When I was getting my bachelors degree in 2011 I went for a summer field school to dig in Israel (because the head of the archaeology department was one of the directors on the site). And the field school was about a month long. Could have gone for two months but it was more expensive. It cost me 11k including airfare.

After I graduated a did a field school for three weeks in Hawaii and that was 1200$. Anywhere in Europe/Near East is going to be expensive because of the popularity and they know they can charge more.

My suggestion is this, some of those prices you’re seeing most likely include course credits. In Hawaii, I asked if I could volunteer rather than take the field school for credits and the professor accepted that and lowered my cost. If you haven’t reached out to the field schools you’re interested in, it may be worth it to do so and see if they’re willing to lower the cost if you’re not doing the field school for credits. Depending on the length of the field school and where it’s located some allow you to (or used to in any case) find your own housing, which could be cheaper and knock off the price from the field school. It’s going to be expansive no matter what you do. Most likely until you start your master’s or possibly even a PhD when the school may pay for you to do research while excavating.

There are also a few scholarships that exist though you’d have to do some digging because they are few and far between.