What would the typical cost be for say a one-month archaeological dig with about a six-member crew?

Question

I know that the cost can vary greater due to several factors, but a "ballpark" figure would help greatly. The location would be in Connecticut if that helps.

Answer 1

An arm, and a leg...

Answer 2

Archaeological digs are amazingly cheap, the professor are often  resourceful, and usually only get grants of up to $10,000. They sometimes goes up to more, if research proposals are inter disciplinary studies involving other area such as botany.

Answer 3

The answer greatly depends on if you use college students and volunteers, or if this is for a corperate project that is looking for section 106 compliance, there are many different companies out there dealing with Cultural Resource Managment that deal with doing surveys and digs professionally.  It is quite a bit more than most people imagine because of all the costs for crew members (wage, per-diem, hotel costs if they are not local etc. - not to mention workman comp fees and other leagle fees that one cannot escape), tools and equipment.  Again, if it is for section 106 compliance it is also a good idea to hire a CRM crew that can write a report that will be comply with the federal government.

If it is just that you have a site on your property that you would like to have excavated and looked at, most Museums, State Archaeologists, and Universities with Anthropology / Archaeology Departments will probably be willing to do it for limited or no cost... The state archaeologist for Connecticut is Dr. Nicholas F. Bellantoni.

Good luck and Have Fun!!

Answer 4

Since the location is in the US & one can get volunteer labor from a hoard of grad students... I say $25,000 would cover equipment rental & expenses... if you get locals.