Report from Jessica Arista, Kaman-Kalehöyük, Kaman, Turkey
Jessica Arista cleans an iron axe-head fragment using a scalpel, under the microscope.
As part of an archaeological excavation in Kaman, Turkey, Jessica Arista applies plaster bandages to a pedestalled charred log so that it can be blocklifted from the site, transported back to the lab, carefully excavated, and sampled for carbon-14 dating and dendrochronology.
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9:27 a.m., Aug. 25, 2009----This summer I am participating in an internship in archaeological conservation at the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük in Kaman, Turkey. The excavation is run by the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan under the direction of Dr. Sachihiro Omura. The conservation, analytical, zooarchaeology, archaeobotany and osteology labs are housed in the Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology, nearby the site. The site is a mound, or höyük, that has been inhabited by many groups that have occupied central ancient Anatolia (Hittites, Phrygians) starting around the third millennium BCE, during the Early Bronze Age.

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As a graduate summer intern, I have been able to participate in all of the activities of the conservation lab at Kaman-Kalehöyük, in addition to carrying out a research project on the consolidation of charred wood, which will be published in the journal Anatolian Archaeological Studies. The conservation team this season consists of a field conservator, a preventive conservator and two summer interns. We are responsible for the chemical and physical stabilization of the excavated finds, which this season include many small copper alloy and iron objects, such as pins, beads, knives and arrowheads. I have been treating these metal finds, building them custom storage mounts and also participating in the annual survey of the metal objects in storage.

Occasionally, we are called out to the field to lift fragile finds; this season we have performed many blocklifts of charred wooden beams, which will be used for carbon-14 dating and dendrochronology. At daily staff meetings, the conservation team presents on our day's work, and we also give presentations to the archaeologists and field school participants on conservation; I presented on sample handling and storage techniques for carbon-14 dating and dendrochronology samples.

Not only have I learned a lot about archaeological conservation this summer, but it has also been wonderful to learn from the many researchers -- archaeobotanists, zooarchaeologists, osteologists, and archaeological analytical chemists -- from all over the world, also working at the site, and in return get to answer their questions about conservation and give tours of our lab. I've also been able to join the field school participants and Director Omura-san on their weekly field trips to other archaeological sites such as Gordion, Çatalhöyük and Hattusa, which has been a wonderful way to learn about the rich history of central Anatolia.

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