INTRODUCTION
In this 4th Newsletter we describe the 1997 field season - our 5th, but only the 2nd involving full scale excavation. Our plans are to excavate again in 1998 and then to have a study season in 1999 in order to produce a major summary of our first excavation work in 2000. Work in 1997 began on 1 August and continued for two months. The team had up to 70 people coming from a wide range of countries to join 35 local Turkish workers and 10 Turkish students. The team members were from Britain, United States, Greece, Germany, Yugoslavia, and South Africa.
The funding for the Cambridge-based team in 1997 came from the British Academy, the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, the Isaac Newton Trust, the National Geographic Society, the Heber-Percy Trust, Lloyd Cotsen. The Main Sponsors in 1997 were Visa International and Koçbank. The Long-Term Sponsor is Merko, and the Co-Sponsors are British Airways, Glaxo-Wellcome and Shell. Support has also been given by IBM and Pepsi. The official tour operator for the project is Meptur.
Figure 2: Fashion Show in Istanbul in November 1997 |
The project is, as always, enormously indebted to the Turkish 'Friends of Çatalhöyük', and especially to their President, Reit Ergener. As well as funding for a shelter (see below) the Friends provided financial support for the Turkish students who worked at the site. They also liaised with Bahar Korçan in her staging of a fashion show in Istanbul in November 1997 (see fig. 2). This was a major event at which the Turkish pop-star Tarkan was present and there was large-scale media coverage. A replica of Çatalhöyük was built and the models walked out from it and onto the catwalk. The project provided images for the light and sound show within which the fashion show was set. |
The project operates with a permit provided by the Turkish Ministry of Culture, Directorate General of Monuments and Museums, and under the auspices of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara. Our government temsilciler Ilhame hanim, Gulçan hanim and Yüksel hanim gave us much help. The Konya Museum and its director Erdogan Erol continue to provide us with advice. Our work is given enormous support by the local community - especially the Çumra Kaymakam and Belediye Baksani.
| With the aid of the sponsorship described above, we have this year added three store rooms and a laboratory to the dig house - this now contains three stores, 5 laboratories, and accommodation and eating facilities (visible on fig 1). The support of the 'Friends of Çatalhöyük' has also allowed us to build a long-term shelter over one of the excavation areas (Bach) - this will mean that tourists can visit the site and see the excavation trenches throughout the year (fig 4). Support from Meptur has allowed us to apply for permission to build an experimental reconstruction of one of the Çatalhöyük houses - this will be built for scientific study. Work has begun on the manufacture of the mudbricks for this building. |
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Figure 5: A screen from the CD |
Completed this year has been a CD-ROM about the site and the work of the project (fig 5). This has been produced by Martin Emele and the Karlsruhe team and is a wonderful introduction, with much interactive material. At present it has been marketed with German magazine PM. For the English market, there are preliminary plans to market the CD with a book through Thames and Hudson. |