ÇATALHÖYÜK 2005 ARCHIVE REPORT

IN PREPARATION

A Novel

Rob Swigart

Abstract

My novel ‘Stone Mirror’ is set at a fictional site called Ayna Tepe, or Mirror Hill, similar to, and contemporary with, Çatalhöyük. My mission is to illustrate both the process (and post-process) of archaeology, the culture under examination (to the extent possible for a fiction writer), and the difficulty of archaeological interpretation. The business of putting it all into an entertaining and interesting story that is also accurate would be impossible
without the help of all the specialists.

Özet

Ayna Tepe adındaki kitabım, Çatalhöyük ile çağdaş olan kurgu bir arkeolojik şehri anlatıyor. Amacım arkeolojik yöntemin öncesi ve sonrasını, gözlem altındaki bir kültürü (yazarın gözlemleyebildiği yere kadar) ve arkeolojik yorumlamanın zorluklarını açıklamaktır. Gerçekliklerini kaybetmeden, bu konuları hem eğlenceli hem de ilginç bir hikaye altında toplamak için bütün uzmanların yardımına ihtiyacım olacak.

I am writing a novel called ‘Stone Mirror’  for Left Coast Press to be published as a textbook introducing Neolithic archaeology to university students. The story is set at a fictional site called Ayna Tepe, or Mirror Hill, similar to, and contemporary with, Çatalhöyük. I visited the site for five days beginning July 18 at the beginning of the season and for two days in August just after the season ended.

My mission is to illustrate both the process (or post-process) of archaeology, the culture under examination (to the extent possible for a fiction writer), and the difficulty of archaeological interpretation. The business of putting it all into an entertaining and interesting story that is also accurate would be impossible without the help of all the specialists. Many of them were generous with their time and expertise, especially John Swogger, who was more than willing to speculate about daily life in this place 9000 years ago.

Among the many others generous with their time were Louise Martin , Tristan Carter , Mihriban Özbaşaran, Mirjana Stevanovic, Clark Larsen, Michael Charles, Arkadiusz Marciniak, Adnan Baysal, and Ali Türkcan (who let me help him photograph stamp seals and figurines). Especially helpful too were Shahina Farid and Michael Balter, with whom I many of my ideas over lunch in Paris before going to Çatalhöyük.

I can’t tell you how important the visit there was for this project.
Impossible without it.