Domuztepe dig diary

Week one: getting there

British Museum curator Alexandra Fletcher reports from Domuztepe

‘Madam you are very overweight,’.... I grin at the man behind the airport check-in desk and pay for the excess baggage. My bags contain everything I need for an archaeological dig and getting on a plane is the first step of a long journey to south-central Turkey, where we will be working for the next six weeks. 

Two flights, a taxi ride and two bus journeys later I arrive on site to a chorus of greetings from the dig team and see Domuztepe, our site, for the first time in three years..

Domuztepe is a tell, a man-made mound rising 14 metres above the surrounding farmland, created by people living in one place for hundreds of years. At around 7,500-7,000 years old and 20 hectares in area, it is the largest known Neolithic (stone age) settlement of its time. The excavations are helping us understand how urban societies might have begun.  

The start of the dig season is busy. Huge clouds of dust rise from the excavation areas as filled-in trenches are re-emptied so work can begin.

A nearby village is also a flurry of activity as our camp is set up. A deserted school is our workroom, where all our finds will be cleaned and recorded. This is surrounded by tents – home for the dig season. Everything must be taken out of storage cleaned and set up. The last few members of the team arrive and finally we are ready to begin.

Read more about the Domuztepe research project

Images (from top):

• Tents and the workroom in camp
• Dusty work – clearing backfill from trenches ready to start work