The Russian Geographical Society invites everyone to study archaeology and history in the summer of 2025 as part of archaeological expeditions of the country’s leading research institutes. Participants of the program will gain experience in scientific work and solving practical problems in the field. The volunteers will also enjoy exciting lectures, film screenings, workshops, and weekend excursions.
Oka Archaeological Expedition (settlement II, Meshkovo)
Dates: July-August 2025. The minimum stay in the expedition is 10 days.
Location: Oryol Region, Uritsky District, the vicinity of the village of Meshkovo.
Purpose of the expedition: to continue the study of residential buildings in the first half of the 1st millennium AD.
Meeting place: Naryshkino Railway Station (urban-type settlement of Naryshkino, Oryol Region). The cost of travel to the group’s meeting place is paid by the participants themselves.
Requirements for participants: age from 18 to 40 years, readiness for physical work, discipline, ability to work with a shovel and a pickaxe. Assistance will be required in mowing the excavation site, as well as in disposing of cut trees.
Living conditions: in a tent camp, field shower, three meals a day at the expense of the expedition, electricity from a generator.
Organizers and partners: The Slavic-Sarmatian Archaeological Expedition, the State Hermitage Museum, the Oka Archaeological Expedition, the Center for Paleoethnological Research.
You must fill out an application for participation by August 10.
Photo from the archive of the Oka Archaeological Expedition
Old Ladoga Archaeological Expedition
Dates: first session — July 14–27, 2025; second session — July 28-August 10, 2025.
Location: Leningrad Region, Volkhovsky District, village of Staraya Ladoga.
Purpose of the expedition: to explore one of the oldest Russian settlements, Staraya Ladoga. Here they study the cultural layer, the ancient material culture.
Meeting place of the group: Volkhovstroy Railway Station (Volkhov, Leningrad region). The cost of travel to the group’s meeting place is paid by the participants themselves.
Requirements for participants: age from 18 to 40 years, readiness for physical work, discipline, ability to work with a shovel and a pickaxe. Skills and experience in archaeology are preferable but optional. It is preferable to have a tent and a sleeping bag, be able to cook.
Living conditions: in a tent camp in the field, field kitchen, duty, public bath house.
Organizers and partners: Institute of History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Old Ladoga Archaeological Expedition.
You must fill out an application for participation by July 6.
Artesian Archaeological Expedition
Dates: July–September 2025. The minimum stay in the expedition is 14 days.
Location: Republic of Crimea, Leninsky District, north of the village of Chistopolye, Artesian Tract.
Purpose of the expedition: to explore the ancient Greek fortress that is 2,200 years old, which protected the inhabitants of the Bosporan Kingdom from the raids of nomadic tribes.
Meeting place of the group: Chistopolye Railway Station (Republic of Crimea). The cost of travel to the group’s meeting place is paid by the participants themselves.
Requirements for participants: age from 18 to 35 years, readiness for physical work, the ability to spend time at the excavation site in the conditions of the Crimean summer sun and heat, discipline.
Living conditions: well-equipped tent field base, provided with water from a well (without restrictions), showers, electricity, Wi-Fi, kitchen and dining room, four meals a day. The working day is until 14:00.
The organizers and partners of the expedition: in 2025, the expedition is supported by the Presidential Grants Foundation, the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives, and the History of the Fatherland Foundation.
You must fill out an application for participation by August 10.
Photo courtesy of the Artesian Archaeological Expedition