Bucket List: Volunteer at an archaeological dig on Long Island

What can you discover volunteering at an archaeological site on Long Island? Perhaps a Revolutionary War musket? Pirate treasure? A dinosaur femur?

Don’t get your hopes up.

“It’s not like in Indiana Jones,” said Douglas DeRenzo, president of the Suffolk County Archaeological Association.

Archaeological excavations are among the organization’s activities, although it primarily runs student educational programs and produces publications about Long Island’s past.

The association has conducted 15 official digs since the 1980s, and officials hope to organize more this summer. The Suffolk County group’s historical sleuthing generally involves early colonial sites such as the Blydenburgh home in Blydenburgh County Park, a location that includes an early-1800s farmhouse, mill and carpenter shop. Another is the remains of the Hurtin House in Yaphank, which is unique because it was a Dutch residence built in an area dominated by English-style homes.

While excavations are primarily run by professional archaeologists, volunteers are also welcome, said DeRenzo, who started as a volunteer himself. Those who are interested in participating in a dig, or want to become members, can sign up on the association’s website at Scaa-ny.org and will be notified about upcoming events.

Hofstra University has also allowed volunteers to assist at archaeological sites. Those digs have mostly centered on historically marginalized groups, such as Native Americans, free and enslaved African Americans and the working class.

So, what can a volunteer expect when they show up?

“Be prepared to sweat and get dirty,” DeRenzo said. “But it’s a lot of fun to be part of something that’s historically significant. And exciting when you find your first piece of pottery.”

The process usually involves marking off a promising spot with a grid, carefully removing the dirt and putting it through a sifter. Working for hours to unearth bits of history may be tedious, but it has its surprising moments.

DeRenzo once found some pre-colonial coins and a silver locket, which were interesting, but not historically meaningful, he said.

All items found at the digs are preserved, DeRenzo noted: “Everything is saved, including mini-shards of pottery. Nothing is thrown away.”