To find out where the dig site is when you reach your chosen continent, consult your continent map. By putting your mouse over the shovel on the map, it will show you the name of the dig site which are generally named after the area they're in. For example, the Andorhal dig site is near the Andorhal section of Western Plaguelands. Get yourself familiar with the various locations in each zone. This knowledge will be very useful for locating the dig sites. You should be able to see a red "cloud" over the dig site, if not try to get closer to the target area before you start your survey. Or you may want to log your character out and back in again to reload the map. You'll get an error if you try to survey outside the dig site area. Another way to identify your location is to use your mini-map to. The name at the top of the mini-map shows you "sub-zone" you are currently in. Make sure it matches the name of the dig site.

You are now ready to start surveying for ancient artifacts! Look for the new ability called "Survey" in your spellbook. Then, drag this spell to hotbar so that you can easily access it as you'll need to use it frequently. Click on the spell and you'll notice a survey tool, which looks like a telescope on a tripod, near you. The tool has an indicator light, which shows in one of three colors to indicate on how close you are to the artifact you are locating. Red indicates you're still far away. The larger end of the scope shows the direction of the artifact. Yellow indicates you're getting closer to the object, about 50 yards away. Green indicates the object is within 40 yards. You need to be patient here when locating the object. Once you're close enough to the object, click on it and it'll spawn near you. These objects or "finds" are fragments of an artifact. They usually look like an urn or a tablet. Each object contains 2 to 6 fragments. All the objects will be added to your Archaeology journal.

After locating your first object, you can start surveying for the next object. There are 3 hidden fragments in each dig site. After locating all of them, you'll then choose a new site from your continent map. After emptying one site, a new one will spawn on your chosen continent. The locations of these sites are random, they may be in the same zone or they may be on the other side of the continent. Since dig sites are unique to your character, you may see other players surveying the same sites as you, but the artifacts you are tracking can only be looted by you.