Gleason's Gielinor GuideAn adventurer's field notes← All quest guides

QUEST 48 · MEMBERS

The Dig Site

Feeling uneducated? Desperate for buried treasure? "There's gold in them there hills" (well stream actually) as well as many other items that can be found at the digsite. Join the students in their attempt to be a qualified archaeologist, and become experienced in making the earth move! Have you got what it takes to unearth the hidden altar to one of Gielinor's lesser-known Gods?

Difficulty
Intermediate
Length
Medium
Quest points
2
Released
9 July 2003
START POINT

Talk to an examiner in the Exam Centre south of the Digsite.

BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE BANK

Preparation

Requirements are gates. Recommendations are comfort and risk controls, not mandatory levels unless the game enforces them.

Requirements

  • 10 Agility (boostable)
  • 10 Herblore (boostable)
  • 25 Thieving (boostable)

Items required

  • Pestle and mortar
  • Vial
  • Tinderbox
  • Cup of tea (can be stolen from the Varrock tea stall) or nettle tea or cup of tea (nettle)
  • 2 ropes
  • Opal or uncut opal (small chance to acquire while panning for a quest item)
  • Charcoal (obtainable during the quest, but may take some time)
  • Specimen brush (obtained during the quest)
  • Specimen jar (obtained during the quest)
  • Panning tray (obtained during the quest)
  • Trowel (obtained during the quest)

Recommended

  • Weight-reducing clothing and stamina or energy potions
  • Fast travel to several locations:
  • Exam Centre south of The Digsite to start the quest, plus 1 additional trip - Digsite Teleport, gnome glider, or Varrock Teleport
  • Varrock museum (1-2 trips, extra trip if claiming post quest rewards) - Varrock Teleport, Chronicle, ring of wealth to Grand Exchange, or skills necklace to Cooking Guild
  • The Digsite (2-4 trips from the Exam Centre, this saves minimal time) - Digsite Teleport

Enemies to defeat

None listed.

ACTION CHECKLIST

Walkthrough

Nested rows are alternatives, dialogue selections, or substeps under the action above them. Recheck the pinned source after a game update.

Starting out

  1. 01

    Go to the Exam Centre.

  2. 02

    Ask an examiner about an exam. Dialogue: Can I take an exam?

  3. 03

    Go to the Varrock museum and talk to Curator Haig Halen. He will give you a Sealed letter. Dialogue: Have you any interesting news?

  4. (Optional) Steal a cup of tea from the tea stall if you don't have one already. (This is a Varrock easy diary requirement)

  5. 04

    Go back to the Exam Centre and talk to an examiner. The chat options do not matter; you will fail the exam regardless.

Lost and found

  1. 01

    North of the exam centre at the hilltop with the blue urn, search the second bush to the east of the blue urn to find a teddy bear.

  2. 02

    Take the panning tray.

  3. 03

    Use the cup of tea on the nearby panning guide.

  4. 04

    Pan the water at the panning points until you find a Special cup (browse through dialogue if stopped – referred to as "Shiny Cup" in dialogue). If you need an opal continue panning until you get one.

  5. 05

    Steal from the workman near the panning points until you get an animal skull and specimen brush.

  6. 06

    Run north to the female student with blonde hair and pigtails on the north-west end of the dig and give her the "teddy" by talking to her twice.

  7. 07

    Run east to the student with a beard and a reddish-orange shirt and give him the Special cup by talking to him twice.

  8. 08

    Run south to the student in a green shirt and give him the Animal skull by talking to him twice.

Exams

  1. 01

    Return to an examiner. Dialogue: Yes, I certainly am. → The study of the earth, its contents and history. → All that have passed the appropriate Earth Sciences exam. → Gloves and boots to be worn at all times; proper tools must be used. – You should receive 'Level 1 Certificate'

  2. 02

    Talk to all 3 students again.

  3. 03

    Return to an examiner to take the second exam. Dialogue: I am ready for the next exam. → Samples taken in rough form; kept only in sealed containers. → Finds must be carefully handled, and gloves worn. → Always handle with care; strike cleanly on its cleaving point. – You should receive 'Level 2 Certificate'

  4. 04

    Talk to all 3 students – the female student will demand an opal (can be obtained by panning). Talk to her two times.

  5. 05

    Return to an examiner for the final exam. Dialogue: I am ready for the last exam... → Samples cleaned, and carried only in specimen jars. → Brush carefully and slowly using short strokes. → Handle bones very carefully and keep them amay from other samples. – You should receive 'Level 3 Certificate'

  6. Save all of your certificates to hand in to Curator Haig Halen at the Varrock Museum in exchange for a fruit blast, a required item for Recipe for Disaster subquest Another Cook's Quest or a chocolate cake.

Helping the expert

  1. 01

    Back at the Exam Center, go in the western room and search the cupboards on the north and south walls to get a rock pick and a specimen jar, respectively.

  2. 02

    If you haven't already, steal a specimen brush from the Digsite workman.

  3. 03

    Use the trowel on the soil in either level 3 digsite until you obtain an ancient talisman. Note: This step can take several minutes depending upon luck.

  4. 04

    Talk to Terry Balando in the exam centre.

  5. 05

    Use the invitation on any Digsite workman except the one by the western winch.

  6. 06

    Use a rope on the western winch, then climb down.

  7. 07

    Pick up one of the arcenia root in the room, search the bricks to the east, then climb back up.

  8. 08

    Walk north-east to the northern winch, use the rope on the winch, and climb down.

  9. 09

    Talk to Doug Deeping about the rocks. Dialogue: How could I move a large pile of rocks? Climb up the rope.

Explosives expert

  1. 01

    Walk to the tent to the south (marked with the orange vial), unlock the chest with the Chest Key and search to obtain chemical powder.

  2. 02

    Use the trowel on the closed barrel to the west of the tent.

  3. 03

    Use a vial on the barrel to get an unidentified liquid. If dropped, it will deal 25 non-fatal damage, and destroy the vial requiring you to re-open the barrel and collect more.

  4. 04

    Grind the charcoal with your pestle and mortar.

  5. If you don't have charcoal, search the tray a few steps north.

  6. 05

    Return to the exam centre and use the chemical powder and the unidentified liquid on Terry Balando (Note: make sure you right-click the liquid otherwise you'll empty it).

  7. 06

    Mix the nitroglycerin and ammonium nitrate together to create mixed chemicals, then add ground charcoal and finally arcenia root to produce chemical compound.

  8. 07

    Climb down the western winch.

  9. 08

    Use the compound on the bricks (not the rocks).

  10. 09

    Use your tinderbox on the bricks.

  11. 10

    Enter the large chamber, take the stone tablet. Low-levels should be wary of Level 22 skeletons.

Finishing up

  1. 01

    Use the tablet on Terry Balando.

  2. 02

    Congratulations, quest complete!

QUEST COMPLETE

Rewards

  • 15,300 Mining Mining exp
  • 2,000 Herblore Herblore exp
  • 2 gold bars
  • Giving the museum curator the Level 3 certificate allows you to pick between something to drink (Fruit blast) or something to eat (chocolate cake). You will lose the reward if you exit the dialogue after he has taken your certificate but before you have chosen the reward. You do not need to give him the other two certificates to receive the reward. Get the cake for Desert Treasure I or the fruit blast for Recipe for Disaster.
  • The ability to do Varrock Museum specimen cleaning to obtain a Digsite pendant.
  • The Ancient talisman can be viewed in the Digsite Exhibit at the museum on the ground floor.

REVISION-PINNED EVIDENCE

Verify the guide after updates.

Facts and walkthrough actions are adapted from Old School RuneScape Wiki contributors under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. This page is fan-made and not affiliated with Jagex.