The Apulum Mithraeum III Project also runs an annual field school to train undergraduate and graduate students from around the world in the theory and practice of field archaeology, as well as the history and archaeology of Roman Dacia. The course is co-sponsored by UBC’s Go Global program and the Department of Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies at UBC, which awards course credit as CLST 335 or 535. If you are interested in participating, please contact Prof. McCarty.
In addition to field training, we will organize trips to visit nearby sites of cultural and historical interest that might include the Roman collections at the Muzeul National al Unirii; Colonia Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, a capital of Roman Dacia; and the famed wineries of Alba county.
Our team will be housed in the dormitories of the University of Alba Iulia, located in the centre of the town within the Austrian fort and a few hundred meters from our excavation site. The rooms are shared between two participants, and have en-suite bathrooms. Meals will be catered by local restaurants.
We will work on-site five-and-a-half days a week, with normal work schedule (depending on weather) as follows:
7:00 Breakfast
7:30 Depart for site
7:45 Begin work
10:30 Snack/water break
11:00 Return to work
1:30 Lunch
2:30 Return to work/finds processing
4:30 End of day
7:00 Dinner
Field archaeology is hard work: be prepared for physically strenuous days swinging a pickaxe under the sun. That said, it is enormously rewarding work: you will be the first person in nearly 2000 years to see, handle, and interpret a range of materials, including pottery and sculpture.