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Archaeology Digs in Africa
Field schools and other planned archaeology digs are held each year in many of the countries of Africa. Here are a few of the recent listings.
Field schools listed below with dates older than the current year may indicate an ongoing project that has not yet established dates for this season.
Field schools listed below with dates older than the current year may indicate an ongoing project that has not yet established dates for this season.
Abomey Plateau Archaeological Project (Benin)
July 17-August 21, 2010. Cotsen Institute, UCLA. Situated in a ‘wet savanna’ zone approximately 100 kilometers north of coastal Bénin, the Abomey Plateau is a culturally and ecologically diverse region.
Berefet, Gambia
May 28-July 16, 2010. St. Mary's College. The 2010 Gambia Field Studies program proposes to conduct the first systematic survey, map and test the Berefet site in collaboration with the Gambia's National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC) Division of Museums and Monuments (DMM) and the citizens of Berefet village itself.
De Hoop Nature Reserve (South Africa)
Annually January-April and September-December. Arizona State University and University of Bergen. De Hoop Nature Reserve, about 200 km east of Cape Town, is the main location for the field school
Fayum (Egypt)
October 25-November 20, 2012. Institute for Field Research. Approximately 50 miles southwest of Cairo lies the Fayum, an oasis in Egypt’s Western Desert. The 2012 field school will concentrate on the Greco-Roman town of Karanis, founded in the third century BCE and abandoned during the seventh century CE.
Fayum Ceramic Analysis (Egypt)
October 1-November 6, 2010. Cotsen Institute, UCLA. Training in the analysis of ceramics, ranging from surface survey to geo-archaeological techniques to ethno-archaeology. These will include the illustration, cataloguing and systematic storage of pottery.
IFR: African Projects
The Institute for Field Research conducts several archaeological field projects in Africa each year.
Khwebe Hills Archaeological Project (Botswana)
June 26-July 31, 2010. Cotsen Institute, UCLA. This project focuses on the Khwebe Hills area, and includes survey for new sites (multi-period) as well as the ongoing excavation and mapping on two 19th century sites associated with European missionaries and early BaTawana settlers.
Koobi Fora, Kenya
June 14-July 25, 2011. Rutgers University and the National Museums of Kenya. This session includes four weeks at Koobi Fora in northern Kenya, the site made famous by Richard Leakey and his colleagues in the 1970's for finds of ancient hominids and archaeology bearing on our understanding of human origins.
Primate Field School, Kenya
August 1-27, 2011. Rutgers University and the National Museums of Kenya. This field school will give participants the opportunity to experience the diverse habitats of Kenya, and to gain understanding about biodiversity by using primate field studies as the entry point.
Swahili Culture, Coastal Kenya
August 1-27, 2008. Rutgers University and National Museum of Kenya. The Field School offers a unique opportunity for students to learn about Swahili culture, history and language as well as study the peoples living along the coast of Kenya today.