This is literally a "once in a lifetime experience." You are able to sort through 3000 plus years of history from possibly the most contested and hallowed site on the globe. When this project is finished (sometime in the next few years) it is DONE. I can't imagine such an opportunity will come again.
There were approximately twenty of us in total sifting buckets of soil filled with pottery shards, marble fragments, mosaic pieces, ceramic pieces, ancient glass, the occasional coin per day, etc. Wonderful and helpful staff that moves between sifting pairs. The conclusion is a mini-history lesson as the finds of the last 24 hours, including ours, are laid out as a timeline and an archaeologist uses them to walk you through time with the found objects. We loved it.
One caveat, while taxis can find the location, they are not keen on finding you for a return trip. We had to walk about a mile to a electric train stop. The weather was great and this was not difficult, but one of our group members had recently had back surgery. So be sure to have an understanding of how to get here and how to leave!
This was the favorite Israel activity for me. Its something of a "crowd sourcing" archaeological project. Its meaningful on multiple levels for history lovers and religious oriented travelers.