What are they for and why does the Vindolanda Trust have to charge them?
The Vindolanda Trust is a registered charity which has the promotion of access to archaeology at its very core. As such the Vindolanda Trust consciously works hard to keep excavation fees as low as possible so that they do not become a barrier to participation on the excavations. In an ideal world participation on the excavations would be completely free, but sadly this is not possible. The Vindolanda Trust charges a nominal fee of £70 + membership to Friends of Vindolanda for up to 2 weeks on the excavations. The fee has gone up for the first time in a while due to a combination of inflation and the new rate of VAT (20%) which is due on the 1st of January 2011. The fee does not come anywhere close to covering the cost of the excavations – with staff costs, equipment, insurances, research and laboratory costs, etc., the Trust spends around £200,000 a year on its excavation programme. The money each excavator contributes towards the excavations works incredibly hard to help make the pla
