Tel Dor Excavation Project

Step 1: Personal information (confidential)

Additional Skills:

All volunteers will be engaged in all types of archaeological activities, as needed, but some considerations will be given to your preferences. Please indicate your predisposition to:

Duration of stay:

Please contact us for any special arrangement regarding your participation period.

Costs:

• Full season: $2700
• Half-season: $1700

• UW students: $200
• non-UW students: $450

Special discounts will be given to:

• Students (particulary of archaeology and related disciplines)
• Dor returnees
• Special skills

If you qualify as one of the above, please send us an e-mail.

Registration Fees

Please send (by snail-mail) a $100 deposit. Your application form will be processed and registration confirmation will be sent to you when the deposit has been received in our office.

Step 2: Information for registered volunteers

Below is further information relating to your registration, payment schedules, and conditions for participation. Your registration will be emailed when you press 'I accept'.

1. Your Balance and Your Volunteer Manual

The balance of your contribution is due by May 15. We will send you a volunteer manual that provides detailed information about Israel, Tel Dor, our excavation goals and techniques, and practical help as to what you should bring, local conditions, and so on.

2. Manner of payment

All checks, money orders, etc. should be made out to:
"The ISRAEL EXPLORATION SOCIETY - The Renewed Tel Dor Project"
And sent care of:
Dr. E. Bloch-Smith
123 Upland Terrace
Bala Cynwyd
PA 19004
USA

3. Schedule of payments and refund policy

On May 15 we commit accommodations, as well as hire staff according to the number of volunteers then registered. After that date we are subject to cancellation fees. Therefore:

1. If the balance of your payment has not been received by that date, your registration is void. Re-registering will depend on available place, and may cost more.
2. Our refund policy is:

   If for any reason we are forced to cancel your participation, you will receive a full refund.

   If you withdraw from the expedition before June 15, you will receive a full refund less 100 Euro for our expenses.

   If you withdraw from the expedition after this date, but before the agreed date of your arrival at Dor, you will receive a 50% refund.

   If you do not show up for the excavation as agreed without prior notice, or decide to withdraw after your arrival, we regret that no refunds can be given.

In twenty-five years of excavation at Dor, and thousands of volunteers that have past through, there have been only a few cases where we were forced to expel a volunteer. Such cases may include deliberate miss-representation in your registration, chronic absenteeism or lateness, unjustified refusal to participate in dig-related activities, and illegal (under Israeli law), unusually offensive, or dangerous (to self or others) behavior. In case of expulsion, you will not be entitled to a refund.

4. Conditions of Participation

We must now remind you of certain conditions of your participation in the dig, and of some arrangements that you must decide whether or not to make:

1. Participation. The success of an archaeological dig depends upon fulltime participation by every team member. By joining us and sending us your final balance you commit yourself to excavating fulltime on the site and to participating fulltime in all required or requested off-site tasks (such as pottery washing, registration, data input, and so on, as explained on our web-site), each and every working day for the entire period of your enrollment.
2. As a volunteer member of a research project of the universities in the Dor consortium, you are expected to maintain a standard of conduct consistent with these institutions. You will receive, in your introductory packet and in the field, detailed instructions regarding safety rules, dig regulations and work ethics - on site, offsite, and while traveling in Israel. You must abide by these rules. You must also observe and respect the customs of the host country, Israel.
3. Our safety record to date has been outstanding. We are not digging near any frontiers, disputed zones, or other actual or potential terrorist target areas. In case of accident and/or sickness there are readily available medical facilities within about a dozen miles from the site. Nevertheless, certain exposures to risk may occur. These exposures include but are not limited to: accidents while traveling on the ground, in the sea and in the air; the forces of nature; war and terrorist action; and hazards of field archaeology such as deep pits, wall or balk collapse; use and misuse of tools and equipment; and so on. Please be advised that by undertaking to volunteer for the Dor excavation you understand and appreciate these and other inherent risks, you voluntarily agree to take them, and you agree not sue the Dor consortium, any of its staff, or its sponsoring institutions in case of accident or mishap. It is up to you to make sure you are adequately insured against any such eventuality.
4. Personal accident-medical insurance. You must obtain this for your entire trip, for the participating universities assume no responsibility for emergency transportation, medical, or hospitalization costs resulting from illness or accident before, during, or after the excavation season. You must send us proof by May 15 that you have obtained such insurance, or your participation in the Expedition will be subject to cancellation. (Check with your medical plan, if you have one. Many plans reimburse medical expenses unavoidably incurred overseas; if yours does not, or if you currently have no medical insurance, relatively inexpensive travel-accident insurance packages are obtainable from most travel agents.)
5. Baggage, valuables, trip cancellation, and flight insurance may also interest you and, if so, you should arrange them independently; again, they are usually included in the travel-accident insurance packages obtainable from travel agents. Please note that both the excavation and the resort are located near a public beach. We will not be responsible for theft or damage to personal effects or valuables not deposited in the hotel safe.

Step 3: Submission

I hereby state that I have complete health, accident, and personal posessions (theft and damage) insurance, valid in Israel. I have been pronounced by my doctor and my insurance program to be medically fit, and up to the exertions of manual work in hot climate. I have read carefully the "Information for Registered Volunteers" page and the "Conditions for Participation" clauses therein, understood them, and accept them. I am aware that should the above statements be untrue, I would be subject to forfeit my participation and would have no claim for recompensation from the Tel Dor Project, its supporting institutions, or any of its members