Students to travel to Turkey to dig despite global conflict

By Jessica Alway

Junior David Mason's parents weren't exactly thrilled when he told them in late September he was thinking about flying to the Middle East.

"They didn't want me to go," Mason said. "I was never very hesitant, but my whole family had something to say. It took a while to convince them."

Nonetheless Mason decided to travel to Turkey this summer for the archaeology internship that has so many of his loved ones a little worried. He joins fellow undergraduate Bonnie Young on the all-expense paid trip led by assistant professor Dr. Lisa Kealhofer, which also serves as an extension of their Anthropology 198 class.

The trio plan to depart June 16, shortly after the end of spring quarter, for the small town of Polatli in Western Turkey, located about 40 miles outside of Ankara, the capitol.

The site has been identified as Gordion, the capitol of the Phrygian kingdom in the first millennium B.C., based on correlations between information from ancient authors and the archaeological sequence and geographical setting, as well as the wealth demonstrated by ancient burials and the city itself.

Kealhofer has been a part of the excavation process for several years. She is currently in charge of the regional survey as a ceramics specialist under Director of Excavation Mary M. Voigt.

Kealhofer and the students will spend about a month and a half at Gordion working within a compound sorting through shards of ancient pottery.

"The process is known as fabric analysis," Mason said. "Basically we are going to be looking at the different color, texture and other defining features of the pieces to determine the time period in which they were constructed."

Following the completion of the internship, both Mason and Young plan to continue on to Greece, visiting some of the Greek Isles. However, this part of the trip is not paid for by University, but out of personal funds.

"I was planning to go abroad," Mason said. "I had even saved up some money. But when Dr. Kealhofer asked me to come along I thought this would be interesting. And how often does someone offer you a free trip half way across the world?"

The trip, considered a Santa Clara University Archaeology Research Lab experience, will also provide internship credit from the University for Mason and Young. The anthropology department at Santa Clara requires all majors with an archeology emphasis to complete four upper-division courses and an internship in a local museum, cultural resource management firm, or field school.

"It isn't really an internship in the usual sense," Mason said. "We aren't working with a company or anything. It is more of an individual thing. We have to keep journals and complete a paper to get credit, but it will be fun, not just mindless work."

Kealhofer has taken students to Gordion before but this is the first year they will receive credit for their work.

"Dr. Kealhofer has been involved with this investigation for many years, long before she came here," Dr. Russell Skowronek, director of the archeology emphasis program, said. "I encouraged her to develop a program where students could get recognition from the University. I think it might help to entice more students."