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Archaeology Camp 2025

Primary sponsors: South Dakota State Historical Society/Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Archaeology Camp 2025 is for students going into grades 4-6 (no exceptions) for the 2025-2026 school year.  Camp dates are Tuesday, June 10th through Thursday, June 12th, 2025, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central.  The program is structured for students to attend all 3 days.  If a camper cannot attend all 3 full days, they should not sign up to allow others to fully participate.  Registration is limited to the first 20 applicants who have not previously attended. Prior participants may apply, but their names will be added to a waitlist and will only considered if there are less than 20 new campers.  No walk-in campers will be accepted on camp days.

Activities will include:

  • Excavate a Real Archaeology Site
  • Clean and sort real artifacts
  • Other activities may include touring historic sites, throwing atlatls, metal detecting, ceramics, and more.

Registration will begin on Thursday, May 1, 2025 at 8:00 a.m. Central Time and will close when the camp is full or on May 3, 2025 at 5pm, whichever comes first.  The registration fee is $50, and only online registrations will be accepted. Registrations are automatically logged in in the order in which they are received. Once the camp has 20 registered campers, no additional online registrations will be allowed. Please email katie.wasley@state.sd.us to be added to the waitlist. Keep in mind that in previous years, registration was full and closed within 20 minutes of opening! 

 Be sure to include an e-mail address in the space provided on the form.  All applicants will be notified via e-mail whether or not they have been accepted. 

A few weeks before camp begins, parents or guardians of students accepted will be mailed a letter detailing what campers need to bring and other specifics.  This mailing will also contain two release forms which must be signed and returned no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 17, 2025.  If the forms are not received by the deadline, the camper will be turned down and replaced with someone on the waitlist.

Note that campers must be dropped off and picked up at the Cultural Heritage Center at 900 Governors Drive in Pierre.  This is a change from previous years. 

For more information on the Archaeology Camp, please contact Katie Wasley at 605-773-2906 or by e-mail at Katie.Wasley@state.sd.us.

A separate registration form must be completed for each participant. The $50 camp fee will be processed upon completion of the online checkout.

Registration will not open until 8AM CST on Thursday, May 1st. Once open, a link will appear to register. Please click on the link and complete your registration. Once capacity has been met, the registration will close and the link will disappear. The printable registration form is listed so you can have your information prepared for the online process.