St. Augustine Archaeology Program Protects Buried History

St. Augustine's Archaeology Program conducts roughly 70 investigations each year to protect the city's buried remains before development erases them.

The City established its Archaeology Preservation Ordinance in 1987, requiring reviews of any construction that disturbs ground on public or private property. Two full-time archaeologists and volunteers document, research, and preserve artifacts from both Native American communities and European settlement dating to 1565.

Archaeology is destructive work. Once excavators remove soil, the original site cannot be restored. For every week spent digging, archaeologists spend roughly a month in the lab cleaning, sorting, and studying artifacts for long-term storage.

St. Augustine remains one of only a few U.S. cities with its own dedicated archaeology program.