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The application deadline for the Summer 2025 Field School is FEBRUARY 17, 2025
Course Name: Excavation and Survey of a Bronze Age Site
Location: Kazakhstan
Dates: May 25 to JULY 03 | Instructor - Dr. A. R. Ventresca-Miller
Cost: Tuition for six credits + air travel (grants available) - ALL OTHER EXPENSES COVERED
Deadline for Application: February 17th, 2025
To apply, contact Dr. Venresca-Miller at avenmil@umich.edu.
ANTHRARC 487 is a six-credit field school in advanced archaeological methods. Students willspend six weeks steppes of western Kazakhstan working at Kumsay, an Early Bronze Age(~3800 – 2900 BCE) cemetery. During fieldwork, they will participate in excavations and surveyof the cemetery, directed by Prof. Ventresca-Miller. Training will focus on bioarchaeologicalmethods, including burial excavation, human osteology, and sampling for laboratory analysis.Survey will include learning pedestrian survey and mapping methods of the cemetery andsurrounding area. Excavation will be in cooperation with Dr. Arman Bissembaev of AktobeRegional University and will include instruction in excavation and artifact plotting methods.
For questions and/or to apply, contact Dr. Ventresca-Miller at avenmil@umich.edu.
Check out the Summer Field School Guide and Essential Information for Kazakhstan!
And check out funding opportunities below! Many resources are available to you.
Funding Opportunities:
Student scholarships and funding opportunities are available on the Department of Anthropology's website, including opportunites from The University of Michigan,and other external sources.
The Museum of Anthropological Archaeology also has student scholarships and funding opportunities of up to $2,000.
The U-M Training Program in Archaeology (ANTHRARC 487) provides students with a unique opportunity to participate in original field research. Students receive training in basic methods of archaeological survey, excavation, artifact recording and analysis, while participating in ongoing research in the area chosen by the course director. Field training is integrated with lectures on archaeological method and theory, and the prehistory and ethnography of the area under study. Laboratory sessions introduce students to the analysis of archaeological artifacts, including stone tools, ceramics, animal bones, and plant remains. In addition to learning the basic technical skills of field archaeology, each student works together with the program director and staff to develop a small but original research problem, based on the archaeological data recovered and analyzed during excavations. The results of this research are presented as a written paper at the end of the field session.
