Archaeology
Get down and dirty in foreign countries digging up ancient artifacts and ruins. Digging can be both exhilarating and grueling. You live on or near your site and work hard in the field during the day. Often, your room and board is covered, but you pay for your own travel costs.
Butrint
Excavations of the Roman Forum at Butrint
As the nation's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, Butrint (ancient Bouthrotos/ Buthrotum) is the most famous archaeological site in Albania. Discovered in 2005, the Roman Forum at Butrint is the only known forum in Epeiros and one of the best preserved of Augustan date (27 BC - AD 14) in the provinces of the Roman Empire.
Built over 2000 years ago by Roman colonists, the forum was the center of public justice, administration, business, religion, and entertainment. The Roman Forum Excavations (RFE) Project is bringing to light the forum and unearthing a story that spans millennia, from the time of the city's birth in the 7th century BC to its abandonment in the 16th century AD.
Additional Opportunities
Mediterranean
- Caladinho Archaeological Project. Excavate a 1st century BCE Roman watchtower located near Redondo, Portugal.
- The American Institute of Archaeology lists digs and scholarship opportunities. It is North America’s oldest and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology.
- The Hellenic Education and Research Center is currently excavating a bronze age site in Peloponnese region.
- Montclair State University is offering a "Villa of the Antonines" archaeological field school" in the Alban Hills just outside Rome. Two scholarships of $1,000 each are available to students from any American university.
- Dig at Tel Dor, which is an ancient harbor now located within Israel.
- RomaniaNewField is offering archaeological opportunities this summer to dig in Southern Translyvania at the site of a Roman province.
- Dig at the location of one of Rome's rivals! Dig with the Gabii Project, an archaeological project run through University of Michigan.
- Do like Hadrian and escape the heat and crowds of Rome by digging at the Imperial Villa at Tivoli!
- The Santa Susana Archaeological Project is excavating a Roman villa in Redondo, Portugal.
- San Gemini Preservation Studies offers a variety of programs involving historic preservation, restoration, and conservation in Italy.
- Sponsored by the University of Missouri-St. Louis, the Iklaina-Pylos Archaeological Project combines digging and travel on the Peloponnesus.
- The Archeodig Project is conducting a dig on the coast of Tuscany at the Roman settlement of Poggio del Molino, which will be held in June and early July.
- The International School of Archaeology in Abruzzo Summer Program (University of Pisa, Italy) offers participants a multi-period approach to the study of archaeology through students’ participation in seminars, laboratories, and two different excavation sites.
Northern Europe
- Dig near Hadrian’s Wall in Britain and learn about the Roman army at Vindolanda.
- York Archaeological Trust allows you to participate in a training excavation in York, England. England is rich in Roman antiquities—Hadrian’s Wall, Bath, British Museum, York. You get hands-on experience digging on a medieval or ancient site. This program is very flexible; you can attend for as little as one week.
- Take a five-week course on the Romans in Britain on the site of the beautiful bath complex in Bath, England.
- Learn at the largest open air ethnographic museum in Europe! Spend three weeks learning about Roman metal, ceramic and wood use at the Brukenthal Museum in Transylvania, Romania.