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I Volunteered for This?! Life on an Archaeological Dig

A Guide to ’98 Digs: The Volunteer’s View
Volunteers’ Views
Meeting Other Volunteers

By Yekaterina G. Umarova

I relaxed the minute I met the other people at the dig. I was assigned to a team composed mostly of American students
directed to excavate the area of the village closest to the synagogue. (I had even studied it in one of my classes.) We
almost fully uncovered the courtyard of one dwelling.
All the volunteers were taught how excavations should be conducted and told the importance of the finds. I learned
how to record data, such as pottery finds, and helped wash and sort the pottery. I really learned the vocabulary of archaeologists.
I met people from the United States, Israel, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Germany and Switzerland; wherever I
travel I will never have to stay in a hotel again. The volunteers and staff ranged in age from 17 to over 70 and had very
different backgrounds and goals. Some came to gain experience related to their education and career; others came just
to have fun. They had it!
I plan to continue to research life at Ein Gedi and other small agricultural settlements in Judea. Thank you, BAR,
for the scholarship that helped me have the most amazing experience of my life.

© 2006 Biblical Archaeology Society

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