Archeology - Behind the Scenes in Istanbul

“Istanbul is one giant archaeological site,” Jonesy explained to us, “Every time they try to start a construction project somewhere they discover some palace or other something that's thousands of years old. They can't complete the project until the whole thing has been excavated. That's what happened here. They're trying to build a subway system, and they found the remains of an ancient shipyard.”

Michael Jones, Jonesy to his friends, is an archaeologist with an unfortunate last name for someone in his chosen field. He is a student of Texas A&M University, and a childhood friend of my girlfriend Amanda. He is tall and lanky, with long brown hair, thick glasses, and an even thicker beard. At first glance he looks more likely to be a cult leader than a p.h.D. student, but when talking to him it quickly becomes obvious that he is an expert in his field. Michael Jones has that rare blend of intelligence, enthusiasm, and patience that make for a dedicated researcher.

For the last three years Jonesy has been living in Turkey while working on his degree, and helping his Professor excavate Byzantine era ships. Every time he starts thinking about going home, they seem to dig up something new and exciting and he ends up staying longer. When we initially discussed coming to Turkey to visit him, he was talking about leaving at the end of summer. By the time we got here, he'd pushed it off until Christmas.

It was a cloudy and overcast day in early summer when Jonesy took us for a behind the scenes look at the world of archeology. The excavation site he works on is huge, loud and dirty. Full of construction equipment, and workers wearing rain boots, helmets, and orange safety vests. The subway construction still proceeds on as much of the site as possible, but at this point the real bulk of the area still seems dedicated to the shipyard research project. So far they've discovered thirty-one ancient ships on the site, making it one of the largest discoveries of it's kind.

Archeology is not sexy work, no matter what George Lucas and Steven Spielberg would have you think. To avoid further decay, the wooden wrecks of these ancient vessels must be kept wet while researchers document the exact state they were found in. Weeks are spent slogging through damp earth, photographing and drawing wet wood. Since the site is below sea level, the area fills up with water at night and the workers have to spend each morning removing the excess liquid; a process Jonesy crassly refers to as “pumping out your mudhole.”

To better understand and learn from the ships they dig up, the archaeologists here need to become versed in ancient construction methods and nautical engineering. They have to understand what typifies the building methods of certain eras, and what makes those methods different when compared to the ships they find here. This knowledge allows them to pick out advances within eras and enables them add context to the broader historical timeline of building technology.

In addition to the ships found here, they have also dug up huge numbers of smaller, but still significant artifacts. Many of the most interesting pieces are already on display at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, but they are constantly discovering more. In a temporary on-site office, Jonesy rummaged through a bucket pulling out zip-lock baggies filled with water where they store these artifacts. Wooden buttons, game pieces made of bone, hair brushes. Ordinary objects that serve as clues about every day life centuries ago.

“People back then used the harbor as a trash dump.” he said, “So we find all kinds of stuff that people threw away. sometimes we'll find multiples of items together that we think fell from shipping boats when they were being unloaded. We found a whole stack of plates the other day. That was pretty good.”

Less sensitive objects like the bits of pottery they unearth almost daily, are stored in short plastic bins that are stacked all over the site. There are so many of these kinds of objects that the majority of them will not be kept once they have been cataloged. Instead they will be reburied in tidy landfills of ancient rubbish.

Real archeology, just like any other kind of research, is a long and laborious process. Lots of work goes into small results that build upon previous findings. The ancient world is like a jigsaw puzzle, waiting for us to dig up it's pieces to construct a clearer picture. More thoughtful than the grave robbing and tomb raiding that goes on on the silver screen, the work that Micheal Jones does here in Istanbul is noble and pure in it's pursuit of knowledge. Archeology may not be sexy work, but that doesn't make it any less interesting, or worthwhile.