Washington University in St. Louis Classics major Aaron Held has been awarded funding from the Suzanne Mizera and James Risch Fund to support his participation in the Poggio Civitate Archaeological Project Field School in Tuscany this summer.

Held, who has been accepted into the university’s MA program in Classics, will gain his first hands-on experience in archaeological fieldwork through the program. The opportunity marks a significant step toward his goal of becoming an archaeologist specializing in Roman and late antique Egypt.

The Poggio Civitate Field School runs from June 25 to August 1 and offers training in excavation, survey, stratigraphic drawing, conservation, photography, and cataloguing. The site, located in central inland Tuscany, has yielded important evidence of Etruscan occupation dating from the 7th to the 5th centuries BCE.

Participants rotate between excavation and lab work, gaining experience in the full process of archaeological investigation—from uncovering artifacts in the field to conserving and documenting them in the laboratory.

Held plans to build on this training through future participation in the Amheida excavations under the direction of Professor Nicola Aravecchia. He hopes to develop his master’s research project from his work at Amheida, eventually extending it into longer-term scholarly endeavors.

The Suzanne Mizera and James Risch Fund supports Classics students pursuing opportunities that expand their academic and research experiences in meaningful ways.