Finds Drawing

Spent all of yesterday doing finds illustrations - a whole collection of clay objects that Sonya left for me to draw, and several animal figurines that are part of this year's etudluk [museum study] collection. The clay objects are really unusual - small shapes with pointed tops and bottoms; one that's triangular. Very different from anything I've ever seen here before. They aren't fired or baked, so no idea what they could be used for, either.

But that's Catalhoyuk in a nutshell, isn't it? The moment you think you've seen it all, something completely new turns up. Plastered skulls, strange figurines, unbaked clay objects, lamb burials, crane bones, bear stamp seals, buildings-within-buildings, pits dug through middens - every season something turns up that's completely new even to the most experienced excavator or lab team member. It's no exaggeration to say that finds like these completely change our understanding of this site, and demonstrate how important it is to be flexible, to keep an open mind and be prepared to alter ones interpretations (dramatically so, if that is what is required) in order to take new data into account.

On a lighter note, I've finished all the artwork for the comic newsletter. The text is now being translated, and once that's finished I'll incorporate it into the artwork and make any final alterations to layout, etc.. I think it looks good - I hope the kids in Kucukkoy like it, too.