TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – College students across the state and around the nation may apply to participate in an upcoming University of Alabama/Cuban joint archaeological excavation of portions of a 16th century Cuban Indian town.

Sept. 15 is the application deadline for students interested in participating in the 10-week excavation of part of a former Arawakan Indian town in south-central Cuba. The multi-institution effort, led by UA in conjunction with the Provincial Center of Cultural Patrimony of Cienfuegos, Cuba, begins Jan. 17. It centers around the excavation of earthen mounds occupied by the Arawakan Indians at the time of the Spanish conquest of the island. For more information, including an on-line application for the program, see the UA Web site http://cubafieldschool.ua.edu.

Ten U.S. students will be selected to participate in a field school, held in conjunction with the archaeological expedition, where they will earn 15 hours of credit in anthropology. They will work hand-in-hand with Cuban students of anthropology.

Project leaders include Dr. Vernon James “Jim” Knight, professor of anthropology at The University of Alabama and co-investigator of the project, along with the Provincial Center's Marcos E. Rodríguez Matamoros and Mississippi State University’s John W. O’Hear.

The excavation will advance a 1980s effort -- which began as a joint Cuban-Soviet project but ended with the dismantling of the Soviet Union -- at the archaeological site of Loma del Convento. On this site, located on a high hill overlooking the lower Arimao River Valley near Cienfuegos, Cuba, are nine earthen mounds surrounding an open area. The mounds were probably the locations of residences. It is one the few sites in Cuba that have yielded evidence of early 16th century Spanish contact.