Archaeology and Culture

No experience is necessary as new volunteers are teamed up with students and experienced volunteers for hands on learning. Volunteer opportunities range from field excavations to basic maintenance and restoration tasks. This year we will be opening test excavations in the field and assisting with historic preservation tasks in early 20th century buildings, including the museum. The workday is from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. The work is done in a friendly and supportive environment. Please understand that this is hard physical labor and includes digging with a trowel or shovel, screening soil, carrying buckets of dirt, and some other hand tool use. Each person will work at their own pace according to their physical condition. The temperature can be quite hot or cool and rainy. BRING work gloves, work shoes and clothing, including a warm coat or sweatshirt, sun hat, rain coat, long sleeve shirts and pants as there will be mosquitoes. The work site can be dirty and muddy so multiple sets of work clothes are a good idea. The local mud is a very red color, which can be difficult to remove from clothing. Sunscreen and bug spray will be provided. Study Themes: History and contemporaneous events (what was happening around the world while people lived at the site). Geology – why people chose to mine at this particular site. Immigration – where the mining community was from, and what challenges resulted from such a diversity of origins.