The San Diego Archaeological Center

The San Diego Archaeological Center is a nonprofit museum, education, and research facility where visitors can learn the story of how people have lived in San Diego County for the past 12,000 years. We strive to offer a balanced interpretation of history using artifacts as visual and tactile evidence of the people of San Diego and our common humanity.

Our Mission: Preserve archaeological collections and promote their educational, scientific and cultural use to benefit a diverse public.

Our Vision: To sustain an archaeological center where artifacts will not only be cared for in a state-of-the-art environment, but where scientific research can be facilitated and the public can enjoy learning about the prehistory and history of the San Diego region through educational programs and museum quality exhibits.

Celebrate 30 years of archaeological preservation and education with your gift. Your contribution supports our museum, education, and research efforts throughout the year.

Museum

Archaeology widens our understanding of human culture, technology, and lifestyle beyond what is written in history books. The Center has permanent exhibits providing an introduction to the 12,000 years of cultural history in San Diego County, information about the process of archaeology and the science behind the study of the past. We feature two to three exhibits on topics of interest, new acquisitions, and exhibits curated by staff and interns.

The San Diego Archaeological Center’s Archaeology 101 exhibit explores the fundamentals of archaeology through interactive activities for children and adults. Block 112: The Untold Story of San Diego’s Working Class in the 1880s examines a group whose voice is hardly heard or often misrepresented in the historical record.

The collections that are curated at the Center preserve intriguing windows into life in our county from thousands of years ago to the early and mid-20th century. We rarely know the names of the individuals who owned or used the artifacts we come across, but we honor them by preserving these parts of their lives do that those who come along after us can also see these parts of our county's history and stop and think about the people who made and used the artifacts.  – Jim Royle, Founding Member, Volunteer, & Trustee

Education

The San Diego Archaeological Center offers virtual and in-person lectures by archaeologists and authors, experimental archaeology workshops on topics like flintnapping (how stone tools are made), and presentations to community groups. In January, the Center hosted a symposium featuring Palomar College and San Diego City College students presenting their research on the Los Peñasquitos Ranch House. 

Local school groups can step into the fascinating world of archaeology with a field trip to the SDAC. Students learn what archaeology is, where we work, the variety of tools we use, and how we study the past here and all over the world. For schools that are unable to visit our museum, the Center brings archaeology straight to the classroom. Last school year, we hosted 737 students on field trips at the SDAC and served 386 students through classroom outreach programs.

Most enjoyable aspect of the field trip, according to the children – EVERYTHING! They didn’t want to leave. – Vicki Behkopf, Montessori School

I loved the interaction and hands-on component to close out the day. It really connected everything from all programs of the field trip. – Mathew Leader, High Tech High

Research

The San Diego Archaeological Center currently houses over 1,000,000 artifacts across 1,394 collections, representing 3,083 archaeological sites from San Diego County and adjacent regions. The SDAC is equipped with over 5,000 square feet of vault space that allows us to provide long-term curation and care for a wide range of archaeological materials, including artifacts, ecofacts, maps, photographs, and site records. 

The Center’s Reference Library holdings focus on the anthropology, archaeology, and history of San Diego County. The Library contains 10,475 books, journals, magazines, monographs, and media files in addition to 2,600+ archaeological reports.

Partnering with local colleges and universities provides a setting for students and volunteers to gain hands-on experience working with archaeological collections. SDAC internships train future archaeologists in artifact identification, cataloguing, storage requirements, and preventative conservation. Collections Department interns and volunteers gave 1,597 hours of their time to help curate collections over the past year.

Interning at the San Diego Archaeological Center has been the best experience and has opened up so many new and exciting opportunities for me. Everyone at the Center is there to help you learn and gain hands-on experience that can help further a career in the field of archaeology. I am so thankful for my time at the Center and all it has helped me accomplish in a small span of time. – Alysa Ransom, Collections Intern