Dr Kate Turner part 2
Once the tea and toast had worked their magic, Kate sat back and thought about the day ahead. She had paperwork to do, interviews to conduct, tour groups to meet and articles to review. Most of that would be conducted from her desk, except for the meet and greet of the tour groups. She was always fascinated to see what type of people came to CatalHöyük. What part of the site interested them and what did they take way from their visit? By far, the most common visitors were new age feminist groups who sought connection to the Neolithic mother goddess. CatalHöyük had long been associated with the concept of a mother goddess and a matriarchal society, despite the fact that decades of archaeology lead by some of the world’s best researchers, had not revealed any evidence that supported such notions. Yet, the women continued to visit, and today would be Kate’s first meeting with them.
Kate cleared away the breakfast dishes, refilled her water bottle, grabbed a handful of sour worms from the lolly jar and headed back outside. She wanted to take a look at a couple of sites before she was forced back to her desk until the tour group arrived. As she walked back towards the excavation site, she thought about the brilliance of the Neolithic people. This was a sophisticated town with many of the domestic niceties that we still have in our own homes. CatalHöyük marked that transition from hunter-gathering lifestyle to a sedentary lifestyle. People could put down roots, remaining in one place the entire year. This was a monumental shift in the development of human civilisations and Kate was standing right where it all began. God, she loved archaeology and how it connected her with the people of the past. The best things about history is the humanity and how people struggled to succeed, prosper and make a life for themselves and their families. The very core of the human experience.
Kate arrived at one of the two storey houses that was excavated in the 1960s under the directorship of James Mellaart. In her mind’s eye she sees the 3D digital animated reconstruction of the inside of the house – the plastered white walls and floors, the images of animals and geometric patterns painted on the walls, the hearths and ovens and the ladders leading up to the next floor. Digital technology has made it possible for people to see what life may have looked like in Catalhöyük 9000 years ago, but it was the work of the archaeologists who had made such projects possible. Kate marvelled at the bucrania – the bulls head and horns that were attached to the wall of the house. In Australia, it was common practice for cattle station owners to mount the skull of bulls on the walls of the homestead or on the gate of the property. There were even stickers for the back of the ute that advertised a particular clothing company. Talk about continuity and change in the human condition, thought Kate as she snacked on her sour worms.
The heat of the day had well and truly arrived and reluctantly, Kate retuned to her air-conditioned office to complete some of her tasks. On her way back she stopped to introduce herself to some of the experts on site. It was a large team and it would take some weeks before she felt that she knew everyone by name. Back at her desk, Kate got stuck into some of the article reviews, sending off her feedback to PhD students and her peers. She enjoyed this task as it was an opportunity to read new research and become familiar with up and coming experts. Soon, she was online conducting interviews for future vacancies on site and before she knew it, lunch time had passed and the tour group arrival was imminent.
Kate put on her official ID and walked towards the visitors’ entrance just as the tour bus came to a stop. Although the tour agency was registered in the united States, Kate knew the visitors were from a variety of countries and she was excited to see what the visitors thought of the site and what conversations might be started between them and the archaeologists. The doors of the bus opened, and Kate stepped forward to meet the tour guide. She was keen to make a good first impression.
“Hey Kate!” said the gruff voice.
Oh, crap, thought Kate. How in the name of all the gods, did he track her down? Kate looked up into the face of her rival, her competitor and her brother.
“Hi Nick.” she said, with no joy or excitement at all.
