Looking for an active vacation with a twist? Consider joining up with one of the dozens of archeological digs taking place around Ukraine, where volunteers are welcome and history lies waiting.
This is no time for lying down on the job – or on the vacation.Sure the idea of a seaside holiday sounds like fun at first, and everyone wants to relax. But there’s nothing more boring than waking up in the morning, plodding down to the beach and scorching heat solely for the purpose of laying face down on a towel and basking in the sun. This is the new millennium and people know (or should know) that the best kinds of vacations offer a combination of rest, recreation, exercise and education.
Looking around for just such an option? Try looking down. More than 200 archaeological expeditions take place in Ukraine each year, and many of them gladly welcome outsiders as volunteers. In the West, this partnership is known as archaeological tourism, and it can be quite costly for amateurs to take part. In Ukraine you can participate for free and with minimal living expenses along the way.
The nature and number of the options are astonishing.
“Ukraine boasts some of the richest archaeological sites and some of the most unique finds, said Nadiya Havrylyuk from the Archaeology Institute Field Committee, the main body responsible for archaeological heritage in Ukraine. “Its archaeological monuments represent the entire history of mankind from 30,000 BC to the 17th century.”
The country’s Upper Paleolithic excavations document the cultural development of primeval man, with some of the first sculptures of female forms and pictures of hunting parties tracking mammoths. Mesolithic finds dating from 12,000‑13,000 BC reveal the emergence of the bow.
Then there are the examples of Trypillyan culture with its famed clay work. The Bronze and early Iron ages are traced through the evolution of the Scythian people and the nomadic tribes that settled in the Ukrainian steppe. Always a major trade route, the Black Sea and surrounding coast contain ruins of Greek Hellenic settlements dating back to 7th century BC. Early Slavic tribes populated central Ukraine from 5th‑9th century AD. Then came the establishment of Kyivan Rus, followed by the Mongol‑Tatars in the mid‑1200s and later the Medieval nomads. From the 15th to the 17th centuries Cossack culture flourished.
Archeological finds on Ukrainian soil from three cultures in particular have significance for all of Europe: the Trypillian culture, the Scythians and the Hellenic. And that means archeological business. There are currently more that 500 archaeological sites being examined, and new finds are unearthed every season. And there are lots more out there, according to Havrylyuk, making Ukraine unique among European countries.
“In Western Europe most of archeological relics have either been explored, or destroyed by farming or development,” Havrylyuk said.
Since the 1880s government authorities have overseen Ukraine’s archaeological heritage. Several Russian tsars took a personal interest in archaeology and claimed some of the best finds for their private collections. To this day the state retains rights over Ukrainian archeology – even on private property – meaning many relics lie untouched just waiting for the archeological spade.
It’s not always the archaeologists who first get a hold of the ancient treasures, though. Ukraine’s “black archaeology” market is thriving. Just last year a 1,800‑square‑meter section of the Hellenic city of Olvia was looted by thieves looking for valuables to sell. The thieves are a diverse lot, ranging from youths or local villagers to organized gangs with individuals versed in archaeology, sophisticated equipment and even armed guards.
“We are talking about a criminal mafia,” Havrylyuk said.
But even with thousands of dollars worth of relics disappearing from Ukrainian soil yearly, many more treasures remain, and Ukrainian archaeology has been booming in recent years.
Havrylyuk explained that Soviet researchers got only as far as the Kyivan Rus period. The Cossack era and the Ottoman Empire were taboo in Soviet times. Today more focus is on the study of 12th‑ to 17th‑century archeology.
All that means there’s a whole lot of digging going on – and that an extra pair of working hands is always welcome. The official procedure for volunteering for an expedition involves registering with the Archaeology Institute the winter before the new field season begins.
Interested in getting on an expedition but dread the official registration process? Don’t worry: If you are self‑reliant in the camping and eating departments, team leaders will usually take you on if you approach them.
One of the most popular excavation sites is Olvia, a Hellenic settlement in Mykolayiv oblast. Its on‑site museum is constantly being replenished with new finds. Every summer Olvia excavations attract as many as 300 young people, not only from Ukraine but also from Russia, Germany and the United States. The beautiful landscape, the Bug River, abundant fruit and the site’s location just two hours by car from Odessa all make Olvia a popular site.
Kyiv State University is organizing an exciting underwater expedition to a shipwreck in Novy Svet Bay, near Sudak on the southern Crimea coast. Archaeologists believe the ship is the one mentioned in the famous archives of Crimea’s Genoese merchants. Those archives mention a ship sunk by the Greeks in 1277, when Sudak was a Genoese colony. The remains of the ship show signs of fire, and the cargo of amphorae indicates that it was a commercial vessel. Archaeological work continues at the site.
Closer to home there are three Old Rus‑period expeditions taking place in Kyiv, as well as several in Chernihiv. They all welcome volunteers.
Want a little more notice? Next year Havrylyuk is inviting volunteers to help on her expedition to the Scythian settlement of Kamenka near Zaporizhya on the banks of the Dnipro.
Before you set out as a guest on a dig, be aware of the chief rule of archaeologists: If you stay at a camp, you have to work. And that’s not limited to digging. Women are usually asked to clean and sort various relics and shards. You may also be asked to help with data collection, possibly by recording the archaeologists’ descriptions of the site and items found – or, if you can draw, by drawing them.
