Padre Island National Seashore             

Archeology

Although the park's collection of archeological artifacts is small, the few pieces we do have tell a great deal about the history of the island. 

Unfortunately, the reason the park's collection is small is because the park came to possess many of its relics was by confiscating them from treasure-hunters and visitors who found them.  Throughout the park's history, many artifacts have been lost to people who found them and kept them for themselves, maybe storing them in a shoebox and then forgetting about the cute little curio or trinket they once found on the beach.. 

Most visitors do not realize that anything of archeological value found within the park belongs to the National Park Service and removing it is a violation of federal and state law.    This is not, as many people mistakenly believe, because the National Park Service is attempting to hoard anything of value for itself.  Instead, it is because the only way we can learn more about the past is by professionally studying artifacts found on the island.  If someone removes an artifact, such as an arrowhead, from the park, it is not the park alone that misses out on the information that artifact can provide, but the general public as a whole, because anything the park learns about the island's past is shared with the public. 

Before the park opened, digging up artifacts was legal and newspaper articles, such as this one from 1964, publicized the treasure-hunting on Padre Island.  Because of this, the park does not have the information on the island's past that it could have had.  Now, treasure-hunting is illegal and a federal crime.  Even the use of metal detectors, as seen in this photo, is prohibited within the National Seashore.  Click the photo to enlarge it and read the article. If the link appears broken, click it anyway and the article will probably appear.

If you find something of potential archeological value during your visit, please help us preserve and learn more about the island's past by doing the right thing.  Leave the object where you found it and report its location to the Malaquite Visitor Center staff, to park headquarters, or to any patrolling ranger, so that the park can execute a proper archeological dig around the object.  Often simply knowing the exact place where the artifact was found can tell archeologists a lot about that artifact and maybe a lot about the people who used it. 

In addition, many of the artifacts can be fragile and can deteriorate rapidly if not handled properly.  The National Seashore museum staff is trained in professional curatorial techniques and can provide a safe environment where the artifact can last for much longer than if it is stored in a private home.

These two articles, both written in 1968, show different aspects of the treasure-hunting debate. The one on the left was written by Padre Island National Seashore Naturalist Derek O. Hambly and describes the federal laws of the day dealing with treasure-hunting.  The other is from a magazine and describes the rumored wealth to be found in treasure-hunting. Click the photo to enlarge it and read the article. If the link appears broken, click it anyway and the article will probably appear.

If you have found something of potential archeological value, please turn it in to the staff at the Malaquite Visitor Center before it is lost.  If you know someone who periodically removing artifacts from the park, please let us know so that they can be recovered and other appropriate action be taken, if necessary.

Exhibited below are some of the more interesting objects of the National Seashore's archaeological collection.  Accompanying each is a synopsis of what has been learned from that object.  For information on the history of the island, please follow this link to the history section.

Follow this link to view a gallery of a sampling of the park's collection of Spanish coins.   This is the largest collection of Spanish reales in the National Park Service.

Follow this link to view a gallery of prehistoric Indian artifacts.

Send an e-mail to the Virtual Museum Curator via PAIS_Museum@nps.gov.

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