San Diego Archaeological Center

The San Diego Archaeological Center is a curation facility and museum where visitors can learn the story of how people have lived in San Diego County for the past 10,000 years. In addition to its role as a museum, the Center serves as an education and research facility and is the only local organization dedicated to the collection, study, curation and exhibition of San Diego County’s archaeological artifacts.

The Center Museum has changing exhibits and hands-on activities that explore 10,000 years of history of the San Diego region through the archaeological record. Learn about the life-ways of early Native American hunter-gatherers who lived in our region and the many groups and immigrants who have contributed to our region’s archaeological record.

Learn the basics of archaeology, discover how the first peoples arrived in the Americas or view our curatorial vaults and research area through the viewing portal. The Center actively curates archaeological collections and you may have a unique opportunity to see staff and interns cataloging and researching artifacts during your visit.

COVID-19 Update – Museum at Home
The San Diego Archaeological Center is temporarily closed to the public due to COVID-19. Visit us virtually though the Museum at Home portion of our website with virtual lectures, exhibits, field trips, archaeology blogs, and more: https://sandiegoarchaeology.org/museum-at-home/

Current & Upcoming Exhibitions

Museum at Home Offerings

Explore archaeology from the comfort of your home at https://sandiegoarchaeology.org/museum-at-home/

Virtual Lectures

Join us for one of our monthly virtual lecture series. Living Room Lectures are interesting lectures by archaeologists, experts, and authors in various fields that you can watch from the comfort of your own couch. Brown Bag Sessions are informal talks about a variety of subjects including current research and issues facing the archaeological community. For upcoming lectures, see our Events page. If you missed one of our live virtual lectures, you can view select lectures on demand at any time on our Museum at Home page.

Virtual Exhibits

Travel around the world with our virtual exhibit Visions: Rock Art Around the World. Or explore our museum from home with free digital tours of our exhibits By Land and By Sea, Archaeology 101, The Life Story of a Pot, and It’s a Crime on our Cuseum app.

Virtual K-12 Programs

Explore archaeology with a no-cost virtual field trip for San Diego area schools and students. Introduce your students to the fascinating field of archaeology, and learn how we study the past here and all over the world. Our Virtual Connections program is also available to local families and home school groups at no cost.

Blogs

Learn more about archaeology with our blogs. The Wonderful World Of… is a monthly blog focusing on some of the many themes, concepts, and sub-disciplines related to the fascinating world of Southern Californian archaeology. Dig Deeper focuses on the basics of archaeology by taking a closer look at the exhibition Archaeology 101. Dr. Arty Fax’s Archy Facts introduces kids (currently stuck at home) to the exciting world of archaeology! Each post includes a mini lesson and activity. From Inside the Vaults gives insight into best practices for collections stewardship, curation, and archaeological collecting institutions.

Other Activities

Take a virtual visit to the San Dieguito River Park or the National Register of Historic Places sites in San Diego with two GIS StoryMap intern projects. Each project also includes a crossword to accompany the StoryMap!