Italy Prane Siddi

The Prane Siddi program is evolving nicely, moving for a combination of survey and excavation to focus on excavation only. Research questions are formulated in the tradition of anthropological archaeology, reflecting the program director US based archaeology training. The strong emphasis on a single area and close relationships with the local community reflect a European sensibility and approach to archaeology, so students enjoy the best of both theoretical worlds. Dr. Holt is clearly in her element and knows the Middle Bronze Sardinian archaeology well, providing students with training in excavation practices that are highly influenced by the integration of the latest scientific methods. While housing seems to be a bit of a challenge, this field schools scores very high on quality of food. Not surprising given that the program is in Italy.
Dr. Holt made significant strides in integrating readings into the actual field work, and her team is growing with her – intellectually and as leaders in the field school. It is odd that students do not think the program allows for independent research opportunities as the program is very open to such initiatives and several supervisors in the program were past students. Dr. Holt needs to address this gap in information and emphasize to students that the Prane Siddi field school has a history of offering research opportunity to students at all levels.

Giving students real-life GIS experience with data they collect themselves is an amazing
opportunity and very ambitious in this short period of time. If you can pull it off, that's a huge
strength. The other obvious strength is the quality of the food combined with the fact that meals are sponsored and not on the students' dime. Given the sponsorship and the rustic-sounding accommodations, it's a shame it can't be a smidge cheaper. But I suppose that's the
reality of the post-Covid world.

The only reason I did not note a 10 out of 10 is due to student perceptions of Italy. Some students expect "too much" and will always ding housing and food accommodations.

The fieldschool looks excellent, and Sardinia is a great place for students to learn archaeology.

All the staffs are really nice and professional and I really learned a lot.

overall this program is a great opportunity that allows for the participants to learn about archaeology, both lab and field work, and gave us the ability to think and draw conclusions to what we were finding.

I absolutely loved this program and I would recommend it for many reasons. First, the staff was incredible. I respected each person immensely. They are all so knowledgeable, kind, and caring. I knew I could always talk to them if there was a problem and they were always there to help. I’ve never had such attentive professors/supervisors, so learning from the staff here has been so valuable. It is obvious that they all love what they do and have great passion for the field. I look up to all the staff and I hope I can one day achieve their level or knowledge and experience of archaeology. Second, the plateau is amazing. I loved every second of field work. The heat was intense at times, but experiencing hands on field work was worth every drop of sweat. Next, it’s in Italy! You can’t beat the beauty of this place. The culture, food, people, and general way of life is an amazing thing to experience. I felt at home and was never uncomfortable. Fourth, the price is unbeatable. For tuition, housing, food, and transportation, this price was insanely reasonable. I compared many other field schools and this one was by far the best deal. Finally, the friends I made were another great aspect of this project. Being surrounded by people who have similar goals and interests as me has been awesome. They were all kind and supportive and I loved being around most of them daily!

I think one of the best things about this field school in relation to others is that we don’t have to cover the costs of food, so many others don’t even have set restaurants to go it, and every student is left for themselves to eat. This field school covers all of that and everyone at the restaurants are amazing, as well as the food. The actual school was really good too. There was a lot to do and a lot that was new to the students, but the staff was amazing and helped us along the way. The group of students was also amazing, I have made some friends here that will last. Emily is an amazing project director, she is really approachable and kind. Any questions and she is happy to answer, so much so that she gives all the students the opportunity to set up a meeting with her to ask anything, whether it’s about archaeology or grad school. She is incredibly helpful, and so is the other staff.

I think it is a wonderful way to further your academic and professional interests. This program is also set in such a beautiful place with wonderful people and I would not trade this experience for the world. I have learned a lot and had a lot of fun!

I have learned so much and have also made very good friends and connected with staff and people in the community in ways I wasn’t expecting. The staff and restaurants were very accommodating and welcoming to everyone. Housing and food was much better than I expected and overall the experience was extremely positive and I will take lots of knowledge and memories from this field school with me in the future.

I would recommend this program to a friend because of how much quality information you learn and the amazing experience that comes with it. The instructors are all committed to teaching you the best information about archaeology. Also, being around other students who share your passion for archaeology and scholarly work is a great environment. Siddi is a nice place with very kind people.

This experience is almost like a “jack of all trades” where you are able to get hands on experience in more than just excavation. This opens up the field of archeology more. As for me, I now better know what happens in the field and know techniques and methods on how to do research.

I feel it was the perfect experience for one to determine if they want to continue pursuing archaeology or not

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.

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.

Due to this program I have a better knowledge of more aspects of the field of archeology. This program is almost like a “jack of all trades” field school where you get to learn and experience more than just excavation and get very good knowledge about what you are doing from lab to survey to excavation.

I had a lot of fun and I learned so much. The instructors were amazing and had so much knowledge to share with us. They truly cared about our success.

I would highly recommend this field school for someone interested in landscape and environmental archaeology, but I would not recommend it for someone interested in art history or large item discoveries. I felt that the majority of time was spent doing repetitive tasks on very small items such as obsidian fragments, charcoal etc. I think the CFS website should have specified that this field school is mostly about spatial distribution of small items, not about studying art, architecture, or historical analysis.

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 sardenga 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.

If someone was interested with prehistory the nuragic culture I would tell them to go ahead and try. This program operated well as a crash course in archaeology and gave experience that would be imperative in CRM or any other pursuit of archaeology.

Most of the people I have met have been very nice, friendly, interested and interesting. Additionally, the employment of scientific methods in the field school has been very insightful.