As children, most of us at one time or another, pretended to dig for dinosaur bones or fossils in our backyard. We call adults who do that for a living, archeologists.

Kenn Riehn, of Cape Girardeau, considers himself an amateur archeologist, and recently returned from a trip to Israel.

"We were looking for the actual site where the crucifixion took place," explains Riehn, "They've already figured out the hill called Golgotha is where it happened, we're just looking for the exact spot."

Riehn and the crew didn't find it, but they did come across some pretty impressive artifacts.

"We were digging down about 35 feet and found four or five chambers," says Riehn, sorting through several pieces of pottery, "We came across these, and authorities with the Israeli Antiquities confirmed they were dated 2nd Temple Period, meaning the time of Jesus."

Riehn says the group also received congratulations on a great dig, and were told they found some interesting items, which baffled the Israeli Antiquities officials.

"It's really awesome to be out there digging in the soil in this historic and religious area," says Riehn, "It's just unbelievable."

Even though Riehn was in Israel just days after the cease fire with Lebanon, but tells Heartland News he wasn't too worried about his safety.