Until Max and Mae Merriweather hit the scene, Harrison Ford’s depiction of heart-throb archaeologist Indiana Jones was pretty much the coolest (or only) archaeologist in pop culture.

I think it’s worth mentioning, though, that Archaeology is so much more than a costumed celebrity. Yes, the inquisitive heroes of history may wear a khaki top now and again, and they certainly do their fair share of exploring, but if you want an idea as to what it takes to be a real, modern-day archaeologist, I’d recommend checking out Dirt Detective, an educational game on History.com.

What you’ll find, and what those who enter field school will find is a lot of, well, digging. Like, actual digging. In the dirt. With super specialized tools. If you want to know the real reason Indiana Jones’ clothes looked so perfectly weathered, it’s because they would have been sun-bleached from long, hot, and windy days spent analyzing dirt.

However, after digging, analyzing, scraping, identifying, brushing, researching, and maybe digging some more, archaeologists are able to unravel mysteries and uncover worlds past. They sport the keen eye of treasure hunters, and see things others wouldn’t—history ultimately translates itself before their very eyes. With their specialized understanding of the world, a fragmented rock becomes a shaving from stone stools, darkened soil becomes an archaic fire pit, and what we think may be deer bones could present an entirely new understanding of a species.

If you want to try your hand in Archaeology, go ahead and take it outside. Start in your backyard, and use the concepts learned in Dirt Detective. After all, when it comes to Archaeology, exploring the land and recovering lost knowledge is all in a day’s work.