The Language of Dreams
by Patrica TelescoMetaphorically digging up the dirt on someone or a situation.
Uncovering treasures that are just waiting for your persistent efforts to discover them.
Digging through your own past to discover the worth of experiences, and how they have made you what and who you are today.
Little Giant Encyclopedia
by Klaus VollmarIt is important to note what it is that is being excavated (a submerged potential?).
Freud looked on the process of psychoanalysis as an act of excavation.