Day 15: Good bye team, hello students.

As I arrived back in Aglasun, the last departures from my team took place: Zehra, Buse, and Emir, then Martha. We had already said goodbye to Sam, Zsolt, Solinda, and Francis, a week earlier. A celebratory dinner (the famous two fish) had been held then, with the Turkish digging team, in a restaurant overlooking the valley, downslope on the road into Aglsaun. It was followed by a second party, at the house of Yusuf, whose daughter had her birthday: a chance to sample chick-pea kofte and other home-made delights. Although that was a week ago, the absence of the team is now more keenly felt, as all excavation comes to a close. A final day of digging was unexpectedly declared on the last Saturday, which saw Martha ascend the mountain for a last time to record the theatre in a laser scan. Although she had never done it before, the results were impressive, for the time she had – five stations were complete and the bulk of the structure measured. The results are now sent off to Alex P., the data cruncher of 360TourHub, to clean and return, to produce publication-quality plans and elevations, which he duly does.

As the rains set in at Sagalassos and the temperature drops, an end of season feeling grows. The number of residents in the excavation house drops daily and a sense of grief grows over those who remain. Where now without the jovial laugh of Sam, to be heard from about 1km away, the topical questions of Emir, the polite helpfulness of Zehra, the warm smile and precise observations of Buse, the dedication of Francis, and the determination of Solinda? The workers we miss even more, for their charm, their wit, and their open-hearted hospitality. I see them still in the village, minding their shops, or busy with their trades, but our time together as a group was unforgettable and its effect remains even as we disperse. Even as some leave, a new group arrive, not of site workers, or at least not yet, but of students and alumni from the University of Kent, ready to be guided round our trenches, round Sagalassos as a whole, and across pre-eminent ancient sites in the region: Perge, Aphrodisias, Hierapolis, Side, Ariassos, Aspendos, and Cibyra, where a generous team from Burdur University hosted us in great style, with the most amazing second breakfast that any of us has ever eaten, on an stunning site where our stay was only broken by a ferocious thunderstorm that drove us off wet, if glowing with interest at what has been found and restored there.

15.1 Final dinner: fish and chips Turkish style.

15.2 Cibyra visit: Luke with Medusa.