Archaeology Career?

Question

Anyone with actual experience in this field. After getting through all the classes and finally earning a degree, what can I expect from this sort of career?

Answer 1

This answer is from an American perspective. Some of the information holds true around the world, other parts are, of course, specific to the organization of the American university system and employment potential.


The short answer is that you'll need to go to graduate school to have a better chance at steady, decent-paying employment, and even then, there isn't a guarantee. There are more details below.

Not every archaeologist excavates regularly, a number of people specialize in post-excavation analysis of remains, such as human remains, animal remains, floral remains, pottery, etc. A growing number of people are specializing in GIS applications. However, excavation experience is necessary, especially for those who choose to become project directors. The organizational skills, budget management, leadership and management skills, and other administrative/bureacratic skills are desireable, especially for future dig directors, faculty members, laboratory managers, curators, etc.

For an undergraduate degree, it probably doesn't matter that much where you go to school - any accredited university with a devoted Anthropology/Archaeology program (most archaeology programs are in Anthro departments) will give you the basics you need. You'll want to be sure that they offer a field school and you'll want to be sure to take the field school as soon as possible to be certain that field archaeology is really what you want to do. Programs that don't offer a graduate degree can be good for undergraduates as you're likely to have your courses taught by full professors, rather than graduate students, you may get more attention, and there's a better chance of being able to get a job working in the labs in the department and getting experience that way.
Graduate school depends on what you want to specialize in - your fellow students, professors, and others can give you some pointers there as you progres in your undergraduate career.
Depending on your area of interest, you may want to either double-major in history or geography or take a lot of your electives in those areas. Specializations like Egyptian archaeology are often not part of an Anthropology department, but rather part of a Near Eastern studies program, a history program, or something similar. However, I *strongly* recommend taking Anthropology classes regardless of your specialty so that you'll be exposed to the broader trends in theory and methodology that a lot of the more specialized programs tend not to focus on.

Excavations last anywhere from a few weeks to several months. It depends on the site, the region, the goals of the project and the funding. Many long-term projects go out yearly for a few months.




Archaeologists don't make a whole lot of money, whether working for the government (state or federal), a contract agency, or as a university professor, museum staff member, or other "academic" position. The range is about $25,000 to probably $100,000 and the upper range is probably going to be limited to VERY cushy academic positions with an endowed chair and tenure at a prestigious univeristy.

I'd say you can go two routes in the US with a career in archaeology. What most people call "public archaeology" and what I'll call "academic archaeology" for lack of a better term.
1. Public archaeology. This is essentially archaeology in the public sector. Federal and some state law requires archaeological investigation before new construction on public works, like highways, can begin. This provides a variety of opportunities for employment. Sometimes university anthropology/archaeology departments are contracted to do this work. There are also a number of private contracting firms throughout the US that hire archaeologists and are often hired by the government or other agencies to do this sort of work. With a contracting firm, you might have a permanent position with benefits and a steady salary, usually if you have an MA or better, but occasionally with a BA or you might be essentially seasonal/temp labor getting paid by the hour with or without a per diem for housing/food expenses. You might be put up in a hotel or you might have to find your own housing. You might be provided transportation or might have to provide your own. It depends on the firm, the project, the funding, and in some degree on your own experience. I know a lot of "shovelbums" who essentially live out of their cars going from dig to dig in season and living in hotels. A lot of them have burned out after a few years of this combined with doing what is essentially "salvage archaeology" which essentially means doing a job very quickly (and thus maybe not as well as they'd like) under a lot of pressure from construction workers, local officials, etc. who resent the "intrusion" of archaeologists who are holding up their work in building something, all the while knowing that whatever they miss is likely to be destroyed and lost forever. Not to mention that quite a few archaeologists I know drink pretty hard, even the academics. :)
There are also archaeology jobs with Federal and State agencies like the Park Service, among others, that are usually permanent positions as an archaeologist in a particular area, like a National Forest or Park. Usually a BA is the minimum requirement, though MA degrees are increasingly demanded. With this sort of position, you'll have a steady salary and government benefits and probably regular raises. If you have an MA or higher (even if it isn't in archaeology, in some instances) you might get paid more. This work can be anything from general survey and marking of sites with little excavation to full-scale excavation and conservation of sites depending on where you work and your specialty.
Education: At minimum, attendance at an accredited field school, usually through a university and a BA in anthropology/archaeology. An MA will get you more money and wider scope of job options. A Ph.D will probably get you even more money and more job options.
There are an increasing number of universities offering a terminal MA program in Public Archaeology or Cultural Resource Management (those are the typical names of programs). This means not as much time in school as a Ph.D and the requirements are quite so rigorous as a Ph.D, nor do you have to write a dissertation, but instead a thesis, which is usually shorter. The programs are geared towards getting people jobs in public archaeology, and so focus more on methodology, legal aspects of the job, the sorts of paperwork/reports you'll need to write and similar concerns. The focus less on in depth theoretical and historical background of the region in question as the graduates in these programs are not heading for a career in academia where they will be expected to teach and/or write for a broad audience. Usually such programs focus on the archaeology of the region in which the university is situated, but a sort of unstated idea is that you can dig anywhere and get the historical/archaeological background you need when you get there. Usually these programs take 2-4 years past your undergrad degree.
2. Academic Archaeology. Archaeology as usually seen on TV. Most people are professors or hold positions in research institutions, like universities or museums. Typically people have a Ph.D. This area is more specialized - you may specialize in a particular aspect of archaeology: zooarchaeology; bioarchaeology; GIS/remote sensing and archaeology. Or you may specialize in a particular region and/or time period: Southwest US, Southeast US, Egypt, Mesopotamia, England, Ireland, Classical Greece, China, etc.
As noted, if you want hope of employment (and jobs are scarce and competition fierce) you're going to need a Ph.D. In most programs for most people, this means at least 6-10 years on top of your undergraduate degree. In many cases you will need to learn a modern foreign language (or multiple languages) both to be able to work in the country of your interest and to be able to work with literature dealing with your topic not written in your native language. For example, as an Egyptian archaeology graduate student, I had to pass exams in both French and German because a great deal of Egyptological literature is written in those languages. I ought to know Arabic better than I do to facilitate work in Egypt, but it isn't yet required and there are only so many hours in a day. :) As another example, someone working in the Southwest US would probably need to know Spanish to deal with the early historical sources from the Spanish explorers and colonialists, depending on their time period of interest.
Depending on your area of interest, you might also need to be familiar with one or more ancient languages.
Jobs in this field include, as mentioned: professor, museum curator, research associate at either a university or a museum. A number of people with full Ph.Ds also working in public archaeology, especially people who have specialized in American topics.

Answer 2

There are different types of Archaeologist, Field, Geophisical, Museum, Academic ect..

check ut this link it might help
www.cix.co.uk/~archaeology/begin/career.htm
and the time team website

Answer 3

As we say, if you become an Archeologist you career ends up in ruins.
All joking aside however, if you apply yourself AND if you get the right job, it is fab.