Dig With Us!

We would love to give you a hands-on archeology experience!

We are located in Victoria, Texas and are always looking for more volunteers. All new volunteers must undergo a short training session on our archeological protocols. The most important one being we keep NO artifacts from our excavations. They belong to either our landowner or the Museum of the Coastal Bend.

Here are a few things to know beforehand:

Our current lab hours are Tuesday/Thursday from 10-2 and Friday excavations are from 9:30 until we finish the unit. Volunteers are expected to work in the lab and at the excavations.

What to Wear or Bring

  • Sturdy, well-treaded boots or shoes

  • Jeans or similar pants you don’t mind getting dirty

  • Shade hat

  • Water bottle

  • Sunscreen

  • Hand wipes

  • Insect repellant

What Not to Bring

  • Pets and small children

  • Food

  • Cigarettes or anything else involving fire

  • High heels

What You Should Know

  • Be prepared to get dirty. Dig sites are dirty places.

  • This is an active ranch. There are cows, horses, etc. Drive respectfully on the ranch and give the animals their space.

  • Watch your step. The ground may be uneven. There may be surface finds and cow manure you don’t want to step on.

  • Stay away from the edge of an excavation unit. Give trench edges a couple of feet of clearance so you don’t accidentally collapse a profile. Use designated walking paths to go up or down a level.

  • Do not step in an excavation unit. This can damage artifacts and context, and makes archaeologists unhappy.

  • All artifacts belong to the landowner. All archaeological finds, even surface finds, should be flagged in situ and immediately reported to the site supervisor.

  • Looters are a real concern. Sharing the precise location of a site endangers the site and the archaeologists.

  • Take your trash with you. Please be respectful of our landowner and don’t leave a mess.

  • There are no toilet facilities onsite. None.

You can also learn more about our archeological procedures by checking out the CoBALT Process Manual.

Questions?

You can contact OC Garza at: ocgarza@suddenlink.net.

Ready to Join?