If you have a passion for history and discovery then perhaps an archeology dig will be the perfect place for you to volunteer your time and energy, and help out immeasurably whilst doing so.

Archaeology relies on many hours of effort for each discovery. Time however is a luxury in short supply for many archaeology projects, as archaeological sites around the world are in danger of being destroyed by uncontrolled development, looting and the illicit trade in antiquities. By spending your next vacation helping in an archaeology dig or restoration project, you can help speed up new discoveries about the past — before it’s too late.

There are many types archeology digs and these are just a handful of those which you may expect to find.

• excavating a fossil site to help understand how and why dinosaurs and mammals first appeared

• restoring and reconstructing ancient structures, using original building techniques
• digging for clues to a culture’s environmental ruin
• using ethno-botany and garden archaeology to clarify Roman religion
• investigating a Roman military site to reveal the extent of cultural interchange
• exploring cave systems to reconstruct their entire human history

The types of tasks archaeology volunteers are asked to do can vary widely, but may include excavating and testing sediment on an excavation site; washing and sorting artifacts in a laboratory; cleaning prehistoric cave art that has been vandalized; or stone masonry and tiling in a restoration project.

What Are The Benefits?

There is a huge array of benefits that you can count on when you get involved in an archaeology project and the biggest of those benefits is actually to the project itself, which is going to rely on your support. These digs often get some funding but nowhere near enough to pay for extra staff, and that is why volunteers are so desperately sought after. Additional benefits to you will be the learning process which you will go through as you work alongside the knowledgeable archeologists on the dig. Beyond this you can also expect to feel the passion and the excitement as you make new discoveries, knowing that you were part of the team which made it happen.

Because of the space nature of archaeology projects, many volunteers actually travel to other nations in order to support the project and that of course carries with it benefits which you can enjoy, traveling to far away lands in the search of history is quite the mission.

This is a fascinating and exciting opportunity and if you are able to volunteer for an archaeological dig then you are going to be in for one of the most amazing experiences of your life, which will see you be part of the rediscovery of history, now that is something which you can tell the grandkids in later life, and it will create memories which will last for a lifetime.