Most field seasons can accommodate non-specialist volunteers. See below for information on how to volunteer for either excavation or reconnaissance survey work, and how to receive news. See below for details of the next field season.

The role of volunteers in the Western Sahara Project

Volunteers play a vital role in the work of the Western Sahara Project, and make a major contribution to the funding of the Project, which is run on a not-for-profit basis, with all funds raised going towards the costs of fieldwork and laboratory analysis. Volunteers can participate in both excavations and reconnaissance survey work, and do not need to have any experience of archaeology or desert environments. Full instruction will be given in excavation and field survey techniques, and volunteers will work closely with a variety of specialists while in the field. Volunteering for a field season provides an opportunity to gain general archaeological experience, learn about arid environments and past environmental change, or simply explore a fascinating and largely inaccessible part of the world that has been effectively closed to outsiders for several decades. 

The cost of participating in a field season is comparable with the cost of many adventure holiday packages, or the cost of participating in a conservation project such as those run by many charitable organisations. For further information on the next field season, and on how to volunteer, see below.

Excavations

To date, excavations have taken place in the Project's principal study area, some 15 km north of the main settlement of Tifariti. Excavation teams stay in Tifariti, travelling to the excavation site on a daily basis. Excavations are supervised by experienced field archaeologists, and full instruction will be given to volunteers in excavation techniques as required. The aims of excavations are to acquire samples for radiometric dating (radiocarbon and optically stimulate luminescence), provide materials for the analysis of human remains (including isotopic analysis to infer information about diet, range and mobility), assess funerary practices, and record grave goods. Monuments will be reconstructed after excavation, and human remains will be reinterred.

Excavation work is led by Dr Joanne Clarke (joanne.clarke [@] uea.ac.uk).

Reconnaissance survey 

Reconnaissance survey work takes place throughout the Polisario controlled areas of Western Sahara, focusing on either the Northern or Southern Sector in any given season, and has two principal aims:

1. To identify and sample environmental indicators of past humid conditions (e.g. dry lake beds, geochemical crusts formed by the presence of surfae water, springline deposits, etc), in order to infer information about the timing, duration and nature of past humid episodes through subsequent laboratory analysis.

2. To identify and record new archaeological sites, focusing on funerary monuments. Environmental work contributes to the development of a chronological framework within which the archaeological record may be interpreted, addressing questions of how prehistoric populations were affected by and responded to climatic and environmental change, particularly during the period between about 6000 and 4000 years ago when humid conditions gave way to aridity in a series of apparently rapid climatic changes around 5900, 5200 and 4200 years ago.

Volunteers for reconnaissance surveys work principally on the recording of funerary monuments, and are given full instruction in recording methodologies, which will involve the recording of key aspects of monuments using dedicated Project recording forms.

Reconnaissance survey work is led by Dr Nick Brooks (nick.brooks [@] uea.ac.uk).

Travel to the field

Travel to the field will be via Algiers, from where the team will take an internal flight to the southwestern Algerian town of Tindouf. Here the team will be met by representatives of the Polisario (Sahrawi) government. The team will spend one night in the Sahrawi refugee camps in the vicinity of Tindouf, before travelling overland to the Northern Sector of Western Sahara, where excavation and reconnaissance teams will travel to their study areas. The excavation team will be based permanently at Tifariti, while the reconnaissance survey team will spend most of the time away from Tifariti, camping in the open or staying in Polisario military bases. Full details of the itinerary and logistics will be circulated to the team in advance of travel.

Conditions in the field

Conditions in the field are very basic, with accommodation consisting of dormitory rooms in Polisario military bases and (for reconnaissance work in remote locations) camping in the open air. Cold showers are available at Tifariti and some of the other bases. It is important to bring a good 3-4 season sleeping bag, as nights can be cold. This should be complemented by a good quality sleeping mattress or thermarest.  Some team members bring a small one-person tent, although this is not essential for those who do not mind sleeping in the open (a full list of necessary equippment will be circulated to volunteers well in advance departure). While nights can be cold (and can drop to 5-10° C in the winter months), temperatures during the daytime are generally in the 20s or 30s (degress Celcius). However, during the transitional months of October and March temperatures can reach the 40s.

Teams will have their own cook, and the food and hospitality are always spoken of very highly by our volunteers. The Free Zone has no paved roads, and almost no permanent settlements (those that exist are little more than hamlets). Traditional nomadic lifestyles are still practiced in the area, and the archaeological record remains virtually unknown to the international research community.

Photos of the area and of the field study sites are available here. If you would like to speak to any volunteers from previous seasons (some have participated in multiple seasons and are coming back for more in October) let us know and we can put you in touch. See below for contact details.

Costs

The cost of participating in the autumn 2010 field season was £2395, based on 3 weeks in the field for either excavataion or reconnaissance survey work. The cost of participating in future field seasons is likely to be similar, although costs will be confirmed well in advance for specific field seasons. The cost of participation in a field season includes international travel from London, all travel, accommodation and subsistence while in the field, and a contribution to the costs of running the field season (e.g. staff costs, fuel and other incidental costs). It may be possible for volunteers travelling from outside the UK to meet the team in Algiers, in which case the cost of travel from London will be deducted from the volunteer fee.

If you have experience of archaeological excavations and wish to volunteer for excavation work at a reduced rate, please contact the Project Directors (below) to discuss possibilities. Volunteers are requested to arrange their own travel insurance (the organisers can provide advice on this issues).

Next field season

The dates of the next field season are yet to be confirmed, but are likely to fall within the autumn (October-November) 2012 period.

Keeping informed

If you want to be alerted to news about future field seasons, volunteering opportunities, or general news about the Project, you can do one or all of the following:

• Contact Nick Brooks (see below) and ask to be added to the general Project mailing list (very low traffic) or the volunteer mailing list (very low traffic outside of field season preparation periods - a separate list will be set up for confirmed volunteers for a particular season).

• Subscribe to the Project Twitter feed (WSaharaProject) - occasional tweets about the Project and other topics related to Western Sahara.

• Find the Western Sahara Project on Facebook. Project news and updates, including about field seasons, will be posted here.
  

To register an interest in participating in futre field seasons, or to request more information, please contact:

    - Nick Brooks for reconnaissance survey work and general enquiries (nick.brooks [at] uea.ac.uk) 

    - Joanne Clarke for excavation work (joanne.clarke [at] uea.ac.uk)