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CATALHOYUK - UPDATES

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Bianca
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« Reply #75 on: May 28, 2008, 01:27:33 pm »








                                                    [T R A V E  L   T I P S]





How to get to Site

Nearest airport: Konya. Regular flights from İstanbul. Ankara and Antalya four hours by bus. Hourly buses from Konya to Çumra take an hour, then take a taxi to the site (17 kilometers).

When to come:

Late spring and early autumn are best climate-wise, but in 2008 the archaeologists will be on site in June and July -- be prepared for the heat.

Site entry and admission:

Free; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; donations welcomed.

Where to stay:

There are plenty of decent hotels in Konya -- try the plush new Dedeman (www.dedeman.com) or the moderate Ulusan (ulusanhotel@mynet.com).

Books, Web sites:



"Çatal Hüyük: A Neolithic Town in Anatolia" by James Mellaart; www.catalhuyuk.com.





http://www.archaeologynews.org/link.asp?ID=291719&Title=Çatalhöyük:%20a%20Stone%20Age%20city
« Last Edit: May 28, 2008, 01:29:25 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #76 on: October 28, 2008, 04:06:44 pm »









                                      Archeological site Çatalhöyük now protected 





 
Çatalhöyük will be protected from rain and other weather changes by a large wooden roof. 
The elements are no longer able to weather away at Çatalhöyük, one of the oldest known sites of human settlement, now that the construction of a large wooden protective roof has been completed.
 
Çatalhöyük, Turkey's most famous Neolithic site, is one the oldest known areas of human settlement, animal domestication and wheat cultivation. The Culture and Tourism Ministry's Cultural Assets and Museums general manager, Orhan Düzgün, told the Anatolia news agency that the roof's construction, which began in June of this year, had been finished.

The roof is made of specially laminated wood and is 40 meters high and 43 by 26 meters in area and will protect the historical site and the archaeological work going on there from damage resulting from exposure to the elements, Düzgün stated. The roof was constructed with an eye for aesthetics as well, he said, in a design maximally beneficial to both tourists and the archaeologists working the site. "With the folding side panels of the covering, a good ventilation system is ensured. The roof will be effective at directing away water that can harm the site and will also protect the site against strong winds in the wintertime. The polycarbonate panels on the roof will allow for the distribution of sunlight during the daytime without damaging the artifacts on site," he explained.

Çatalhöyük is a major tourist attraction as well as an archeological site, and Düzgün emphasized that the design of the new roof and cover allows for educational panels to be posted on its sides, making it easier for visitors to get detailed information as they view the site.

Recent excavation on the Neolithic site, under the expertise and leadership of British professor of archeology Ian Hodder, began in 1993 and has continued intermittently since. Discoveries made so far at the 9,000-year-old site include wall paintings, seals, and cooking and eating utensils decorated with various painted and carved figures.

The first excavation at the site occurred during the 1960s and was conducted by a team led by British archaeologist James Mellaart. Except for its southern area, the site did not have any protection against the harsh weather conditions characteristic of the Central Anatolia region. Professor Hodder will continue to head the excavation teams at the site until 2017.

 

 
25 October 2008, Saturday
 
 
TODAY'S ZAMAN WITH WIRES  İSTANBUL 
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Bianca
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« Reply #77 on: December 13, 2008, 08:15:19 am »










                                Second Life and Public Archaeology: Burning Çatalhöyük






Friday December 12, 2008


This week, I went to the event Burning Çatalhöyük, a guided tour to the Second Life reconstruction of the 9,000 year old Çatalhöyük Neolithic site in Turkey. It was not completely successful, but it was darned interesting, so I want to get the (hopefully constructive) criticisms out of the way first.






Second Life


As a brief introduction, Second Life is a virtual world, primarily built for gaming, in which the user develops an avatar--essentially a cartoon character of yourself--and moves that character through whatever environment has been invented. Çatalhöyük is one of thousands of available environments on Second Life, maybe tens of thousands, I really don't know. The components of the Çatalhöyük environment include an example of the excavation units, a museum, a cafe, and a reconstruction of the town of Çatalhöyük.
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Bianca
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« Reply #78 on: December 13, 2008, 08:16:31 am »









Technical Problems


First, I have to say that I was warned by Second Life right from the start that my computer graphics card was not up to speed. I think my Internet connection is also not up to the requirements of an event; my guess is to be able to attend and participate in such an event you need an ethernet connection.

So, technical problems I experienced were almost certainly a result of that situation. They included an incredible amount of visual noise. Constantly repeating flashes of patterns and color were hard to ignore; I assume, maybe I'm wrong, but I think it was from the 30 or so other avatars that attended the event.

As an aside, avatars are really interesting, and it could be a great social science study in and of itself. Avatars at the Çatalhöyük event ranged from a close physical approximation of a person, down to his dirty tennis shoes (I swear I've met that guy); to Ruth Tringham's cool, multicolored manga-like avatar; to an adept orange wallaby named Pocky. Oh, and somebody else was using the same canned avatar I was. Twins! But the flashes of light emanating from these avatars was overwhelmingly distracting.

I got kicked out of Second Life at least a half-dozen times, and eventually gave up before the end of the tour. Although I had several questions and typed them into the chat space, no one could "hear" them--and I suspect that was true for others, because I "heard" another person's question that no one else did.
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« Reply #79 on: December 13, 2008, 08:18:28 am »









Unfamiliarity Problems


There were certain things that happened that I could have helped if I was a bit more aware of how Second Life worked. I did go and visit a few times before the event started, but I should have spent more time.

Once during the event I got stuck going forward and walked right off the environment--I didn't realize there was a way to return without leaving Second Life.

At one point, the tour leaders suggested that we put the site in "daylight mode" (I'm going hazard a guess that the Çatalhöyük default is on 'real daylight time' for Çatalhöyük itself) and I wasted a few minutes trying to find where to turn on the sun, but ultimately I failed and so was in the dark for the tour. (That's okay, it made the burning rooms glow nicely).

And when I returned from being kicked out, I had a hard time finding where the group had gone to.

I had difficulty "flying" along with the crowd and I had difficulty being situated in space. How do you look at your feet? But I think these are minor issues, and again, related to practice with the site, and not really applicable to simply visiting.
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Bianca
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« Reply #80 on: December 13, 2008, 08:19:33 am »









Good Things


I really think that Second Life works well, even for people 'handicapped' with a cable/DSL connection and an older machine. I don't think the event itself worked particularly well, because of my hardware issues, but the Second Life site itself is a fascinating one to explore on your own.

The environment is quiet and restful, in that if you walk it yourself, you can spend as much time as you like examining objects, exploring the capabilities and investigating the notes. Notes about each of the objects are stored in a oddly named place (you "Take a Copy" to read about an object; I suspect this is a leftover from the gaming side), but what there is is useful and interesting.

I believe, but didn't have time to look, that there is a 'graffiti wall' where you can leave comments. I wonder if there's also a way to leave questions at various stages of the site. That would be a good and interesting thing to have.
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« Reply #81 on: December 13, 2008, 08:20:44 am »









Questions and Comments


Tell me more about the "Mellaart Reconstruction." Is that an image of something that Mellaat had built at the site, or is it based on his (famous) drawings? Are you all in some amount of disagreement with them? Would you be interested in creating different versions of some of the rooms based on what different interpretations of those structures are like? Is that something users (more adept than I of course) can do?

Do you plan to include hard data on the excavation units here? As in, are there data tables for artifacts from a room excavation, c14 dates, excavator notes, etc., stored someplace for each of the rooms?

Is there a map of the city itself--I couldn't find it, but I think a map of the reconstruction might be useful.

When I was wandering around in the rooms I got a claustrophic sensation, which must be close to what you would have gotten as a visitor to the houses. Bravo!
The best experience was when you could hear someone speaking. I think if you could incorporate some sound bytes into some of the displays (or even an avatar/docent? Can you do that?) that might help the experience a lot.

The teleporter thing is most useful, thanks. It makes it possible to go around the site freely and go back to the start without a lot of problems.
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Bianca
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« Reply #82 on: December 13, 2008, 08:21:57 am »








Bottom Line


I think the Second Life Çatalhöyük is an excellent research and teaching tool. I think as a public archaeology instrument, the graphics and speed requirements for an event are a little high for most of us, but I do believe that it is a wonderful way to experience Çatalhöyük, short of actually going to Turkey.

I think it would be useful if teachers from high schools or colleges, in particular, people with ethernet connections, could send students to explore and ask questions.

So--Bravo, in a very big way. Inventive, creative, and illuminating, are the three words that pop into my skull. Thanks for the invitation!



http://www.archaeologynews.org/link.asp?ID=361837&Title=Second%20Life%20and%20Public%20Archaeology:%20Burning%20Çatalhöyük
« Last Edit: December 13, 2008, 08:22:45 am by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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