Archaeology, Spain
| country: | Spain |
| departures: | 2008: 2 Sep |
| price: | From £1150 (14 days) excluding flights. We can help arrange flights |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Cueva Victoria, Murcia, Spain - Europe has a long history, but perhaps even Europeans don't appreciate just how long it is. Here, in southern Spain, palaeontologists have found fossils of 54 vertebrate species and human remains thought to be 1.2 million years old in Cueva Victoria. Though the human remains recovered are few in number, they are some of the oldest in Western Europe and may provide information about when humans first migrated from Africa to Europe. For many years Lluís Gibert Beotas (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona) has studied the origin of the cave and the age of the fossils, as well as the geologic history of the cave. He is also exploring a Paleolithic site outside the cave in which different types of stone tools have been found, as well as a variety of bones.
It is thought that these sediments will push back the date of earliest occupation and answer some of the fundamental questions about how humans lived here. So far, volunteer excavators have found stone flakes, and most interestingly, parts of elephants and hippos together with evidence of human tools, suggesting that these animals may have been killed, butchered, and carried to some other location. A fascinating insight into the lives of early man.
Volunteers will focus on searching for fossils in the main room, the Sala Union, which is connected to the outside and filled with natural light. You may also spend some time excavating using more traditional methods at the outdoor site. You'll clean, number, and catalogue the finds, and you'll sieve sediments for microfossils. You can be sure that any major finds you make will be headline news throughout Europe.
It is thought that these sediments will push back the date of earliest occupation and answer some of the fundamental questions about how humans lived here. So far, volunteer excavators have found stone flakes, and most interestingly, parts of elephants and hippos together with evidence of human tools, suggesting that these animals may have been killed, butchered, and carried to some other location. A fascinating insight into the lives of early man. Volunteers will focus on searching for fossils in the main room, the Sala Union, which is connected to the outside and filled with natural light. You may also spend some time excavating using more traditional methods at the outdoor site. You'll clean, number, and catalogue the finds, and you'll sieve sediments for microfossils. You can be sure that any major finds you make will be headline news throughout Europe.
field conditions
You will stay in the restored 100-year-old main house or in the smaller house adjacent. The grounds include gardens and a pool. Volunteers will stay in spacious rooms, with two or three people per room, and share bathrooms with all the modern conveniences. Meals will be served in the main house, and evening lectures or work will be done in the garden. Staff will prepare all meals, which will include delightful and healthy Mediterranean salads, lamb, and paellavolunteer travel - what's it all about?
Are you are looking for an adventurous trip with a purpose, or on a gap year or career break? If you want to make a difference in some of the world’s most important conservation areas - and in community projects - then volunteer trips are for you! Volunteers tend to have a sense of adventure, and come from a range of different backgrounds and from all over the world. Edward Abbey said 'sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'.
how this holiday makes a difference
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How this organisation makes a difference:
We are a not-for-profit international environmental organisation committed to conserving the diversity and integrity of life on earth to meet the needs of current and future generations. On any one of our 130 projects round the world, you are certainly not a tourist. You will be working as a field assistant helping world renowned scientists on real environmental projects and learning about conservation issues. We give people the knowledge and the motivation to do something positive towards helping the environment, regardless of experience and background. The data that you will help to collect will be used to inform conservation decision makers around the world. Since 1971 our research has led to: - the discovery of 2000 new species - the creation of new national parks, reserves and protected areas - the collection of crucial data leading to better-informed conservation decisions. We are aware that many people travel to their project by air and recognise the impact of this on the environment. In an effort to minimise this, we have teamed up with an organisation that offsets emissions from your flights by funding renewable energy, energy efficient and forest restoration projects around the world. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |