Archaeology...?

Question

I want to become an archaeologist in the future. Is this a good or bad choice? Is there good pay...and work to be done right now in the field?

Answer 1

It's a tough field, to work in and to break into. Competition is intense, (Indy Jones knew that), grants are hard-fought for, and even if a dig is approved, the host country is intensely interested in results, subject to outlandish conditions. Worksites  are usually alive with flies, mosquitos, bugs and reptiles that host your activities with all the inconsiderate torment they can manage- still interested?

Answer 2

I've been working in archaeology for about 4 years now, so here's a quick overview, based on what I've seen.

There is work to be done right now in the field, but like any profession, there are multiple paths you may take. If you get your standard anthropology BA degree and want to find work with that, the standard job would be with a Cultural Resource Management (CRM) firm. You'd essentially be the grunt of archaeological fieldwork. The pay isn't spectacular, but that varies from place to place (and never underestimate per diem checks!) The work is generally strenuous or tedious, and you'll be spending a lot of time either tromping in the great outdoors, or sitting in a lab counting rocks. People with this level of education do not generally get promoted much past this level, but it happens.

With more education comes more opportunities (surprise, surprise). A master's degree opens up a lot of paths for you in the CRM realm, things like supervisors, field directors, principle investigators (maybe), and it allows some real work in the academic realm. A PhD (and by the time you've got one of those, you have a lot of practical experience to put on a resume) can get you a good job in the CRM world, and of course at a University. Academic archaeology tends to be a bit different, with smaller, focused projects, more excavation over survey work, and more students to exploit for free labor (hah!). Academics generally spend a lot more time in the lab than in the field, mainly because they personally document their own fieldwork.

The work itself is almost always physical and you spend a lot of time out in the elements (form what I know, academics really only come out in large numbers in the summers). I really feel for people who come out for the first time and decide they actually can't hack it, especially if they've already invested some school time into this field.

My biggest piece of advice would be to volunteer at a dig this summer, and see how you like it. There are countless organizations out there that are made up almost completely of volunteers. I got my start at the age of 18 when I volunteered at a dig run by the Kansas Archaeological Association, and I never looked back (ok, maybe a few times).