Archaeology students/grads please?!?

Question

please tell me why you took this course and what's so interesting in archaeology. Can you become an archaeologist by taking anthropology also?

Answer 1

Depending on where you live, archaeology is a subfield of anthropology, so you have to take anthro to get into archaeology. In some areas (the UK and some US schools) archaeology is a subfield of history, so anthro doesn't apply.

However, I have worked in the US and in Turkey as an archaeologist, and I would never recommend becoming an archaeologist without taking at least some cultural anthro classes. It really helps put things in perspective when you are trying to reconstruct a society that is so long ago.

My introductory arch prof said the first day of class that she considered herself an "anthropologist.... a cultural anthropologist," and I thought she was insane. As I got into it, I realized I was stupid for not getting it. While some people focus on the big rulers and hidden treasure of past civilisations in archaeology, the real interest in my mind is the regular people. You always hear about the important people, what I like is being able to put a voice to the people who were like me. You know, the other 99.9% This isn't to say that history is not important, you have to have a good understanding of the history of a people/area. That's one reason archaeology is so interesting, it's so all-encompassing!

Answer 2

Archaeology is a subject, and is a branch under the subject of Anthropology. your question doesn't really make sense btw.

Answer 3

I have always found archaeology to be extremely fascinating.

In the United States, archaeology is one of the four sub-disciplines of anthropology.  Anthropology is the study of human beings, their culture, biology, and language, past and present.  Archaeology is the science that investigates societies from the past from direct evidence.  Archaeology attempts to reconstruct what past societies were like, what events took place, how people moved around, and interacted, and many other aspects of their societies and culture that we have found as the result of the artifacts left behind.

I have always found archaeology to be fascinating, because it is like a detective story that you have to piece together from the evidence.  

Yes, you can major in anthropology and then go on to study archaeology.  A master's degree is the real entry level degree into archaeology.  If you want to teach and research, go for the ph. D.

Answer 4

I'm taking archaeology because I've been interested in it since I was young. For as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated with the Native American artifacts that have been found where I live. What exactly were the spear points used for? How were they used? etc... Now I'm more interested in Meso American cultures, especially those that did blood sacrifices.

Yes, you can become an archaeologist by taking anthropology. It's one of the four fields, so if you are an undergraduate, you can major in anthropology, but your concentration can be in archaeology (or cultural, biological, linguistics, or applied). There are also universities that offer separate undergraduate degrees in archaeology and anthropology.  Depending on what path you take, you can work in different areas of archaeology, such as the classical world, Meso American, and many others.

Answer 5

I'll second all the four-fields anthro explanations.

I am interested in history and studied archaeology as another way to study history. But archaeology reveals more of everyday life, and less of political or military events, than written history does, so archaeology offers the same kinds of insights that cultural anthropology does.

Answer 6

Anthropology is the study of our species.  There are four fields of anthropological study:

1. Linguistic Anthropology:  studies language over time

2. Socio-Cultural Anthropology: studies cultural institutions

3. Biological-Physical Anthropology: studies evolution / genetic trends

4. Archeology: studies human artifacts

To become an archaeologist, one must study all four fields of anthropology in the first four years of education after high school for a degree in simply anthropology.  Then, one may focus on one or more of the four fields in masters and doctoral work.  The field of archeology was interesting to me because in it I learned the scientific method, scientific procedures / processes and about the technology that is used to examine and understand artifacts.  Archeology is an objective way to piece together the puzzle of the story of humans from the beginning of our species.