I agree with Ralph Waldo Emerson, 'sometimes a scream is better than a thesis'; but I can't submit a scream. And as Ogden Nash observed, 'progress might have been all right once, but it has gone on too long'; I just want it to be over and done with.
Blogging had been interesting and enjoyable, and helpful in my work (even if I'd never done it very regularly); but I don't have either the time or the attention span to do it (at all) at the moment. I've got to submit my thesis by the end of September.
J. Frank Dobie said that 'the average Ph.D. thesis is nothing but a transference of bones from one graveyard to another'. I was just about to finish creating a beautiful ceremonial cemetery; now I'm hurriedly disinterring the remains and dumping the disarticulated bones in a shallow grave.
[Also posted on samarkeolog.]
Saturday, 31 July 2010
Monday, 12 July 2010
Forum Archaeologiae: Archaeology in Conflict papers
Short versions of the papers from the International Conference on Archaeology in Conflict are available at Forum Archaeologiae.
The Forum includes Friedrich Schipper's preface on Dublin - Ramallah - Vienna: Archaeology in Conflict as a Developing Issue and Schipper and Magnus Bernhardsson's introduction to Archaeology in Conflict: Setting the Agenda.
Personally, three outstanding papers were:
Hardy, S A. 2010: "Cypriot antiquities rescue from the Turkish Deep State: The rescue of forgeries, and the death of Stephanos Stephanou". Paper presented at the World Archaeological Congress International Conference on Archaeology in Conflict, Vienna, Austria, 6th-10th April.
The Forum includes Friedrich Schipper's preface on Dublin - Ramallah - Vienna: Archaeology in Conflict as a Developing Issue and Schipper and Magnus Bernhardsson's introduction to Archaeology in Conflict: Setting the Agenda.
Personally, three outstanding papers were:
- Michael Bletzer's on Commemorating the 'Common Man' as an Ethical Research Goal in Conflict;
- Erik Nemeth's on the Art of Cultural Intelligence: Intelligence for Countering Threats to Cultural Property in Conflict; and
- Daniel Dante Saucedo Segami's on Archaeology and Social Conflict: Illegal Appropriation of Land and Protection of Archaeological Heritage in Peru.
Hardy, S A. 2010: "Cypriot antiquities rescue from the Turkish Deep State: The rescue of forgeries, and the death of Stephanos Stephanou". Paper presented at the World Archaeological Congress International Conference on Archaeology in Conflict, Vienna, Austria, 6th-10th April.
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Davlos/Kaplıca, Cyprus: my baby love graffiti
There is a painting of a love-struck heart and a dedication to "my baby" on the walls of the Chapel of Agios Sozomenos, outside Davlos/Kaplıca; and they may be especially interesting graffiti.
The bicommunal architectural survey of Cyprus Temples found: 'The tiles of the roof have been removed. There is no belltower. The altar is demolished.' Its doors and windows are also missing; its interior is a wreck (see image 1).
There are a lot of graffiti inside and out, including an intriguing engraving of an eye (see image 2); but I'm even more interested in the romantic graffiti.
Image 1: the gutted and graffitied interior of the chapel.
Image 2: eye engraving on the chapel wall.
On the west wall (image 3a), there is Serkan's name and an inscription to 'my baby [bebişim]' (see image 3b). On the south wall (image 4a), there is Murat's name and a painting of a heart pierced by an arrow, a love-struck heart (see image 4b).
Both of those names are male names; and uniquely amongst all of the graffiti, the names and the associated painting and inscription are in pink paint; again uniquely amongst all of the graffiti, bebişim and the love-struck heart have been crossed out in red paint. Notably, both of the names have been left untouched; only both of their declarations of love have been crossed out, erased, denied.
There is also an unfinished but still crossed-out word to the right of Murat's name, which began with "B"; it may have been another inscription to "my baby" (see image 4b).
Image 3a: the west wall of the chapel.
Image 3b: cropped, colour saturated photograph of Serkan's name and 'my baby' inscription upon the western chapel wall.
Image 4a: the south wall of the chapel.
Image 4b: cropped, colour-saturated photograph of Murat's name and love-struck heart painting on the southern chapel wall.
It seems possible that these are gay Turkish Cypriot or Turkish settler graffiti; and that homophobes have crossed them out.
The bicommunal architectural survey of Cyprus Temples found: 'The tiles of the roof have been removed. There is no belltower. The altar is demolished.' Its doors and windows are also missing; its interior is a wreck (see image 1).
There are a lot of graffiti inside and out, including an intriguing engraving of an eye (see image 2); but I'm even more interested in the romantic graffiti.
Image 1: the gutted and graffitied interior of the chapel.
Image 2: eye engraving on the chapel wall.
On the west wall (image 3a), there is Serkan's name and an inscription to 'my baby [bebişim]' (see image 3b). On the south wall (image 4a), there is Murat's name and a painting of a heart pierced by an arrow, a love-struck heart (see image 4b).
Both of those names are male names; and uniquely amongst all of the graffiti, the names and the associated painting and inscription are in pink paint; again uniquely amongst all of the graffiti, bebişim and the love-struck heart have been crossed out in red paint. Notably, both of the names have been left untouched; only both of their declarations of love have been crossed out, erased, denied.
There is also an unfinished but still crossed-out word to the right of Murat's name, which began with "B"; it may have been another inscription to "my baby" (see image 4b).
Image 3a: the west wall of the chapel.
Image 3b: cropped, colour saturated photograph of Serkan's name and 'my baby' inscription upon the western chapel wall.
Image 4a: the south wall of the chapel.
Image 4b: cropped, colour-saturated photograph of Murat's name and love-struck heart painting on the southern chapel wall.
It seems possible that these are gay Turkish Cypriot or Turkish settler graffiti; and that homophobes have crossed them out.
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