From Italy to Tunisia, passing through Aragon and the Balearic Islands: students of the Archaeology Diploma participate in national and international excavations this summer.
The stays have allowed them to work in world-class reference letter teams, to apply the theory acquired in the classroom and to learn how to disseminate the heritage.
This summer, students from the Degree in History and Diploma in Archaeology from the School of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Navarra have had the opportunity to put in internship the knowledge acquired in the classroom throughout the course, in some of the most prestigious archaeological sites in Europe and North Africa.
Zsófi Friedrichgraduated last May, joined the excavation campaign in Aquinum (Italy), a Roman city of great historical relevance. There she was involved in the village of Eucheriawhere access to the cryptoportico and worked in the collapse of a caldarium. As Zsófi explains, "integrating myself into a real archaeological work environment from the beginning was a core topic for gaining confidence, making more informed decisions in the field and starting to build a professional network . The experience, he adds, has also served to enrich his subsequent work in the Museum of Navarre attending guided tours during the summer: "I have been able to enrich the explanations about the mosaics of the villa El Ramalete, which also has a hypocaust, like the one we were excavating in Aquinum. This connection between theory, field internship and knowledge dissemination has been a core topic for my professional development .
In Spain, Maddi Aguirre, a 4th year student, collaborated in the work at Ampurias (Girona), a benchmark in classical archaeology, and at the medieval and Roman archaeological sites in the Navarrese municipality of Peralta. For her, these opportunities are one of the keys to learning in the Diploma: "Being able to participate in a variety of projects is extremely enriching, because by working with different teams we discover new ways of excavating, applying different techniques and establishing professional relationships". Also on national territory, Naiara Monroy, a 2nd year degree program student, was part of the team of archaeologists investigating in Aranda de Moncayo, at the Celtiberian site of Aratis. Of the experience she emphasizes "the contrast of epochs under the ground and how the initial hypotheses can change when excavating, even denying the traditional legends of the place".
Naiara monroy
For its part, José María Beorlegui y Aitor Monrealthird year students, participated in the excavations at Los Bañales of Uncastillo (Zaragoza), in which Diploma students collaborate every year. In addition, they attended to the visitors of the Santa Criz de Eslava Roman site (Navarra), an experience that allowed them to combine research and knowledge dissemination: "Participating in both archaeological campaigns and public knowledge dissemination has allowed me to get out of my comfort zone, gain experience and discover that I enjoy work that I would never have imagined", explains José María. Both have collaborated in recent days in the campaign of soundings in Santa Criz de Eslava in which have taken part, also, students of 1st year of History with the Diploma in Archaeology.
Other students have also been able to learn first-hand about projects of great interest outside Navarra, such as Florencia Spano, who has worked in the Roman city of Pollentia (Alcudia, Mallorca), or Gabriel Bonilla, who has participated in the excavation of Alto de la Cruz, in Cortes (Navarra), one of the most relevant sites of the peninsular Protohistory.
The international experience of the Diploma students was extended to Tunisia, where Pablo Cruz, a 3rd degree program student, did a summer internship at the Bardo Museum, an institution that houses one of the most important collections of Roman mosaics in the world. There he worked on restoring statues and update the epigraphic Catalog : "This experience has allowed me to understand first-hand the dynamics of an international museum and to learn in contact with a different culture".
As Javier Andreu, Full Professor of Ancient History and director of the Diploma in Archaeology, points out, "thanks to these stays, in contact with multidisciplinary teams and in environments of great historical value, our students not only reinforce their technical training , but also have the opportunity to broaden their knowledge in the management and dissemination of cultural heritage. For them, it is also an opportunity to explore the various professional opportunities offered by archaeology and archaeological heritage. On the other hand, he pointed out that the Diploma in Archaeology offered by the University of Navarra "is conceived as a professional training platform that puts them in contact with cutting-edge projects and innovative research techniques and, therefore, with leading teams working in Navarra and beyond".
He also made reference letter to the research trajectory in Archaeology of subject School of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Navarra, which this year celebrates its 70th anniversary: "With this subject of activities, the School, which this year celebrates seven decades, underlines the intense tradition of archaeological research that it has always had, both in Prehistory and Classical Archaeology, since the existence of the seminar of Archaeology in the 60s of last century, and shows the capacity of relationship of this center with pioneering archaeological projects both local and neighboring and external".
