Dzhungar Mts. Archaeology Project (Kazakhstan)

Location: Almaty, KZ

Season: May 30, 2018 to June 30, 2018

Application Deadline: February 10, 2018

Deadline Type: Contact for details

Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78HbE_j6EQE

Program Type:
Field school

RPA Certified:
no

Affiliation:
Washington University in St. Louis

Project Director:
Prof. Michael Frachetti and Prof. Paula Dupuy

Project Description:

Join one of Central Asia’s longest standing research projects in the Mountains of Kazakhstan! 

Each year the Dzhungar Mountains Archaeology Project selects 10 students to participate in archaeological field school located directly along the fabled Silk Road, where they will investigate the cultural remains of more than 4000 years of regional interaction and local adaptation on the part of nomadic societies who occupied the mountains and grasslands of the region. Current archaeological research at the site complex of Tasbas/Dali is providing new evidence for Eurasia’s earliest nomadic communities as well key discoveries that document the oldest known evidence for farming and trade between SW Asia and China. Students will gain first hand training in excavation and advanced methods such as GIS, Paleobotany, Zooarchaeology, Human Osteology, and more!  

The program provides opportunities for intensive language immersion (Russian), and a curriculum focusing on the culture and lifeways of local nomadic pastoralists, as well as their role in shaping widescale regional networks that crossed Eurasia from prehistoric times. The students’ experience is set against a stunning environmental backdrop of the spectacular Dzhungar mountains and grasslands, and amidst socio-political changes, economic developments, and new globalism that is shaping Central Asia in the 21st century.

Join us for an experience of a lifetime!

Period(s) of Occupation: Bronze Age (2700-1000 B.C.E.)

Project Size: 1-24 participants

Minimum Length of Stay for Volunteers: 1 Month

Minimum Age: 18

Experience Required: None (Everyone is welcome!)

Room and Board Arrangements:
Participants reside in hotels when the team is in the city (Almaty).  In the field we live in a camp complex, where each member lives in their own tent.  Hired cooks will prepare and provide 3 meals a day. Participants are responsible for airfare and for providing their own tent and personal camping gear. Cost: All in country costs are included in the tuition fee ($5500), except airfare to/from Kazakhstan.

Academic Credit:
6 (Anthropology) credits offered by Washington University in St. Louis. Credit transfers to your home institution can be arranged. . Tuition is $5500.