Field School/Excavation Directors: Dr. Emil Nankov (ARCS), Vladimir Petkov (Archaeological Museum, Sandanski)

Duration: June 1 (arrival to Sofia) – June 29, 2015 (departure from Sofia)

Eligibility: advanced undergraduate and graduate students of American universities in the fields of Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Studies, Ancient History and related studies

Program Fee: $1500

Students will arrive in Sofia on June 1 and will spend two days exploring the archaeology and history of its Roman predecessor, Serdica. On June 2, the Team will begin an archaeological journey, visiting sites and museums in Sofia and in Plovdiv. We will arrive in the city of Sandanski on June 5, the home base of the ARCS excavations at Parthicopolis. The excavation team will reside in a hotel in Sandanski during the 3-week excavation season. Archaeological work is conducted Monday-Friday with additional excursions to southwest Bulgaria, northern Greece and Republic of Macedonia on Saturdays. The Team will be accompanied back to Sofia on June 28, where they will stay one night, departing from Sofia on June 29.

Project Location: 

The Roman and Late Antique Parthicopolis is located under the modern town of Sandanski, SW Bulgaria. All fieldwork will take place on the site. The project base will be located in the town of Sandanski, situated 160 km south of Sofia (Bulgaria), 150 km north of Thessaloniki (Greece) and 230 km northwest of Skopie (Republic of Macedonia).

Situated on the slopes of Pirin Mountain next to a tributary of Struma River (ancient Strymon), Parthicopolis took off as a Macedonian colony, called Alexandropolis, in the lands of the unrelenting Maedi founded by the young Alexander the Great in 339 BC. Receiving the name of Parthicopolis during the reign of Trajan (AD 98-117), the city continued to thrive during the Roman and Late Antique periods, when it became a leading center for the establishment of early Christianity in the province of Macedonia. The current ARCS Field School will focus upon a sequence of architectural remains located near the atrium of the Bishop’s Basilica dated to 4th-6th c. AD.

The Program offers one excavation session, lectures and field trips, continuing for three weeks. The students will be required to participate in the excavations five days each week, as well as attend the ten lectures and the three field trips. There will be one day off each work week. Study trips are arranged to archaeological sites and museums in Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia and northern Greece. Among the sites included are Petrich, Melnik, Strumica, Stobi and Amphipolis/Thessaloniki. The program covers room, board and field trips. The program does not include: airfare to Bulgaria, dinners and meals on non work days. Participants will be provided with a certificate upon completion of the program.Students are expected to arrange for medical insurance and to obtain visas, if applicable.

Prospective students should submit an application to Dr. Emil Nankov (apo@arcsofia.org) by March 1, 2015.

You can also see the posting at AFOB: http://www.archaeological.org/fieldwork/afob/18123

For a full description and application, follow this link: http://arcsofia.org/node/75