SHAPPS is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the historic and prehistoric resources at Sunrise, WY, and to providing experiential education opportunities for students of all ages.

Website: www.shapps.org

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/sunrisehistoricandprehistoricpreservationsociety

No experience is necessary as new volunteers are teamed up with students and experienced volunteers for hands on learning. Volunteer opportunities range from field excavations to basic maintenance and restoration tasks. This year we will be opening test excavations in the field and assisting with historic preservation tasks in early 20th century buildings, including the museum.

The workday is from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. The work is done in a friendly and supportive environment. Please understand that this is hard physical labor and includes digging with a trowel or shovel, screening soil, carrying buckets of dirt, and some other hand tool use. Each person will work at their own pace according to their physical condition.

The temperature can be quite hot or cool and rainy. BRING work gloves, work shoes and clothing, including a warm coat or sweatshirt, sun hat, rain coat, long sleeve shirts and pants as there will be mosquitoes. The work site can be dirty and muddy so multiple sets of work clothes are a good idea. The local mud is a very red color, which can be difficult to remove from clothing. Sunscreen and bug spray will be provided.

Study Themes:
History and contemporaneous events (what was happening around the world while people lived at the site). Geology – why people chose to mine at this particular site. Immigration – where the mining community was from, and what challenges resulted from such a diversity of origins.

Volunteers will be tent camping with field school students. Individual tents, sleeping bags and pillows are provided. BRING any other bedding you wish to use. All food and meals will be provided for volunteers. We will share cooking duties. Excursions into town will occur every other day, to purchase any snacks or personal items that may be desired.

Be sure to tell the other volunteers and the co-leader if you have any special diet needs.

Location: Sunrise is an abandoned mining town located in a rural part of Wyoming. The area is a mixture of small towns, prairies, ranches and forest. The dig site is situated in a beautiful valley within the rugged Hartville Uplift, in the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.


Volunteers will attend local cultural events and will have field trips to local cultural and natural areas. They will also attend an international archaeological symposium at the local college.
There will be many opportunities to enjoy beauty and nature and there will be formal and informal discussions about topics of interest to the group. Bring music, games or other activities to share.