Program Reviews

This was my first experience with an archaeology dig, with no archaeology background. I remember the first few days digging I was thinking "what did I get myself into". It got easier, and I kept pestering my dig supervisor about concepts until I understood them, and he persisted until we both knew I understood what was going on. I learned a lot about what it is to be an archaeologist, and I learned a lot about myself too. There was a variety of people on the trip, I wish we had more time to have fun, but I was pretty tired most of the time. BUT I will NEVER forget my last night in Macedonia.

The Zita Project provided me with an enriched archaeological experience that not only allowed me to explore the unique areas of the site (burial/tophet, forum, and metallurgical zones), but also fulfill my own interests involving the site, whether it be surveying techniques, x-ray florescence, or zooarchaeological methods. Each day I had the pleasure of closely working with the directors and specialists on the project who taught me about their respective sub-disciplines and offered me great career advice in archaeology.

In addition to learning about all the procedures that go into conducting an excavation, the program allowed me to familiarize myself with Tunisian culture. My fellow students and I traveled to different places within Tunisia and Djerba, such La Marsa,Tataouine, and Houmt Souk. All of which involved exploring archaeological sites, their histories, and their place within the modern ethnography of Tunisia. It was always fun to engage in these activities that brought together everyone from the ethnography and archaeology teams.

The time I spent in Peru was the best thing to ever happen to me, truly. I laughed every day and discovered my passion. I went in with no knowing what I wanted out of the experience, but I left fulfilled.

The resources for advice was abundant and honest. There were things I got to do that most people can only dream about. I would go back in a heart beat!
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The field school was better than I could ever have imagined. I learnt so much valuable information and I am grateful to all the tutors there for helping me whenever I needed it. Having had no prior archaeological experince this was a shot in the dark for me, but it paid off. I now know there is an awful lot more to archaeology than just brushing the ground! Day to day we worked from early morning till 2 in the afternoon, followed by cataloging the day's findings and a lecture. This was a brilliant and rewarding experince, and I couldn't have hoped for a better group of people, with whom I very much hope to keep in touch.

This field school was great and would suit someone with early university knowledge. Hands-on application of learned techniques and great companions made it something I'll cherish forever. The program is challenging in terms of work load, requiring early mornings and physical fitness, however personal strengths and limitations were catered for. The atmosphere of this field school was friendly and warm, and we felt safe at all times, despite moderate unrest in the Sinai while we were there. We were well prepared for the examination and personal project and I felt that I definitely left with a lot more knowledge and some great contacts from abroad.

The Spike Island archaeological field school was by far one of the best experiences I have ever had! During the excavation, I was engaged in every aspect of the work, learning invaluable skills that I will carry on throughout my career. The supervisors were supportive and challenging, encouraging us as we completed our work. The island and surrounding scenery is beautiful and engaging, I couldn't help but look on in awe some days on my way to the excavation sites. And as far as my fellow students go, I can honestly say I have never been a part of such an amazing group of people before. I have made friends for life that I will carry in my heart, no matter where I go. If you are looking for a one of a kind experience, then I definitely suggest the Spike Island field school.

I thought this program was great, I had an amazing time, Poros is a beautiful place, off the beaten path, with great people. The instructors are very fun, as well as the Greek students you would be working with. The main criticism I have of this program is that it was not academically challenging enough, a lot of the time spent in the lab was either taking breaks or messing around. Definitely a fun program, I met wonderful people, but I would have liked to gain more archaeological experience.

This program was an incredible experience. It changed my life and helped me transition my career into cultural resources management.

It is also the kind of program where your own ambition and initiative are important factors. You will get out of this program what you put into it.

There are lots of reasons not to choose this program, and I'll lay those out early in this review.
- It's hard work. The first week will test your patience and your capacity for lectures. The next 3 weeks can be exhausting both physically and mentally.
- The food isn't great: very little protein.
- Quality medical treatment is hours away.
- Wifi is spotty and bad when you do get it.
- There's no good beer in town.
- The gear required for the program can be expensive, so is travel.
- Speaking of travel, the trip from California to Poros is 34 hours...
- I got ripped off buying cigarettes once.
- The location is quite isolated.
- There is no excavation aspect to the course.

So why would you want to go here?

- Poros is beautiful. The entire island is also, but Poros was especially so.
- The program is run by a wonderful group of multidisciplinary experts. Geology, oceanography, GIS, ethnobotany, biological anthropology, cultural ecology, maritime archaeology, archaeological drawing, architecture, and more. This means that you have access to an incredible amount of information. Use it. Don't be shy.
- The head of the program is willing to let you take the initiative and create your own personal project. This is so important! It allows you to scale the program to your own pace and ambition. If you want to make the program pay off for you in the long run, I encourage you to make it a priority to give this aspect of the program a significant amount of thought.
- The lithics you will find.... holy moly!! The weight of history is palpable here.
- The sea is so amazing! Swim snorkel survey and shoreline survey beats the heck out of survey in the rough desert.
- Talk to the people of Poros. The town is FULL of super interesting characters.
- You will have more opportunities than you will have time to fully explore. Choose what you want to focus on and dive in.

A Final Note:
This program can be an amazing experience that will put a capstone on your archaeological education, get you to the front of the line for grad school, or move your resume to the top of the stack. But it's up to YOU! Come prepared to take the initiative and direct your own personal project. Be alert in the field and in class. Use the lectures and practicals to try things out.

I had a great time at Blackfriary, and the only criticisms I have are organisational ones that I think come from the fact they hadn't dealt with such a large group of students on site before.

The accommodation was much better than anything I expected, in luxurious self-contained housing next to the golf course with access to hotel facilities including a pool and sauna. The food was usual group catering, over boiled meat and veg. There is a large supermarket about 30min walk away, and a gas station 10min away.

The supervisors were on the whole wonderful, relaxed and helpful. My fellow students were some of the best people I've ever met and made the experience all the better. Beware that close quarters over long weeks of hard work will cause friction - but there was always an opportunity to get privacy and decompress.

I loved the time on site as it was some of the first real field experience I had, and it was a relaxed and supportive environment to learn in. The excursions off site tied in well to what we learnt, and offered a real sense of context.

I do wish that the emphasis on human burials in the description of the program had been fulfilled. They rotated us around the site in week-long chunks. It was luck as to who got assigned a burial when the rotation came, and if you got one you had a full week on it. If there was no burial available you missed out. I wasn't lucky. I was upset about that, as working on human remains in situ was the reason I chose the program.

I think this was the result of the big group I was in, but they could have rotated people through burials in 3 or 4 day chunks to give more people an opportunity to work on the thing that had attracted most of us to the program.

Overall, this is a wonderful, comfortable introduction to field archaeology in a country with a rich history - both in terms of human occupation and in archaeology. The supervisors are experienced and helpful, and the experience well worth it.

This field school gives students a complete exsposure to the archaeological field experince. The day starts at five in morning with breakfast, we're on site by six thirty, second breakfast at nine thirty (an hour break), and home by two. Once home (a very nice apartment style hotel) students have two hours to eat lunch and rest before the evening activities which include washing pottery, processing pottery, lectures, pottery drawing, floatation and artifact processing. In additon to learning these core archeological skills students are also introduced and given the chance to explore enthoarchaeometry and survey techniques. There is a midterm and final, but these are not worries if you've been actively participating. Finally, the Zits Project brings everything together by contextualizing the site with modern Tunisia. We work and live alongside Tunisians as fellow students and directors. I learned a great deal from my roommate, who is now a Facebook friend.

One word of caution: Tunisia will probably be unlike any place you've ever been to! I experienced severe culture shock, but the IFR staff, my fellow students and the Tunisians I worked with helped me adjust.