Across time and space, many ancient civilizations bury their dead in collective, mass graves. This create highly complex burial grounds where numerous human remains and associated artifacts are mixed together. The excavation, documentation and interpretation of such sites is highly complex, and this field school focuses on training students to study such sites.

This field school takes place at the site of the Medieval Monastery of Chelva, established in 1390 CE. Excavations within the church revealed two large burial chambers, each containing remains of multiple humans and artifacts. For the initial two weeks of the program, students will excavate the two burial chambers, carefully documenting stratigraphy and spatial relationships between the many human remains & artifacts. For the latter two weeks, students will work at a lab, carefully studying and documenting recovered human remains, carrying out the inventory and cataloguing of artifacts recovered from the burial cists. Students will learn how to identify each bone, to determine age, gender, possible cause of death and a range of other indicators within the forensic archaeology framework.

All field school directors are experts in their field and passionate about their work. To discuss the suitability of this program for your career goals – whether within or outside academia – you are invited to contact the directors directly. For a broader discussion which ARC program to choose, you are welcome to contact our staff directly – you can do that through our “Contact Us” page.

Professor of Ancient History, Department of Prehistory, Archaeology & Ancient History, University of Valencia (Spain)

Executive Director, Fundación Antonia Calavel (Spain)

• Application: You must apply online for this program – application is free
• Deposit: A $300 nonrefundable deposit (part of the total tuition cost) is required to secure a space in the program
• Credit Card Fee: Payments with credits cards incur 3% processing fee
• Late Fee: A $100 Late Fee will be added to the program costs if tuition is not paid in full by payment deadline
• Cancellation Policy: Carefully read our Cancellation Policy before committing to attending our programs
• Trip Cancellation Insurance: Trip cancellation insurance is not provided by ARC. Such policies have changed due to Covid 19. If you wish to purchase an insurance policy that covers pandemic contingencies, explore Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) plans. Insuremytrip or Travel Guard are possible websites where you may explore different insurance policies.

All staff and student will be staying at the 14^th century CE Franciscan convent of Chelva. Rooms are for a single individual, simple, comfortable, and welcoming with free WiFi. The convent has large rooms, bathrooms, showers, library, dining room, a fully equipped kitchen, conference room, recreation and outdoor dining area, as well as a barbecue area.

The project provides breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout the week, except for lunch and dinner on the trip day (normally Saturday) and free day (normally Sunday). Vegetarian and vegan diets may be accommodated at this program, as long as students informed the program directors well in advance.

We suggest you hold purchasing your airline ticket until six (6) weeks before the program begins. Natural disasters, political changes, weather conditions & a range of other factors may require the cancellation of a field school. ARC typically makes a final Go/No Go decision six weeks before program begins. To protect students from potential financial loss, we urge you to purchase airline tickets only six weeks prior to program beginning.

Students will be met on Sunday, the first day of the program, at 5:00pm at the Valencia Airport (VLC). Meeting point is by the Tourist Information Booth at the Arrival Hall. Students will then be transported to Chelva by car, a trip of about one hour.

There are no special visa requirements for U.S. citizens travelling to Spain, as long as you do not stay longer than 3 months. Passport’s expiration date should exceed the stay by at least 6 months.

Citizens of other countries are asked to check the Spanish embassy website at their home country for specific visa requirements.