Getting ready to go to göbekli (tepe)
Dear all,
Thank you for your interest in my travels and work, and thank you to many of you for your support of my research fund. I'm getting my bags packed- lots of piles of archaeological-site-friendly, sun-covering-up, rough-and-tumble clothes and hats and gear. The internet is, as we know, a vast quagmire of suggestions and advice for packing, and I’ve somehow found whole lady-archaeologist blogs and posts that urge new-to-excavation-site-visitors to bring flexible, sturdy, breathable clothes. I’m amassing a small and hopefully functional pile of clothes I can get very dusty and dirty, with the basic and overall goal of appearing like I basically know what I’m doing and signaling to all that I won’t be a nightmare guest at the site. It’s good to be a good guest!
I’m currently docked at my parents’ house in Salt Lake City, rifling through my supplies and taking care of last pieces of preparations… I’m thinking about what it’ll be like to arrive to the Göbekli Tepe and how I’ll ask around and find the folks in charge, the excavation team, and see where they stay and where I’ll set my bags down— excited and apprehensive about all the unknowns! I’ve decided that a roller bag is too pedestrian-looking and have opted for a duffle bag backpack that says “I do archaeology all the time.” Or, I hope it says that.
I’m flying from SLC to Istanbul this Sunday, Aug.4, stopping of in Paris (can I say I was in Paris for the Olympics??), then staying at a little bed and breakfast in the historic Sultanahmet neighborhood, overlooking the Bosphorous, for a couple days. Then I’ll fly on Aug. 7 to Şanlıurfa, the town right outside of Göbekli Tepe, and hop a shuttle or some form of transportation (many roads lead to the site, so I hear!) and arrive, finally, at my destination. It’s hard to believe I’ll be there so soon from now! Time to get on with it, don’t you think? I feel like I’ve been planning and talking everybody’s ear off about this trip for eons.
I’m also pouring over the ever-updating journals and publications on GT and its related sites, now with a little time to soak up the newer publications and novelties. I have a sense that no matter what I read or look at or listen to, the actuality of being on-site and talking with people who are studying it (some for many, many years!) will supersede everything in a beautiful way. I’m going there because you really have to be there, inhabiting the place, to feel into the mythological aspects. The human and the in-this-world aspects. If you're interested in a great source of compiled research, theories, images and updates, the German Archaeological Institute (excavation partners with Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism) has a great blog that posts regular updates and images from the site: https://www.dainst.blog/the-tepe-telegrams/the-research-project/. In my planning talks with the site director, I was excited to hear that the excavation team regularly visits surrounding sites, such as Karahan Tepe and (long shot!) maybe even the newer excavation site of Boncuklu Tarla in Mardin, Turkey (began in 2012), which has structures similar in style to Göbekli Tepe but is over 1000 years older!
I'm sharing some sources below on these satellite sites (just a couple, as there are so many!):
Karahan Tepe: https://journals.uni-lj.si/DocumentaPraehistorica/article/view/38.19/1651
Boncuklu Tarla: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/culture/ancient-site-older-than-gobeklitepe-unearthed-in-turkey/1664156)
I'll be posting updates here, of course, as well as on instagram:
my main instagram: @charlotteclairemo
my trip-specific instagram: @goingtogobeklitepe
Thank you so much for your support and generosity, everyone. Your words of encouragement, your contributions, your care… all of it has helped me feel so ready for this journey!
Many thanks and more soon,
Charlotte