Protecting Catalhoeyuk

Protecting Catalhoeyuk: Memoir of an Archaeological Site Guard

They are essential to every major archaeological excavation but rarely acknowledged by the visiting researchers once the artifacts have been shipped. As part of the innovative, multivocal output from the famous Turkish Neolithic site of Catalhoeyuk, we hear from one of the site guards, Sadrettin Dural, who tells the story of the excavation from the point of view of the "Other." He offers tales of the strange habits of archaeologists, describes the local in-fighting that scholars never see, and explains how scientists can be protected from the Yatirs, spirits of the dead who guard the mound. Ian Hodder, director of the Catalhoeyuk project, provides explanatory notes for the reader and an interview with the author, exploring indigenous interpretations of ancient sites and the archaeologists who excavate them. For the archaeologist, this offers a revolutionary new viewpoint on their work. For the cultural anthropologist, Dural's role as site guard is only a small part of his life as a Turkish villager. The author recounts the daily lived experience of one man in a contemporary Turkish village, including changing economic strategies for supporting his family, brushes with the law, trips to the beach and the city, and Turkish phone sex.

Review: "Sadrettin's is not a success story. It does not chart the successful education and empowerment of one of those many that have for so long been overlooked at the edges, but actually at the center of archaeology. It could hardly be said that Sadrettin's story charts the end of centuries of colonial archaeological manipulation and silencing. His story is at once amusing, uplifting, tragic and unending. But in providing us with his voice, Sadrettin has opened up new possibilities for dialogue. I have learned a lot from him in terms of how Catalhoyuk might be managed and interpreted, and in terms of how archaeologists might work with local communities. I hope that others too will gain from reading his words." -From the Foreword by Ian Hodder "A stream-of-consciousness memoir by former taxi driver Sadrettin Dural gives readers the chance to see the site though the eyes of the local who knows it best...Dural's narrative careens wildly from accounts of his job showing "the mound" to visitors, to hilarious romantic escapades and the business woes of his Catalhoyuk cafe. But the story always returns to his Neolithic ancestors and the yatirs, or ghosts, who are said to inhabit the mound. By the last few pages, it's clear that Dural is Catalhoyuk's flesh-and-blood yatir, a constant presence on the mound, likely to endure long after the last excavation trench is filled." -Eric A. Powell, Archaeology Magazine