For the daring - Excavate in Italy

For five weeks in May and June, students may participate in the archaeological excavation at Coriglia, located in central Italy near the city of Orvieto. The site dates from 1000 BCE to 1400 CE and has yielded material from Greek, Etruscan, Roman, medieval and renaissance Italian cultures. 

As part of this excavation, Saint Anselm College Orvieto runs an Archaeological Field School. The Field School has three components: digging in the field, working in the lab, and attending lectures in the convent as well as at local museums, cultural and archaeological sites. 

Optional course credit (4 or 8 hours) is available through Saint Anselm College Summer School. 

Daily Schedule

Excavation and fieldwork are not for everyone. Monday through Friday our wake-up call is 7 a.m. Breakfast ends at 7:20 a.m. We leave for the site at 7:30 a.m. Work is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The day is spent digging under the Umbrian sun at Corigila. Students will learn how to use basic archaeological tools: trowels, shovels, pick axes and wheelbarrows. There will also be training on the use of the total station and other archaeometric tools. You will be taught proper excavation techniques in the field and need no prior knowledge.

In the Lab, students will receive hands-on instruction in cleaning and identifying artifacts as well as in sorting and cataloging the finds and photographing the artifacts.

At 7:30 p.m., the team has a communal dinner in the Convent cloister to eat and drink and discuss the exciting finds of the day.

Weekends are free to relax or to explore the city of Orvieto and beyond...