June 26, 2008

By Darla Martin Tucker

Three La Sierra University archaeology students digging for ancient treasures in the Middle East this month will use first-time fellowships to offset costs.

Between June 25 and July 31, Jessica Logan, Megan Channer and Steven Salcido will participate in a university archaeology dig in Jordan, their trip funded in part by Heritage Fellowships of $1,000 to $2,000 each. The students received the funding from the American Schools of Oriental Research in Boston, Ma. The awards represent the first archaeology fellowships for La Sierra University students.

La Sierra joined more than 130 applicants for Heritage and Platt fellowships. Of the applicant pool, 39 students received awards.

The fellowships help La Sierra students pay the required $5,400 for airfare and tuition to participate in an eight-credit, university excavation at Tall al-'Umayri in Jordan, a site that is part of the broader Madaba Plains Project.

The three fellowship recipients will work alongside about 42 other students from several institutions, including five others from La Sierra. Participating schools include Riverside Community College, Columbia Union College in Takoma Park, Md., Oakwood University in Huntsville, Ala., Walla Walla University in Walla Walla, Wa., University of North Carolina, University of West Virginia, Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich., Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. and Mt. Royal College in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Between 12 and 14 students in the group will receive La Sierra credit.

Robert Bates, assistant professor of archaeology and history of antiquity at La Sierra, encouraged the La Sierra students to apply for the Heritage Fellowships. “I’m so proud of them,” he said. “It’s a major competition for all archaeological excavations in the Middle East.” Fellowship criteria requires students by Sept. 15 to provide the American Schools of Oriental Research a field report and a photo depicting their dig experiences. The schools of research may also publish fellowship recipients’ photos and reports in publications and promotional materials.

Bates will serve as administrative director and field supervisor at the Tall al-'Umayri excavations. He will oversee work performed by La Sierra’s students.

The Madaba Plains Project is centered at Andrews University’s Institute of Archaeology. The project consists of the Hesban, Umayri and Jalul archaeological sites located on a highland plateau between the Jordanian cities of Amman and Madaba. The region was once home to such biblical populations as the Amorites, Ammonites and Moabites. The project’s ultimate goal is to better understand cultural interactions that have taken place through the ages, according to the project’s Web site.

At Tall al-'Umayri, La Sierra fellowship recipient Salcido will work as a square supervisor and will be responsible for all excavation, paperwork and analysis for a six-meter-by-six-meter square area. He will oversee three excavators including one Jordanian and two volunteers. Logan will function as assistant square supervisor, recording information about found artifacts, their historical period and other data. Channer, an art major and archaeology minor, will excavate and create drawings of artifacts and maps of the excavation square.

The archaeology students will learn to use global positioning systems, or GPS survey devices that create three-dimensional, computerized maps that can be twisted and turned on a monitor. The technology will enable excavators to determine locations for new sites based on the location of pottery shards and other remnants found on the ground’s surface. The Madaba Plains Project-Tall al-'Umayri excavations is renting the equipment for the summer from Andrews University.

Doug Clark, La Sierra professor of biblical languages and archaeology, is co-director of the Madaba Plains Project which celebrated its 40th anniversary during the 2007-08 school year. The project is “one of the longest-lived excavations anywhere, respected by virtually everyone working in the field,” Clark said.

PR Contact: Larry Becker
Executive Director of University Relations
La Sierra University
Riverside, California
951.785.2460 (voice)