Merced College student sharing archeological experience near Vesuvius

A Merced College student got the rare opportunity to participate in archeology work on the north side of Vesuvius over the summer and now is sharing his experience with others at the college.

Jose Sanchez, 23, who is studying anthropology and archeology at Merced College, participated in the Apolline Project for six weeks over the summer. The project is a multidisciplinary research project on the north side of Mount Vesuvius, the Italian volcano infamous for the destruction of Pompeii in AD 79. The Apolline Project, founded in 2004, investigates the ancient territories of Nola and Neapolis.

While in Italy, Sanchez participated in archaeological digs and helped clean and label artifacts in the lab. It was his first time traveling outside the country and his first trip on a plane, despite his fear of heights and receiving his passport one day before leaving.

Sanchez first became fascinated about fossils and archeology when he was in the fifth grade and saw the complete Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue at the Fresno Convention Center. “It’s always been an interest of mine,” he said about fossils. “To hold a fossil in your hand and think, ‘How long has this been around? And how did it survive?’– that’s always interested me.”

Sanchez learned of the Apolline Project by chance while scrolling through Facebook. He applied, not expecting to receive an acceptance letter about a month later. The project typically has 20 slots for students, and Sanchez was the only junior college student accepted, he said. Many other students were from universities such as Oxford and Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

“But when it came down to the actual dig, I was the only one who knew what to do,” Sanchez said.

A highlight of the trip for Sanchez was extracting the remains of a 6-month-old baby girl from a burial jar.

Before he set off for Italy, Christine Grimaldi Clarkson, an instructional technician in Merced College’s anthropology department, mentored Sanchez on how archeology work in Europe would differ from work in the U.S. and the different excavating methods.

Grimaldi Clarkson said in the college’s field school, students work on a local Native American site but have no exposure to uncovering structures. She taught Sanchez about the Harris matrix, a tool to interpret archaeological sequences.

To help pay for the trip, Sanchez approached the Associated Students of Merced College to request funding. After the student senators agreed, and going through a long and arduous process, Sanchez received $3,000 from the student government.

In return for the donation, Sanchez promised the student government to report back on his experience.

“We immediately thought it was a great idea because he highlighted the opportunity and how he would be the only community college student to go on the trip and accompany university students,” said Miguel Garcia, 20, who was the Area 5 senator for the Associated Students when Sanchez appealed for funding.

Garcia said Associated Students was happy to directly contribute to a student. “We look forward to helping Merced College students go beyond and turn academics into real-life experiences and opportunities that that they can look forward to,” he said.

Sanchez said he was thankful for an experience most students don’t get. “Being in Pompeii and places you only read about – it’s something not everybody gets to go,” he said. “You can read as much as you want about it, but when you’re there it’s a different point of view.”

This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Merced College student sharing archeological experience near Vesuvius."