees Fahrenheit.

Today is our day off, and time to recollect an exciting and progress-filled work week. A variety of projects were started during the period of time that the crane was not on the field. The engineering students continued our work on determining the temple's design, construction, and dimensions. Working inductively from the evidence found within the temple mound, we used surveying to find a very reasonable estimation of the temple's width. We then sketched plan and elevation views of the temple mound. From this. we retraced the construction of the temple by measuring different types of blocks that would have been stacked on top of each other centuries ago. We are attempting to create a detailed 3D rendering of the temple as it once was, thus making it necessary for us to study the site and ancient architecture so that we can make inferences. Luckily, we have talented professors and students from the other two university teams who are able and willing to provide us with the information we need.

A recent discovery has put a slight kink in our design of the temple, however. In the trench of an archaeology student, crowning moulding was found on what was originally thought to be the podium (platform). A crowning moulding is intended to be viewed from underneath, thus indicating that the platform is at least another 2 meters down (so that a person could stand under what is now considered the creppice of the temple). We are fairly certain that the lower level of the temple was a chamber, with walls visible (not dirt covered) around the entire outside of the temple. Since the west side of the temple is not preserved, we are not sure how these walls were constructed. Hopefully, further excavation on the North side of the mound (where Billy's trench is located, pictured left) will reveal more clues.


The excitement did not end there, fortunately. Extensive block, dirt, and rock removal has shown us a wall built perpendicular to the temple in a post-Roman time period. We the wall is Byzantine, and the Byzantine Empire was in control of this area from the late 5th century to the 11th centruy. Since the wall was found under collapsed temple pieces, we must assume that the temple collapsed after the 5th century. Assuming that this wall (pictured lower left) and the byzantine wall discovered within one of the trenches on top of the temple mound (pictured upper right) were built at nearly the same time, then the temple must have been at least partially intact at that time. During its centuries of use, many alterations have been made to the temple that tend to confuse our vision of how it may have looked. We hope to layer the previously mentioned computer generation of the temple based on its construction (and "deconstruction") in different time periods.


We also began a topographic map of the site and surrounding area of approximately a 200 meters radius. With a total station (which is the machine used to gather surveying data) set up on a tripod on an established point on the temple, Professor Hoff sent out a crack team of students to brave the brush and bugs in order to gather enough points to create a detailed map of the terrain.

Also during this week, Professor Hoff made a "squeeze" of what is one of the longest ancient oracle readings in Turkey, which happens to be at our temple site (pictured below). In order to make the squeeze, which is a technique used to copy writing or carving from a piece of flat stone, beer paper was wet down on the block. Then the air bubbles were brushed out. Finally, the same soft brush was used to embed the paper into the writing. Once the paper dries, a reflected copy of the oracle reading (which was done by local priests to predict the future) is ready to be read by anyone who knows Greek.

On a side note, we continue to enjoy the meals cooked for us at the schoolhouse near the work field. Besides the ever present cay(tea)and delicious corba (soup), we are delighted to once a week find a Turkish desert, such as sutlac (rice pudding). We also look forward to days on which we are given cold cola to drink. Pictured left, UNL student Jarod enjoys one of these meals with a couple of local hired workers.



On the evening before our day off (which we like to refer to as Friday, no matter the actual day of the week), we went as a large group to a restaurant on to of a hill near our hotel. There we all celebrated Dr. Ece Erdogmus's belated birthday (pictured right) with delicious food from what is likely the most upscale restaurant in Gazipasa.

Hello again fans of the Turkey Trip Blog! A lot has happened since I made my last entry! I'm almost a full meter deep in my trench (which doesn't seem like much but, trust me, it took a lot of work...), and I have found several more terra cotta roof tiles as well as numerous pottery sherds (also made from terra cotta). Eventually, we will clean off all of the terra cotta fragments and try to figure out what period the sherds came from as well as investigate whether we have any pieces of pottery that fit together. Although I'm extremely excited about all of the terra cotta, the most impressive discovery I've made in the past week was a Roman coin (dating to approximately the 2nd-3rd century AD). The coin looks to be somewhat well preserved and could prove to be useful in dating our temple.

As of recently, I have been focusing on digging as quickly as possible because part of the back face of the temple is in my trench and it is our goal to have it exposed by the end of the season. We believe that I still have at least 2 meters to go before I reach this goal so I've got my work cut out for me. Luckily, I get to have a break from digging sometimes because one of our local workers takes over for me for awhile :)

Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

Billy

Initially, our current project was a mission to uncover evidence of the Cilician pirates that were famed to have been based in Rough Cilicia, the region of Turkey on which the site of Antiocheia ad Kragos was formed. According to history, some 10,000 pirates plagued the Mediterranean during the Helenistic period. The task of confirming this historical account proved difficult however, because the pirates are not likely to leave significant archeaological remains.

The project then morphed into a study of region, specifically of the ancient Roman city of Antiocheia ad Kragos. The city is the namesake of a city planner who was given money to build the city in around 1000 AD. The temple which we are excavating and plan to rebuild is circa 3000 AD. The city flourished due to the natural defense advantages of the mountainous terrain, the location near sea for the Roman navy, and the local timber industry.

During a site tour at the beginning of our last work day of the week, we saw how much "our" city had to offer. The city boasted a thoroughfare bordered with colonnades leading to the city gates, an agora, baths, many churches (pictured below), various tomb locations, and (of course) a temple dedicated to an emporer with an affinity for the Roman god Appollo. My personal thoughts are that I am very proud of the site, and I hope that it will someday be excavated for all to enjoy.
The next day, all students and professors (except the absent Dr. Erdogmus) took a day trip to the ancient city of Perge, a tourist site in Antalya. We paid 15 TL to see view the largest excavated (en progresse) site that I have seen, and it was certainly worth the lira. My favorite part of the site (although I could easily expound on all of the attractions that the city holds) was the main thouroughfare (pictured below), which followed a water cannal leading to a statue of the Roman god of the Kestros River.
I also enjoyed seeing the excavation and reconstruction work. We saw evidence of work similar to our own, although on a more grand scale. Evidence includes: block fields, rebuilt walls with numbered blocks, columns put back together with metal reenforcing bars, and gaisons stacked on friezes stacked on architraves. The work is extensive and very impressive.

Wow! I can't believe that two nights ago we hit the halfway point of the trip. It seems like just yesterday that I was boarding the plane, saying goodbye to my friends and family. So far the trip has been such a rush touring, working and relaxing with fellow group members that I have not been able to catch my breath. I am looking forward to the next three weeks and hope that they will be as exhilarating as the first three!

Work has recently slowed down a bit since the crane has left. Ece has put us on a list of tasks to get done while she is at a conference in Africa. The tasks include doing GPR scans to get a visual of what is underground without having to dig. Also have been asked to figure out the dimensions of the temple which seems to be simple. In all actuality, it is fairly difficult because the edges are undefined and it takes a lot of analysis to get the correct numbers. Along with these tasks, we are helping the other teams with thier projects when they need it.

Tomorrow is our day off, which is very exciting because we will be travelling to Antalya to visit the ancient roman city of Perge. Apparently it is very well preserved, so it may give us some clues as to what our ancient town may have looked like. It is very exciting to see the different buildings such as the baths, theaters, tombs and churches.

I will post again soon!

Jake

Ece has been at a conference in Africa the past couple of days, so Jake, Holly and I have been working on a short list of tasks while the crane is away. We've spent some time drawing and getting dimensions of different parts of the temple platform. Later this year we hope to create a render of what the temple would have looked like back in the day. I almost feel like a time traveler lately, because we've seen so many ancient sites. We went on a more complete tour of the town that our temple is a part of today. It's fun to imagine what the people there saw in their time and compare it to what we see now!

Work continues to move right along! The progress is impressively swift by both the Clark students and University of Nebraska students. The crane again arrived to remove more history from the temple mound. An exciting piece of the puzzle, the pediment (pictured left), was slowly moved from the ground in front of the temple (where the block would have originally been welcoming visitors) to nearby block field A. The work began with drawing the resting side, continued with documentation, moved along with digging strap slots underneath the block, and culminated in 40ft joyride on the crane;a job well done by all those involved! In other news, a fellow engineering student and I are tasked with more accurately approximating the dimensions of the temple as it originally stood. As we anxiously await for the temple to become more revealed, we can only make an educated guess as to how the temple was constructed. We believe, with instruction from Professors Hoff and Erdogmus, that the temple had at least three levels of marble blocks: foundation, floor, and wall. Today was spent designing an intricate plan to determine the width of the temple using surveying equipment and two foundation blocks (from opposite corners) that appear to be near original position. Unfortunately, no conclusive results have been found at this time.

After lunch that day, the governor of the Gazipasa region visited the site. Over a cup of tea, he told us general information about Gazipasa and about how excited he is that we are working on the project. The main source of economic income for the region is currently agriculture, but the emphasis is slowly being shifted to tourism, with the help of attractions like the Antiocheia ad Kragos temple project. He also mentioned that areal photographs were recently taken of the site, which has us all excited to see them!

Also worth mentioning is this impression of a column drum, created by UNO student Jake Zach:

Hello to all "archaeological engineering" fans out there! My name is Jake Zach and I am new to the blogging network because of previous technical problems. I am a Junior at University of Nebraska in the architectural engineering program. When I applied for this opportunity last fall, and Dr. Erdogmus accepted me, I was a little hesitant to leave the country for 6 weeks with a group of people that I am was not very familiar with. By the second morning of the trip i realized that I had made one of the best decisions of my life. Drinking tea on the rooftop of a hotel in Istanbul overlooking the sea with 10 newfound friends I realized that the next 6 weeks were going to be great... and so far they have been. I have never been around a group so enthusiastic to get to work every morning. When we get to work, the authentic Turkish breakfast served by the village women gives us enough energy to get through the day.
It has been my job to help the villager Rahmi move the blocks with the crane. This is a very tricky process for various reasons. The first is that the blocks are in a messy pile which means that we have to remove them in a very specific order so that the other blocks don't move. It is almost like a massive game of pick up sticks. The second reason is that some of the blocks are very brittle due to stresses from other blocks lying on top and due to the age of the block. When the block is raised wood 2x4's are used to protect the other blocks as the raised block swings. We then walk across the field with the block to make sure it doesn't rattle out. Finally the block is laid on 2x4's so that it doesn't touch the ground. We usually get about 8 - 10 blocks moved each day. The third and final reason this job is challenging is that Rahmi and the crane operator are constantly discussing the best strategy in Turkish. It sometimes makes it hard for me to know what to do, but I am picking up new words every day that make it a little easier.
That is all for now! I hope you have a better idea of what is happening here! Until next time Gule Gule from Turkey,

Jake

Hello Turkey Trip Blog readers! My name is Billy Kuehn, and I am an art history and psychology major at UNL. Although I'm interested in all types of art, I have taken several classes with Michael Hoff on classical and Roman art and architecture, which is why he asked me to come. I've really enjoyed Turkey so far and have had a lot of fun with the entire group on and off the work site. It's fascinating to see all of us, who come from such diverse educational backgrounds, come together to work as a collaborative team. My personal job has been to excavate a trench behind the temple. I have not had any previous experience with archaeological digging so I've had to have a crash course over the past few days... :) I've only been digging down about 10 cm at a time so the first couple of days I did not find much, but today I found numerous terra cotta roof tiles as well as several pottery sherds. The most exciting thing I found today, however, was a small column drum that we believe was a part of the niche in which the cult statue would have sat. Overall, I have had a great experience and am excited that I get to continue the process for the next three weeks!

While the Lincoln students are digging their trenches and the Clark students are drawing the blocks, I've been doing multiple different small jobs around the site. Holly and I have been examining GPR scans using Ece's computer (unfortunately nothing too interesting has turned up as of yet). We've also been performing structural analysis on the blocks that are sitting on the block field. My most exciting day on the field, though, was the day that I labled blocks with red paint. There are two women who cook breakfast and lunch for us at the site (which by the way, they create the most delicous food I've had yet in Turkey), and on this particular day one of the women's daughters was hanging out with us on the field. Keuser decided to help me paint my numbers on the blocks, and we spent the morning helping eachother say numbers in Turkish and English (I've gotten pretty good at counting now!) At one point in the day I kicked over the paint can and Keuser and I ended up covered in red paint! I was afraid her mother would be upset, but it all worked out in the end, and I made a new friend.

Work on the field began loudly with the crane arriving. Part of our team assisted in excavating blocks for removal. They then carefully harnessed the blocks with wood pieces and carpet as padding for the marble. With skill and finesse, The blocks were moved throughout the day at a fast pace.

Other members of our team worked on post-processing the GPR scans. Line scans of the temple consistently show anomalies on the east side of the temple. So far, however, our 3D scans of surrounding areas have shown no disturbances in the radar reflected through the soil. The good news is that this seems to confirm our suspicion that the anomalies shown in the temple scans may truly be of interest.

Work on the block database also continued. We created a list of all the blocks which must be assessed for structural integrity. The blocks are rated based on structural cracks, surface cracks, limestone percentages, lichen growth, layering, splintering, vegetation in cracks, and water damage. Based on this criteria, the blocks are rated from 1 to 4, with 1 being the most structurally sound.

In the evening, I selected a block that I had photographed to compare to a block that I had created in 3D AutoCAD. This comparison is pictured below.
Monday night, a large group of students ate at restaurant called the Bizim. After a delicious meal of doner kabab, we began a random series of arm wrestling challenges within the group. A champion was named (Jake Zach, a UNO engineering major) and was set up against a waiter at the restaurant. Though we lost to the young Turkish man, the match was good, and we all had a fun time.

We began our day with a meal of fried flat bread, tomatoes, feta cheese, and tea. This is a very common assortment of food for breakfast in Turkey.

Today was our second day of work, and I think we're all already 'getting into the swing of things'. I've been unofficially named as the surveyor for the season, and have been trying fruitlessly (for the time being) to get the total station and tripod leveled on the field. Michael has been doing his best to teach me all of the tricks in the art of surveying, so hopefully my skills will be up to par soon enough. We also set out spaces for Michael's students (Billy, Bailey, and Jared) to begin archeological digs in hopes that we will soon find the top of a dome that we believe is beneath the temple platform. We took a few scans of the temple platform this morning, and the results look promising so I'm excited to see what they come up with!

On our second day of work, the first task of the engineering students was to unpack the GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) and put the equipment together. With a little knowledge and a little intuition, we completed this task and set to work scanning the temple mound.

Dr. Erdogmus refers to these scans are "pre-digging scans," because the students from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln (who are studying Archaeology on this trip to Turkey) are going to begin digging trenches inside and around the temple walls. These students will complete two trenches on one half of the mound, and one trench on the outside of the exterior wall near the other trenches. As they dig, we (the engineering students) will take intermittent line scans over the same area for comparison.

A line scan records data only in one direction. A 3D scan would record data in a grid of lines, which could then be meshed together to create a "3d picture." GPR is a non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique in which radar is sent into the ground by an antennae box, then reflected and retrieved form layers and objects with differing dielectrics. A dielectric is a property of soil and objects (e.g. metal, rocks, etc.) that can be determined by measuring the time taken to receive the radar and the known distance to the object one is measuring. We hope to be able to calibrate the dielectric of the soil by taking advantage of the trenches the archaeology students are digging.

This season in Turkey brings about two changes in the lifestyles of the researchers. The first is that our hotel recently set up free wireless internet for customers to use. This makes communication and work much easier. The second is that breakfast and lunch are being prepared for all the workers on the field by two wonderful cooks from the village of Guney. Both changes are great improvements in the program.

Yesterday, we received our ikamets, so we went to the field to work for the first time. The whole gang hauled our gear out to the site so that the Clark and University of Nebraska Students could all begin our separate tasks.
Clark students began drawing the blocks that are already on the adjacent block field. The

University of Nebraska students set out to work with various hand tools: we cleared brush and weeds from the temple mound area. The work was slow, but we made much progress. Some students went to the schoolhouse to clean and prepare for its use through the 2009 season. This schoolhouse is part of the village, Guney, that is near our site, and our team will use the schoolhouse for preparing meals, storing equipment, and using the water closet.

The first day was exhausting, but satisfying. Later, some students still had enough energy left to climb Selinus {Pictured Left}.

June 28-29

Our flight connected from Omaha to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Amsterdam, and Amsterdam to Istanbul. The flight overseas wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be; although I hardly slept in that upright position. Once we finally arrived in Turkey, we exchanged USD for TL, found our van taxi, and blazed dangerously through the precarious streets of Istanbul towards our hotel.

The hotel was called the Tashkonak, which is in-between many other apartment style hotels. We were self-served tea on the outdoor patio [Lipton, green apple tea; green apple is a very popular flavor of tea in Turkey.], then we walked around the block to the Ayasofya Kebap House. I had the cheese pide [a delicious Turkish version of pizza]. We ate outside, since the night was delightfully cool, but had to beware of the begging stray cats that are so common in this area (at least) of Istanbul.

The team of students consists mainly of Architectural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Art history, Archaeology, and Ancient civilizations-related majors from UNO, UNL, and Clark University. Professors Hoff and Townshend accompanied us on our respective journeys as we await the arrival of our final adviser, Dr. Erdogmus.


June 30-July 1

Today was spent touring Istanbul as we waited to depart on our bus to Alanya. We got our tickets to Hagia Sophia after a minor crisis [the tickets cost 20 TL, but most vendors appreciate only small bills]. Next tourist stop was the Grand Bazaar, a collection of similar shops selling varied items inside an "airy" building. Among many things sold at the bazaar were silk and cashmere scarves; Turkish rugs; designer clothes, shoes, bags, and sunglasses; and other trinkets. [Be sure to barter the price these vendors first offer. Most items don’t even have a stated price, so go low. Walking away after seeming slightly interested is usually effective in receiving a lower price.]
Our group ate at a local restaurant, and then went to the Blue Mosque {Pictured Left}. Since it is an active religious center, the ladies had to don appropriate attire: Long skirts, un-bared arms, and head coverings. As a final stop in Istanbul, we attended the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, near the OtoPark. [This museum is definitely worth a visit, costing only 10 TL and offering a lot to look at.] This museum contains relics and statues from ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Byzantine societies.

After a day of sightseeing, we walked slowly and exhausted back to our hotel for a short rest before our bus ride to Alanya. The bus was high class; our chartering company was Varan. Through dry, mountainous regions, we finally made our way to the coast and the "city of art": Antalya.

We followed the coast of the Mediterranean Sea until we reached the resort city of Alanya. Many sprawling resorts acted a precursor to the city, giving us a glimpse of the tourists at play on the beaches. Also along the coast of the sea, the major agricultural crop is a smaller, sweeter banana that is grown only in this area of Turkey. This banana, which can be purchased at roadside stands and in markets, is not found in the US, because the Caribbean has a monopoly on the US banana market.

Approximately 46 Km away from Alanya was our final destination: Gazipasa. The drive there winds around hills and strolls through ancient Roman cities. The Ancient city of Selinus was the largest coastal Roman city. Selinus is near our site: Antiocheia ad Kragos.

Our hotel in town is called "Otel Apart Baysal;" 24 km from our site and a 1 km from the beach. The accommodations are quite comfortable, complete with kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and balcony in each room.

After settling in, the whole crew "went to town." Michael Hoff and Rhys Townshend showed us where to get groceries, phone cards, stamps, cash from ATM machines [which are numerous and easy to use], fruit [the peaches were incredibly delicious], and food from various restaurants. Some of us students ate at Numene; that was an interesting experience. We only knew these words:

• su -> water
• pide -> Turkish pizza
• hesop -> bill
• tesekuler -> thanks
• merhaba -> hello

Long story short, I ordered a cheese pide and was disappointed when I received a cheese and meat pide.

At 6:30 pm, Turkey time, we all set out to hike to the top of the dread Mountain Selinus. Selinus is rather near the hotel, so we walked to the base and began our workout with Justin (a veteran student from Clark University) leading the group. A decent trail winds to the top of the hill/mountain making the total trek approximately a mile. The ruins of the Roman city of Selinus are a gem. Still partially existing are walls, temples, churches, domestic areas, and tombs. The temple near the bottom of Selinus is the temple that was scanned by GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) last year by the University of Nebraska - Omaha students. The hike is somewhat strenuous, but walking past these sights is definitely worth it. The view from the top is also beautiful we were fortunate to see the sun setting on the adjacent Mediterranean Sea {Pictured Above}.

Once we were all cleaned up, the gang rode into Gazipasa in our two rented vehicles. All of us ate together at a place called "The Green Oasis Cafe". Owned by a British ex-patriot (named Conrad), this pub offers food, drink, pay-by-day Wi-Fi, and an English speaking friend and city guide.


July 2

Today began with breakfast on the rooftop terrace of our hotel. Prior to leaving our room, my roommate Kristi and I thought to look up the Turkish word for breakfast: kahvalti. Knowing this got us our food, and knowing cay and kahve got us tea and coffee. Eating at Turkish restaurants take longer than usual, unfortunately; so we were late for our journey to Alanya to get our ikamets. Ikamets are work permits, without which we are not allowed to do any work on the site of Antiocheia ad Kragos. The bureaucracy of getting these permits took longer than the day allowed, so we had to wait until Monday to finally pick up our ikamets.

During this day of waiting in Alanya, all of us students roamed the nearby area for food to eat. May of us ate at a restaurant called. Many of us ate at a restaurant called Gratzi's. While expensive, they offered many American style choices. Another bonus was the manager who spoke many languages, including English. The menu was also in English. Here I ate a "Margarita pizza." We then party-crashed the beach across the street and ate ice cream.

Upon arriving at the hotel around 6:30 pm, many of us made our first trip to the beach of Gazipasa. The water is a turquoise blue, the sand is unlike any I have ever seen, and the water was rather salty [which came to my surprise, since I had forgotten this fact].

I enjoyed the rooftop cafe of the hotel so much that I went back for supper. The tuvak sis (chicken shish-kabobs) is very good.


July 3

Today we visited the site {Pictured Left} for the first time. It was exciting to view in-person the blocks which I have been attempting to render in Auto CAD 3D.

Next we drove towards a rocky beach called pirate's cove. The vehicles could only take us so far; then, we had to hike down a precipitous hill. While precarious, the cove was worth the trip. We swam in the small encircled (by rocks) pool of water. We were able to swim through a passageway to the Mediterranean Sea; if we want to brave the crashing waves, that is. We were also able to climb various heights of surrounding rock to jump off of into the deep waters of the cove.


July 5

The crew set out for the nearby ancient city of Lamos {Pictured Left}. Along treacherous mountain path, our vehicles careened to near the top of the mountain. Shaking off motion sickness and wiping the sleep from our eyes, we began a hike through the 2 km expanse of the city. We first found the city's market place, which was an obvious, large clearing. Now, the area is book-ended by goal posts to give the locals a makeshift soccer field. Before, the area was paved and surrounded by colonnades.

Further up the path, we were shown by our guides, Michael and Rhys, the tombs of the city. Continuing along, we saw the fortitude in the acropolis of the city. Unfortunately, looters are commonly destroying ancient architecture in search of treasure that isn't there.
The city of Lamos was the most magnificent piece of history I had seen so far on this trip, and the views from atop the mountain were fabulous. Hence, the difficult paths we used to arrive there were entirely worth it.

Black -> neutral
Red -> work
Blue -> food
Green -> travel tips

The last few days we've each been waiting for our Ikamet before we could start working, so Michael and Rhys have taken us to see a bunch of ancient buildings around our area. My favorite site was Lamos, which was nearly an entire ancient city partially preserved. I've been learning a lot about historical structures and can't wait to get started working on the temple at Antioch ad Kragum bright and early tomorrow morning!

We arrived in Gazipasa this morning after taking an all night bus to Alanya. We got settled in to our hotel rooms, and then took a tour of the town before lunch. The language barrier caused a little bit of a problem when we ordered our pide ( the Turkish version of pizza - very delicous!) but I think we will all aquire more Turkish during our stay here. In the evening we hiked to Selinus, and got a taste of how rich with history Gazipasa is. Tomorrow we start getting the rest of our permits so we can begin working soon!