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Summer Field School: U-M Training Program in Archaeology

The Mat River Valley, by Giulia Saltini Semerari

 

 

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 $3,000. 

 

The U-M Training Program in Archaeology (ANTHRARC 487) provides students with a unique opportunity to participate in original field research. Students can 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. If included, laboratory sessions introduce students to the analysis of archaeological artifacts, including stone tools, ceramics, animal bones, and plant remains. 

 

Applications for the 2026 Field School are now being accepted!

Location:  Burrel, Albania and the surrounding Mat River Valley

Dates:  May 31 - June 27, 2026  |  Instructor - Prof. Giulia Saltini Semerari

Cost: Tuition for six credits + air travel  - ALL OTHER EXPENSES COVERED

Deadline for Application: due by March 16, 2026

APPLICATION LINK:  https://forms.gle/pbBnfcgaWozZBoYH8

ANTRARC 487 is a six-credit field school in advanced archaeological methods. Students will spend four weeks in Burrel and the surrounding valley (Albania), working with an international team on a newly established field project. Directed by Prof. Saltini Semerari (University of Michigan) the field project seeks to understand long-term settlement dynamics in the Mat Valley and how they intersected with maritime exchanges in Bronze and Iron Ages. The focus of the 2026 field season will be intensive survey of the middle section of the valley. Ringed by mountains and rich in water, fertile soil and mineral sources, the Mat valley has yielded numerous burials, but much is still to be understood about settlement organization and its changes through time. Students will spend 4 weeks in the village of Burrel, being trained in and conducting pedestrian survey and processing find in the laboratory set up in the local museum. They will also receive weekly lectures on archaeological methods, salient themes in Mediterranean archaeology and community archaeology practices. The project is run with collaborators from Polis University (Tirana, Albania), Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona, Spain) and VU University Amsterdam (The Netherlands).

For questions: contact Prof. Saltini Semerari at: giulias@umich.edu.

To applyAPPLICATION LINKhttps://forms.gle/pbBnfcgaWozZBoYH8

Check out the Summer Field School Guide and Essential Information for  ANTRARC 487 . 

And check out funding opportunities below! Many resources are available to you: