I have mentioned before that I am drawn to newly dug holes. I think the friends who graduated about the same time as I did will agree that a BA in Ancient History and Archaeology will not make one's c.v. irresistible to employers, but it certainly triggers a life long inability to walk past a recent excavation. Bodrum is one of the best places to live for someone with this habit as almost every hole uncovers a little gem of historical interest. Most of the time I don't know what I am looking at but am just happy to see whatever it is is still there.
Behind the police station there is a building plot that has dug into a necropolis of Halicarnassus. When I walked past in the Spring the archaeologists working on the site were reluctant to allow observers too close, but now the excavation is finished, the sarcophagi and other graves are unprotected and easily viewable from the path and the sheeting that should be covering the mosaic has long ceased to serve that purpose.
A more recent "hole" has appeared on my daily dog walking route. An old house has been knocked down and before the foundations of the next can go up, the ground below has to be investigated.
I imagine the plot owner is cursing but these dressed stones look too substantial to have been cut in the past 1000 or so years and whatever is down the second ditch is worth covering up. Seeing all the new buildings around this site makes me wonder how much was bulldozed and quickly removed to make sure construction wasn't held up in the past and grateful that this is less likely to happen now.
It looks like Jake shares your interest too. (I love the way he kind of photobombs your pics :) )
ReplyDeleteHe's as interested in a ditch as me.
Deletecheck out the Antakya Hilton Hotel with its 800 mt long mozaic etc
ReplyDeleteA visit to Antakya is long over due
DeleteB to B, That certainly goes for almost anywhere in Turkey. And what with today's construction mania, yes, we can be grateful that it's harder to just bulldoze through ancient sites. Of course, we also need alert observers around to help keep the pressure on to allow proper excavation before all is destroyed. Good for you, Jake!
ReplyDeleteI remember one of my lecturers saying "archaeology is destruction" but slow and methodical destruction, rather than a sweep with a bulldozer bucket.
DeleteAmazing what you bump into in your daily walks - I am with Alan, some amazing mosaics all around Antakya xx
ReplyDeleteA good reason to book into the Hilton
DeleteOur former Bodrum neighbour claimed her garden was sprinkled with fragments of old Halicarnassus but told us not to tell anyone!
ReplyDeleteShush!
DeleteVery interesting holes indeed, as Jake obviously agrees. I can well imagine that it might be difficult to put a spade in the ground in Bodrum without hitting something of archaeological interest and value.
ReplyDeleteSomeone's value is someone else's headache.
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