Archaeology. The word itself invokes a host of images: the Peruvian peaks of Machu Picchu, the lonely plain of Giza, and Heinrich Schliemann ripping through the walls of Troy. We think of professional archaeologists as aloof, world-weary, or bookish; their lives all-too distant from our own. But each year, thousands of American and British vacationers volunteer portions of the summers on archaeological excavations. They dig and survey—partaking in the act of discovery—while experiencing a remote and exotic patch of the world with more intimacy and security than if they had traveled alone. College students access their anthropology, archaeology, or classical studies departments to root out the right archaeological project that will net them academic credit; students are perennial components of any excavation. The adults who volunteers for a summer vacation, however, face far fewer resources. What should they expect? What should they bring? What are the options open to them?
Until this year, the Archaeological Fieldwork Opportunities Bulletin (AFOB) has been the best-kept secret among university archaeologists. The AFOB is a compendium of over 200 volunteer-friendly archaeological excavations; it lists national and regional archaeological resources in the U.K. and U.S., and a chapter on advice for the first-time volunteer. Excavations are listed alphabetically by region and nation, with important details, such as how long a volunteer is expected to stay, a volunteer’s living conditions (sleeping, eating, travel), the ancient culture being studied, and the minimum volunteer age requirement. The AFOB also includes an archaeological bibliography for each global region and glossary of archaeological terms an average volunteer might not be familiar with.
The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), the oldest and largest archaeological organization in the United States, annually publishes the AFOB for undergraduates, graduate students, and volunteers. Although the AIA publishes the widely popular Archaeology magazine, its Publications and New Media department has traditionally focused strictly on academic publications: monographs, conference papers, and a scholarly journal. As the newest AFOB demonstrates, their ambitions for the travel book have grown. The AIA produced the first AFOB 20 years ago as a stapled, typewritten pamphlet. As cultural and archaeological travel and tourism developed in the 1980s and 1990s, the AFOB grew into a professionally published and distributed guide, read by hundreds of students and would-be volunteers. The 2003 AFOB matches other, better-know travel guides in substance and style, and is poised to raise the visibility and accessibility of archaeological travel. With this year’s Fieldwork Bulletin, the AIA proposes that archaeological travel is no longer the domain of universities. Well-educated and culturally minded travelers are in for a treat.
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