Does anyone actually make money from archeology any more?

Question

Like back in the early 1900's?

Answer 1

It sounds like you are listening to the glorified version of archaeology.  In a lot of ways, archaeology isn't what you see on tv.  Either the History Channel or the Discovery Channel did a show on comparing real life to Indiana Jones.  It was very interesting even from an archaologists point of view.

However, as a career you can make a modest living as an archaeologist.  That being said, you almost have to have a masters or even a doctorate to get very far in the field.  Although, the studies look good, they don't consider how many people get a Bacchelors degree and have to use it creatively and don't end up doing archaeology like they had hoped to do.  There are a lot of these too.

Answer 2

Hello JR. I think they do. But it depends, in my neck of the woods,in New Zealand, there isn't very much that's old. I used to dig for old bottles, and found heaps of things besides bottles. But I expect there is  still much to be found.Archaeology in it's pure form ie in Egypt etc,is protected nowadays. But finds still have a premium, which is paid by the government.And don't forget there's always prospecting from ancient sunken ships.But if you can find somewhere that might have a "Dig" attached to it, it is very rewarding digging up your past.Sometimes the pleasure outweighs the rewards.

Answer 3

What I understand most are college professors &intellectuals. The digging is just part of their curriculum and studies to keep their college posts. Like a law professor investigating cases and writing articles about it in law magazines, journals and books, archeologists also publish articles in magazines and books to keep other archeologists and history professors up to date. That's how they earn their salaries.

Answer 4

Of course they do, they never stop digging and there is always something else to be proven about history through archeology. We really haven't even begun, seems amazing, but this is large world after all.

Answer 5

Depends on what you mean by make money -

Do we treasure hunt - No? But of course serious archaeological scholars of the early 20th century did not really make an great financial gains themselves either - they all had some backer that was the one to really reap the profits of great finds (for example, Tut was found by Howard Carter, but Lord Carnovan was the money behind the digs and the one that reaped the most profit.

Or is the question - can you make a career out of archaeology, make a decent living - the answer is yes.  The Society for American Archaeology actually did a Salary Survey a few years back and you can review the results at http://saa.org/membership/survey/