Three days ago we spent our last day in the field.  During the next few days students will finish their photo journals, written journals, and GIS projects while staff write final season reports.  Despite the loss of my luggage, two broken cell phones, a broken GPS unit, and an interesting geomorphologist I have had an excellent season.  My competence in ArcGIS continues to grow and we collected a nice assemblage of Eastern Terra Sigillata pottery.  Below I have posted a few pictures from our second annual soccer game against the kids of Guzelyayla.  Like last year there was a sizeable turnout and like last year we lost but the game was much closer 10-7.  Despite scoring 4 goals (5 if you count the one I scored on our own goal) and I did not almost cut my finger off (like last year), I still hate soccer!  Note the wonderful gravel playing field, the random cars and tractor parked on the field, and the nice crowd.  Thanks to everyone for a great season and see you next year. 

Yesterday we spent the day at Nemrut Dag.  Nemrut Dag is one of my favorite archaeological sites.  Built by Antiochus I Commagene during the first century B.C., the site sits atop Mount Nemrut.  The monument served as a place of worship for Antiochus and a series of both western and eastern deities.  The sites consists of a large tumulus, eastern and western terraces, and a large fire altar.  Simply amazing!  P.S. Sorry about the beard, going on 12 days without my bag!

One of the primary goals of the 2009 Mopsos field season is to create topographic maps for a series of archaeological sites discovered during previous field seasons.  Most of the sites are mapped by taking several hundred points with a Total Station and uploading the data into ArcGIS to create the map.  The ancient city of Alexandria in modern Iskenderun must be mapped but modern development and urban sprawl have made Total Station mapping impossible.  One of my tasks this year is to rectify a series of municipal maps to a Quickbird satellite image and digitize all the modern roads and contour lines of the ancient city.  I have rectified all the municipal maps, digitized the roads, and, along with a student volunteer, have began the digitization of the contour lines.  The whole process will take some time but in the end we will have a nice accurate map of ancient Alexandria.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon in Antakya to begin the long and arduous process of obtaining a residency permit.  It requires going to the police station for a tax rate, going to the tax office to pay the taxes, and then going back to the police station (with a tax receipt) to fill out paper work and finally obtain the permit.  In previous years, the last step has taken upwards of five hours.  In the end I received my residency permit and since I am going on day 6 without my luggage, I bought some ridiculously cheap Turkish clothing.

Today I spent the day in the field.  One of the main objectives of the Mopsos Survey this year is to create topographic maps of a hand full of major sites discovered during previous field seasons.  In the field a few people work the Total Station while another group conducts systematic collections at randomly assigned points on the site.  While working with the Total Station, Dr. Hritz, Ben, Abby, Nicole, and I had a bit of a surprise.  When taking the last 25 points of the day, two black snakes slithered out of a hole in the ground and started fighting.  The would coil up together and then lift themselves up right.  Strangely they were not afraid of us, even though we were less than a meter away!  As soon as they began to inch closer we packed everything up and left the field.  Hopefully tomorrow there will be more points and fewer snakes…

Unfortunately when I flew from Cyprus to Athens, Istanbul, and then Hatay my bag was lost along the way.  At the Hatay airport I was assured by the baggage claim person that my luggage would arrive in Hatay at 5:00 pm the next day.  After a follow-up phone call, I was told that it did not make that flight but would be on the 12:00 am flight.  Now I just heard that they have no idea when or if it will arrive.  Although it is a little annoying being without clothes, bathroom essentials, and various electrical (GPS and camera) cords, I really wish I could go out in the field.  A pair of shorts, a dirty t-shirt, and sandals are not the ideal attire for survey in Turkey.  So for the last few days I have been rectifying maps and writing up the GIS final.  I sure hope that bag comes soon.

My last three days in Cyprus were full of excavation, bumper cars, and the odd game of 500.  As for excavation, I was a little disappointed that I could not close out my trench.  It was not a matter of man-power, as Justin, Rachel, and Jon were excellent diggers, just time.  I am not worried, however, it is in excellent hands.  We hit bedrock on the north side of the north wall so, with the exception of the extreme southern end of the trench, the stratigraphy should be pretty straight forward (floor, fill, and then bedrock). 

I am in Turkey now with the Mopsos Survey Project on an incredibly slow Turkcell dial-up modem.  I would like to thank all the PKAP staff and students for one of my most enjoyable years.  Now let’s see if I can load at least one photo…