Scientists- Archaeology question?

Question

What type of scientist examines fossils and remains after the Archaeologist bring them in? What type of degree is needed?

I want to do something in this field but I don't want to travel alot. I want to be at the lab doing research.

What is a good Bachelor degree that can branch into many different fields?

I want to study fossils and animal remains.

Answer 1

Paleontology or palaeontology (see spelling differences) is the study of the history and development of life on Earth, including that of ancient plants and animals, based on the fossil record (evidence of their prehistoric existence as typically preserved in sedimentary rocks). This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilized feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues

Paleoanthropology is the branch of physical anthropology (often called biological anthropology) that focuses on the study of human evolution, tracing the anatomic, behavioral and genetic linkages of pre-humans from millions of years ago up to modern times.

Paleoanthropologists study early hominids through fossil remains, traces, or impressions of ancient life; evidence such as preserved bones, tools, or footprints. Typically, a team is composed of scientists, students, and local workers, representing diverse backgrounds and academic fields.

So the question is do you want to study fossils related to humans and/or human culture, or just fossils (dinos, etc.)

degree in archaeology for the Paleo arch.
degree in Paleontology for dinos., etc.
better plan on getting at least a master's degree to get a job in the field. Good luck- dd

Answer 2

You're thinking of paleontology, which is a very broad field. Archaeologists (a kind of anthropologist) only study the material remains of human cultures. Forensic anthropologists do not study fossil - forensic anthropologists study more or less contemporary human remains.

Paleontologists are the ones who retrieve and examine fossils. (Paleontologists are not the same as anthropologists and archaeologists, btw, though there are paleoanthropologists who study extinct species of humans.) Depending on what kind of life you are interested in studying, there are a variety of sub-fields of paleontology. However, if you're just going into college, and you're not ready for graduate school yet, then you probably don't need to worry about the specializations, which you'll learn about in the course of your B.S. studies.

As far as not wanting to travel a lot, don't worry. There are folks who specialize in extraction of fossils from the field, and there are preparers who work almost exclusively in the lab. But . . . why would you want to get into paleontology if you're not psyched for the thrill of discovery?

edit: It occurs to me, though, that there is a subfield of archaeology now that does examine animal remains. These scientists, zooarchaeologists, are interested in how humans have used animals in the past. So, I guess that's something else for you to think about.

Answer 3

I am an archaeologist. The person who examines the artifacts after the archaeologist brings them in, is the archaeologist, or another archaeologist who's interested in them. In fact, most of my time is spent in the lab, examining and analysing things I have brought back from the field. There is no seperate job for this. The job of an archaeologist is to interpret the material record, not to dig things up.

You could study anthropology/archaeology and then purposely spend all your time in the lab looking at artifacts that other people have brought in, but I would find that very unsatisfying. You'd have somewhat limited control over what you got to study, and you'd probably be lacking perspective on the materials without some firsthand knowledge of the site they came from. You'd almost certainly end up having to go out into the field a little.

Answer 4

Paleontologists are scientists who study fossil organisms. I would suggest you do a degree in archaeology. A big part of an archaeologist's work is lab based, examining artefacts, interpreting air photos etc. Most scientists like to get out in the field so if you volunteer to do all the lab work you wil be popular!
Archaeology jobs are pretty scarce, so try and take subjects that will allow you to move into another field if you have to, eg surveying, architecture, geology, forensics, teaching.

Answer 5

If you want to study human remains, you will want to go into biological anthropology or bioarchaeology (which is also a subfield of anthropology). A forensic anthropologist examines recent remains from a legal perspective. Many biological anthropologists have a bit of crossover - my advisor focuses on bioarchaeology but takes in a few forensic cases a year. However, it's getting more and more specialized.

If you want to study animal remains, you need to go into paleontology.

Answer 6

Anthropology with a specialization in Archeaology, it's called and Archeaology Technician. (Arch.Tec.) Anyone who says Forensic anything is wrong. Forensic means legal, so a forensic Anthropologist would only deal with situation that could have legal (usually criminal) ramifications, like deciding whether found remains are archaic or possibly relatively recent (50 yrs) homicide.

Answer 7

Fossils are usually the subject of paleontology. Archaeology does research about cultures of past humans. Paleoanthropology is a science that usually concerns with fossil humans...

So if you want to study animal fossils, go for paleontology...
... for human bones, paleoanthropology...
... for cultures, archaeology...

Answer 8

try Forensic Archaeology

Answer 9

A forensic anthropologist is what I think you want. Look it up on dogpile

http://www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl/search/web/forensic%252Banthropologist/1/-/1/-/-/-/1/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/417/top/-/-/-/1