In summer 2004, a team from the University of Rhode Island, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and the Indonesian Directorate of Volcanology, led by Haraldur Sigurðsson, began an archaeological dig in Tambora. Over six weeks, the team unearthed the first evidence of a lost culture that had been obliterated by the Tambora eruption. The site is located about 25 km (15.5 mi) west of the caldera, deep in the jungle, 5 km (3 mi) from the shore. The team had to cut through a deposit of volcanic pumice and ash 3 m (10 ft) thick.