Usually, no previous experience is necessary. The work includes digging, shoveling, hauling baskets of earth, cleaning pottery shards, and more. One such site is Tel Tanninim, an ancient harbor city on the Mediterranean coast, five kilometers north of Caesarea. The dig, entering its third season this summer, is led by Prof. Robert Stieglitz, who teaches biblical archaeology, the Bible as literature, and Jewish civilization courses at Rutgers University in Newark. Stieglitz, originally from Ukraine, lived as a child in Israel, and returns often.
Volunteers are responsible for their own travel arrangements to and from Israel.
Religion-wise, the mix is about half Jewish and half Christian. Stieglitz notes that archaeology is a major part of the tourism business. Any of the reasons they are visiting Israel involves archaeology. If it's spiritual, they have to go to the holy sites, and if it's secular, they still want to see interesting sites. Besides, the past is part of the present in Israel.