2025 Italy: pran'e siddi
Open
Jun 1-29, 2025
Archaeology
Dr. Emily Holt & Dr. Mauro Perra
$4,540
April 4, 2025
April 19, 8:30am Pacific Time
8 Semester Credits
The Italian government requires a tetanus vaccination for all individuals working on archaeological projects.
Due to the pervasive presence of wheat and nut products in Sardinian cuisine and the impossibility of avoiding cross-contamination in small restaurant kitchens, this program will not be able to accommodate students with severe gluten or nut allergies.
Register of Professional Archaeologists scholarships are available for this program. Check our scholarship page for details.
OVERVIEW
Pran’e Siddi, or the Siddi Plateau, is a high basaltic plateau located in the south-central part of the island of Sardinia (Italy), near the modern town of Siddi. The area around Siddi was inhabited by prehistoric villagers beginning in the Neolithic period (ca. 4000-3200 BCE). During the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1700-1450 BCE), these previously egalitarian people began to develop a hierarchical social system with an elite who expressed their power and prestige through the building of monumental stone towers called nuraghi. The elites of the Nuragic community on the Siddi Plateau built sixteen nuraghi, which they lived in and added onto for three centuries. By 1450 BCE, however, the elite sites on the Siddi Plateau seem to have been abandoned, and the population moved away. Progetto Pran’e Siddi was formed to conduct a thorough investigation of Nuragic climate, environment, land use, and economic practices in the Siddi region. We are interested in finding out what kinds of pressures – social, environmental, and/or economic – made the Nuragic people abandon their towers on the plateau. We are answering these questions through a combination of archaeological excavation and survey.
Measuring wall structure at Prane Siddi
Dr. Holt presenting a grinding stone
Dr. Holt taking excavation notes
Students excavating at the Prane Siddi plateau
Working at a long trench at the site
Cleaning surfaces for photography
instructors
All field school directors are experts in their field and passionate about their work. To discuss the suitability of this program for your career goals – whether within or outside academia – you are invited to contact the directors directly. For a broader discussion which CFS program to choose, you are welcome to contact our staff directly – you can do that through our “Contact Us” page.
Dr. Emily Holt
Cardiff University (UK)
DR. Mauro Perra
Civico Museo Archeologico “Su Mulinu” di Villanovafranca
Testimonials
Its an amazing experience and a great way to get immersed into a different culture. The townspeople are very friendly and love to chat. The food was delicious, and the staff are very supportive and love to answer questions. Going on field trips was a great way to learn more about Sardinia and see other towns. It was a great way to get a lot of hands on experience and I learned a lot about a new culture, archaeology, and its methods.
From 2024 Student Evaluations
I am involved in the archaeology department at my home institution and will be recommending this program to my peers. I learned so much in only a month and the staff were all incredible. It is a program that I feel incredibly fortunate to be a part of and one that I am absolutely willing and happy to direct my peers to because I am confident it will be as valuable for them as it was for me. Siddi is a lovely town to live in and not only did I learn a lot academically, I was able to have many other fun experiences with the local culture completely outside of the academics of the school. The programs mission and methodology are ones that I think are keeping with modern archaeological standards and ethics faster than many of the other programs I’ve seen or heard of my peers’ experiences with. The staff is also very clearly putting a priority not only on their own research but on the student experience, making sure students are getting as much value as they can from the program.
From 2024 Student Evaluations
I would recommend this program to a friend because I feel that the whole experience between academia and social life was worth the cost. I feel as though the archaeological experience is enough for a person to recognize whether or not this is the career choice for them. The directors and CFS were amazing at not making anything in the process confusing and making the whole experience rewarding.
From 2024 Student Evaluations
I went to the Pran’e Siddi Field School with no prior excavation experience or knowledge of Sardinian archaeology. In my five weeks in Siddi I was able to develop a strong foundation in excavation and survey techniques and be part of of a really exciting project (Nuragic archaeology is a fascinating time period to work in!). I liked that my time at this field school was split between excavation and survey because I could work on a wider range of archaeological skills and could learn about more Nuragic sites. The project staff was very helpful and knowledgeable, and I enjoyed working with students from different universities and countries. While the weather was very hot and I was nervous about my lack of Italian language skills, the whole team was very careful to ensure we were safe and I had an awesome time getting to know Siddi and learning some basic Italian. I would recommend this field school to any student looking to learn or strengthen their archaeological skills in survey and excavation, and who wants to be part of an international project that brings together many different methodologies and perspectives to explore the past.
Madeleine Blackburn, Oxford University (2022)
student fees (tuition)
what is covered
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DEPOSIT IS PART OF TOTAL TUITION COST
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Costs of Instruction
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Room & Board are provided at no additional cost through funding from the Comune di Siddi
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Cost of Academic Credit Units
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Health and Evacuation Insurance
read before you pay
- Application: You must apply online for this program – application is free
- Deposit: A $300 nonrefundable deposit (part of the total tuition cost) is required to secure a space in the program
- Credit Card Fee: Payments with credits cards incur 2.5% processing fee
- Late Fee: A $100 Late Fee will be added to the program costs if tuition is not paid in full by payment deadline
- Cancelation Policy: Carefully read our Cancelation Policy before committing to attend our programs
- Trip cancellation Insurance: Trip cancellation insurance is not provided by CFS. Such policies have changed due to Covid 19. If you wish to purchase an insurance policy that covers pandemic contingencies, explore Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) plans. Insuremytrip or Travel Guard are possible websites where you may explore different insurance policies
Accommodations
Room and board in Siddi are generously provided by funding from the Comune di Siddi. Students will live in comfortable, but modest, field housing in the town of Siddi. Conditions at the field accommodations are basic: there is only one bathroom, hot water may run out, and students will share communal rooms. Mattresses will be provided, but it may be necessary for some students to sleep on mattresses on the floor.
diet
Breakfast will take place at the Piazza Bar. Lunch and dinner will take place at local restaurants. Students should be advised that traditional Italian breakfast is quite light: coffee or tea and a pastry. Students with larger appetites may wish to purchase additional foods at the local minimarket. Lunch and dinner are more substantial meals. They are communal events that will introduce students to the traditions of Sardinian cuisine. Sardinian food is delicious and hearty, but students should be aware that meat plays a large role in it.
travel information
We suggest you hold purchasing airline tickets until six (6) weeks before the program begins. Natural disasters, political changes, weather conditions & a range of other factors may require the cancelation this field school. CFS typically makes a final Go/No Go decision about six weeks before the field school begins. To protect students from potential financial loss, we urge students to purchase airline tickets only six weeks prior to program beginning.
Students will be met by Dr. Holt and staff members at the Cagliari airport (CAG) on Sunday, June 1, at 5:00 pm local time. For students who choose to travel in Sardinia before the project begins, the airport is easily reachable by bus or train from the main Cagliari bus/train station; buses leave for the airport roughly every hour and trains leave a little more frequently.
visa information
Citizens of the US, Canada and EU countries do not require visas to enter Italy. You will need your passport to be valid for at least 90 days and will enter on a tourist visa. Citizens of other countries are asked to check the embassy website page at their home country for specific visa requirements
No vaccinations are required for entry to Italy but anyone working in archaeology in the country needs to have an up-to-date tetanus shot.
Meeting Point
| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| June 1, 2025 | 5:00pm | Cagliari Airport (CAG) arrival area |
Safety
Our primary concern is with education. Traveling and conducting field work involves risk. Students interested in participating in our programs must weigh whether the potential risk is worth the value of education provided. While risk is inherent in everything we do, we do not take risk lightly. We engage in intensive review of each field school location prior to approval. Once a program is accepted, we review and monitor each program annually to make sure it complies with all our standards and policies, including student safety.
Students attending our international programs are covered by a comprehensive Health Insurance policy that includes physical illness or injury, mental or chronic conditions. There are no deductible and 100% of costs are covered up to $250,000. In addition, we provide Political & Natural Disaster Evacuation policy, which allow us to remove students from program location if conditions change.
Students attending our domestic programs (within the US) must have their own health insurance and provide proof upon enrollment. Program directors are familiar with local authorities and if in need of evacuation, local emergency services and/or law enforcement will be notified and activated.
We have an explicit and robust harassments & discriminations policies. If students feel they cannot discuss personal safety issues with program staff, they are welcome to call the CFS emergency hotline and talk directly with CFS staff members.
Call (+1 562 584-0761) or email (info@fieldsciences.org) if you have questions about the safety of any program.