Archaeology - ROMANIA Archaeological Volunteer Stories

Bea Ramsay - Volunteer Archaeology in Romania

At the beginning of May I arrived in Romania to start my two months of digging. I was also looking forward to exploring and learning something about a country I knew virtually nothing about.

After spending a day or so settling in at my host's in Brasov, I, two other volunteers and our "neo-Neolithic" supervisor George set off to north western Transylvania for a two week dig.

My first experience of archaeology in Romania took place in a large village called Sic, about an hour's bus journey from Cluj. The site was located around and inside an 11th century reformed church in need of some serious restoration, which could only take place after the building, especially its foundations, had been thoroughly archaeologically investigated. The two weeks which I spent at this site were certainly a lot of fun and very interesting. As I had had some experience of digging previous to the trip, unlike most of the volunteers, not much of what we were doing was particularly challenging or new to me but it was still extremely enjoyable. Although there were no major finds we all had a fun two weeks excavating a lot of skeletons and cleaning walls.

Our accommodation in the village, it has to be said, did leave quite a lot to be desired! We were staying in an abandoned old people's home with no hot water, loos which barely flushed and taps which, by the end of the two weeks, let out only a trickle of water at best. However even these conditions were manageable and even quite amusing at times. I think we would all agree that we were bonded by the experience! Luckily the villagers were extremely kind, offering us showers and cooking us delicious lunches. On our time off at the weekends we explored the village and surrounding countryside, and also took a trip to Cluj.

After our two weeks slumming it in Sic, we were all quite glad to return to Brasov and recuperate for a few days. As well as recovering we also fitted in a few trips to Bran (the world's number one hot spot for tacky Dracula masks and mugs!) and Rasnov (a very pretty citadel just outside Brasov), as well as exploring Brasov a bit more.

After about four days rest we were off to the next dig, this time for three weeks and based in a university town called Alba Iulia. As we were staying in university accommodation we were all pleased to find that this time round we had hot water on tap and loos that actually worked! For the first couple of days we worked on a Roman dig within the university campus, in which we mainly found a lot of brick, pottery and bones. Half way through the first week the weather turned quite bad and, as the archaeologists at the site did not seem too enthusiastic about digging anyway, we spent a few days sitting around doing very little. Luckily George with his contacts arranged for us to be moved on to another dig where the archaeologists were more willing to give us work. We spent the remainder of our time in Alba Iulia at this dig excavating, first, a Germanic tribal hut and then a possible Dacian hut. Some of the finds we discovered included a comb and some Roman glass as well as lots of pot. On the days when the weather was too bad to dig we were able to go to the pottery reconstruction part of the university and, as well doing some pot washing, try our hand at some reconstruction.

We spent the weekends doing more travelling round Transylvania. We visited Sigishoara, Sibiu and Targu Mures, all of which are well worth a visit, especially Sibiu which is currently the capital of culture for 2007 and an extremely fun place to stay for a few days. After three weeks we once more returned to Brasov for rest and recuperation. This time we spent just over a week in Brasov and were able to make a trip to Sinaia to visit the eccentric Peles Castle. I and two other volunteers also spent a weekend in Moldavia visiting the wonderful painted monasteries, well worth a trip if you can face the eight hour overnight train to Suceava.

After just over a week we all set off to my third and final dig of my trip. This was based in a town called Simleu Silvaniei to the north west of Cluj. The excavations were centred on a ruined medieval residence which had been owned by an extremely wealthy Hungarian family. The plan for the site was to reveal the structure of the house and open it up as a museum, thus promoting tourism in what was, as George said, 'a bit of a dead town'. The short time which I spent at this site was extremely interesting, and included excavating a medieval floor, cleaning a lot of burnt areas of ground and of course, as ever , cleaning lots of walls. We also did some more pottery cleaning when the weather was too hot to dig or if there was little digging for us to do as it was only the start of the project. The accommodation at this dig was, once again, interesting. We were staying in a high school which was being restored around us. At least this time we had hot water, if only in the gym, and flushing loos although all the dust and the uncomfortable beds weren't so great. I came out covered in bed bug bites. After I left the dig George in fact moved the volunteers into much better accommodation.

I only stayed for three days at this dig as I was leaving the week afterwards and wanted to do a few more trips along with a couple of other volunteers. The last week of my stay in Romania I spent making trips to Prejmer and Poiana Brasov. We were also taken to a very dramatic gorge near Rasnov by two of the TPA staff to see an army demonstration, certainly something you wouldn't see as just your average tourist.

After having had a very enjoyable two months in Romania I was extremely sad to leave at the end of June. I would definitely recommend the archaeology placement to anyone, beginners and more experienced archaeologists alike. Of course you have to be prepared for a lot of scraping and digging in the dirt often for very little in the way of finds. You also have to be the sort of person who doesn't mind living in a little less comfort than you are used to for a few weeks. The great advantage of the placement is that in getting out of Brasov, and travelling all over Transylvania, the archaeology volunteers are able to experience and see a lot more of Romania than most of the other volunteers based in Brasov. I really enjoyed my time in Romania and would love to return later. It is a really wonderful country with stunning scenery, a rich historical past and amazing places to visit. I would urge anyone to go and experience it for themselves.

Bea Ramsay

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