Careers in anthropology, archaeology: discovering the hidden secrets of ancient civilizations

CAREERS IN

ANTHROPOLOGY ARCHEOLOGY

Research Number 82 ISBN 158511-082-5 DOT Numbers 055.067-018, 055.067-010

CAREERS IN

ANTHROPOLOGY ARCHAEOLOGY DISCOVERING THE HIDDEN SECRETS OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS Protecting the Treasured Artifacts of the Past From the Inroads of the Future MOST ANTHROPOLOGISTS AND archaeologists have always knows what they

wanted to be when they grew up. Maybe you’re like that too. You know that you’ve always been interested in old things, like the time you went to a museum and saw an Egyptian mummy or a Peruvian gold statue. Maybe you were digging in the back yard one day and found pieces of pottery. Or you might have noticed that an old penny had a different design on the back than a new one. When did the design change, and why? Movies influence how we think about archaeology. Lots of people get interested after watching Indiana Jones in The Raiders of the Lost Ark. Public television programs like Nova or the National Geographic specials are very well made and very interesting. You might prefer these more factual, science-oriented programs over entertainment. What’s more likely is that you’ll find these programs to be entertaining because you learn from them!

If you’ve ever studied other cultures in school, you might be curious about the differences between the way you live and the ways people live in other countries. Maybe your friends’ parents come from another country, or maybe your parents did. Your own heritage could well drive your search and your interests. The books you have already read may play a big part in your decision to investigate this career field. Archaeologists generally started reading 2

about the subject as children, either getting books from the adults in their lives or finding books on their own in the library. Even though most high schools don’t offer a class in anthropology or archaeology, your social studies teachers may have introduced you to the subject. Archaeology is a specialized study and career field within the overall field of anthropology. The word “anthropology” means the study of humans and comes from the Greek, anthropos, which means human being or man. Anthropology includes the study of primates (apes such as chimpanzees and gorillas), human social life of the past and present, language, and the effects of technology and society on people. We think of technology as having something to do with electronics, but here it means anything having to do with how people use knowledge in a practical fashion. Archaeologists search for artifacts and sites of human habitation, then form theories based on found materials. The theories can be about lost ways of living, which are very important. Interpreting the past helps us to understand the present and try to understand the future. This report will give you the information you need to begin your career search. You will learn the history of anthropology and archaeology, and what you need to study in college. You will find out about expected earnings and the changing nature of work in this challenging profession. You will read interviews with a variety of professionals and learn how to get answers to specific questions. You’ll also learn what you can do right now to educate yourself so you can pursue your dream.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW IT SEEMS HARD TO PIN DOWN exactly what archaeologists and anthropologists do, because they do so much. Archaeology isn’t something done only in far-away countries – it can be closer than you think. As you gain more information, you’ll be able to narrow your focus, but keep an open mind for now. Keeping an open mind will always be important. That’s how the best science gets done.

Go to your library, either at school or in the community or both, and look at the science videos or history documentaries. Choose the titles that interest you the most. Read books on the subject. A favorite of many archaeologists when they were kids was Gods, Graves, and Scholars by C.W. Ceram. If your library doesn’t have it, or any other books you want, ask the reference librarian to request it from another library. Don’t worry if 3

Anthropologists study the very different customs of indigenous people throughout the world, like this woman in Thailand. 4

books aren’t on the shelf – you can ask the librarian for just about anything in print, and they’ll try to find it for you. Ask them for help if you get stumped. When you’re on-line, search for “anthropology” and “archaeology” and see what comes up. Search engines like Yahoo! www.yahoo.com and Lycos www.lycos.com are easy to use. This report gives you some good Web pages as a beginning for your personal research. Anthropology is in the news all the time, developments both in this country and throughout the world. When you read the newspaper, start looking for related stories such as new finds of ancient sites. Controversial new theories are proposed and even teaching about ancient human history is hotly debated.

HISTORY OF THE CAREER WHEN WE THINK OF ARCHAEOLOgists, we think of men and women in pith

helmets and khaki shorts directing huge excavations in Egypt. When we think of anthropologists, we think of men and women living on a Pacific island or in a tropical rain forest with a primitive tribe. Neither of these images is quite current, but they do have their roots in the history of anthropology. During the European Renaissance in the 1400s, people became curious about the Roman ruins scattered all over Italy and the city of Rome. Once buildings were torn down and the old stones used to build new houses. It’s easier to use pre-cut material than to quarry stone, and the floors of many medieval churches are made of pieces of Imperial Rome. However, as educated people grew interested in art, ancient statues were preserved for viewing instead of being tossed into the lime kilns and burned to make cement. Artists took inspiration from the realistic human figure portrayed in Greek and Roman sculpture. Architects looked to the past when designing buildings for the needs of king and commoner. Ideas lost during the Dark Ages were rediscovered, and people began to ask questions about the universe and their place in it. People also began collecting unusual objects and keeping them on display in “wonder cabinets.” There was no system of classification; unexplained fossils sat next to the feathers of exotic birds, crystals near unusual bones. As collections grew too large for cabinets, they expanded to private museums. Only the nobility and the wealthy had access to these 5

wonders at first, but this began to change in the mid-1700s when museums opened to the public in England and France. Charles Wilson Peal opened the first American museum in Philadelphia in 1784 and filled it with reassembled animal skeletons and mammoth bones. The late 1600s and early 1700s were times of great advancement in the sciences. Questions that had once been forbidden by the Church were asked with increasing frequency: How old was the earth? What were people like before written records? What was the meaning behind the strange bones that were unlike those belonging to living creatures? At one time, the earth was thought to be 6,000 years old. This figure, calculated by using the Old Testament, made it difficult to arrive at answers about prehistory – or even to ask the questions. James Hutton, a geologist from Edinburgh, Scotland, carefully studied natural formations including layers of rock. In 1795 he theorized that the changes on the earth occurred gradually over long spans of time due to the action of wind and water. In the 1830s, Sir Charles Lyell wrote The Principals of Geology which argued for even longer stretches of time in which humans developed. Sir Charles influenced Charles Darwin, who published The Origin of Species in 1859. This important work introduced the Theory of Evolution, which forever changed the understanding of human origins. Armed with the idea that humans evolved over time, scientists began reaching conclusions when they discovered interesting specimens. In the same year that The Origin of Species was published, the bones of extinct animals were found along with human bones in the gravel of a French river. This was the first proof that humans had been on the earth much longer than previously suspected. It was no longer possible to date conclusively human existence, or the existence of the planet, at only 6,000 years. With respect to ancient cultures, archaeology became important in 1798 when the French Emperor Napoleon invaded Egypt. He brought a team of scientists with him to record information about the pyramids. The Rosetta Stone, discovered near Rosetta, Egypt in 1799, provided the method to crack the code of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Soon after, in 1807, Danish archaeologist Christian Jugensen Thompson classified artifacts into three eras, Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. These labels are still in use today. In the late 1800s, signs of still earlier civilizations were discovered all over the world, from Stone Age cave paintings in Spain to Sumerian city 6

walls in the Middle East. The most famous archaeologist was Heinrich Schliemann, a wealthy German industrialist who was fascinated by the old Greek tales of the fall of Troy that he read as a child. Schleimann claimed that Troy’s location could be determined by studying Homer’s Iliad, the ancient story of the Trojan War and its heroes. Schliemann found evidence of several cities in several layers. He also found gold jewelry, which he insisted, belonged to the mythical beauty, Helen of Troy. Schliemann’s methods of excavation destroyed as much as it preserved, but his amazing discoveries popularized archaeology. In America at the turn of the century, Franz Boas and his students studied Native American people and compared them with other civilizations. Boas discovered that race and culture were not the same thing. This means that within different races, there are wide variations in culture. It also means that race does not determine culture. This is very important as earlier anthropological studies considered non-European societies to be less advanced and less important. Margaret Mead is another famous anthropologist. She lived among the Samoan people and wrote popular books about the differences between Samoan society and American society. The most well-known anthropological archaeologists are Louis and Mary Leaky. They identified the African continent as the cradle of human life. After searching the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania for over 25 years, they found the skull of Australopithecus, a 1.75 million-year-old hominid. Since that discovery, the origins of modern humans have been pushed back even farther in time. The very definition of “human” has changed. The Neanderthal, once considered to be a very different type of human that existed before Homo sapiens, is not thought to have lived at the same time. Neanderthals disappeared some 30,000 years ago for unknown reasons. It’s also possible that Neanderthals and humans intermixed. Today, anthropologists pose theories about the development of human beings and human cultures that are sometimes controversial. Rather than assuming changes in society and technology came about gradually over long periods of time, some scientists think powerful or influential individuals made changes happen. Evidence in the remains of tools and farming techniques support this theory.

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WHERE THE JOBS ARE IN THIS FIELD MANY ARCHAEOLOGISTS AND anthropologists work in colleges and universities, which means that they are on the faculty as professors. The duties of a professor include teaching classes, advising students, and serving on committees with your fellow faculty members. Research is part of this academic world, as is the publication of the results of research in scholarly journals. Conferences to meet with peers are routine, usually about once a year, and are held in major metropolitan areas.

Other anthropologists work as curators in museums. The federal government employs many anthropologists, as do state, local, and tribal governments. Work takes place in modern office buildings or in college classrooms and offices. Archaeologists and anthropologists also go into the field to do original research, the results of which are studied back in the academic, laboratory, or office environment. Conditions in the field are often less than ideal, often with few facilities and very basic living conditions. Sometimes a dig can seem like an extended camping trip with tents for shelters, cots and sleeping bags, and food cooked on a camp stove. You must be prepared for dirt, heat, and cold. Some anthropologists live with the communities they are studying. The community might be in an isolated or remote area. It might be in a foreign country, or a place in America that is very unlike your home. The work of excavation might be on the baked earth of a country on the African continent. You could also be in the middle of New York City as the foundation of an old building is searched for artifacts before it is torn down to make room for a new office tower. Old kitchen “middens” or garbage dumps are wonderful places to search. They tell a lot about the inhabitants, such as what they ate and the kinds of objects they possessed before they were broken and discarded. Depending on the location, the dump might be thousands of years old. It could also be the midden of a farmhouse occupied by soldiers during the Civil War. Field work is strenuous, requiring digging and lifting. It’s normal to spend long hours carefully removing earth with a small brush. Some sites are more like small construction jobs, with earth moving machines and employees in hardhats and safety shoes.

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Patience is always the rule as haste could destroy a site. Field work occurs in the summer months to take advantage of the weather. Summer also coincides with time off from the school year so professors and students can participate, often working alongside on a project. More and more graduates are finding work with private archaeological firms that specialize in Cultural Resource Management (CRM). The headquarters is usually in a modern office building, while a branch location is more like a small construction firm. Some have a mobile field unit, rather like a large recreational vehicle, that can be on the site of new construction to evaluate unearthed artifacts. This is a new phenomenon in the profession, so further changes in the work environment can be expected.

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WHAT’S THE WORK LIKE? ANTHROPOLOGISTS AND ARCHEOLogists are scientists. As scientists, they must analyze and compare the results of findings. They test theories based on previous results, and then evaluate those same theories in light of new discoveries. Those new discoveries are made at dig sites.

How Sites Are Selected Sites are chosen in a variety of ways and

some are found by accident. Many traces of human habitation are uncovered during highway or building construction. The demolition of old buildings often yields artifacts. Sometimes erosion or the action of wind and water can uncover objects. The famous discoveries of Olduvai Gorge, fossilized human skull fragments, were simply lying on top of the ground, waiting for the right person to find them. Other times, a site is chosen because of historical description. Schliemann is the most famous example of this, as he began digging according to his own study of ancient stories and by arriving at a geographical location based on that information. Civil War battlefields are searched, as are known sites of previous occupation, such as Roanoke Island in North Carolina, the site of the first English settlement in the New World. Aerial photography reveals differences in the land that cannot be seen easily on the ground level, such as a change in vegetation that may signal the spot of an old trash dump. However, a site is considered in relationship to other sites, a region rather than one particular point with a sign that says, “dig here.” An archeological survey is performed to determine the scope of investigation. A survey involves mapping, interviewing local inhabitants, and checking whatever information is available about a location. Archeologists also walk the land, foot by foot, and look for surface items that will reveal information, a potsherd, perhaps, soil of a color different than the surrounding earth, or stones that show signs of human hand. Archival evidence is also important. If an old industrial site, such as a location of former mining or manufacturing, is being considered, courthouse records of landholders will be useful. Census records give a good idea of populations and the distribution of wealth in a vanished community. Sampling is the next step, where a determination is made of the extent of information that can be gathered from a site. The data collected will help determine the need for future study. Often, sites are endangered 10

by construction. The sampling evidence can be used by the scientists to halt construction and begin the work of excavation and/or preservation.

Mapping the Site Accurate mapping is vital. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer-aided ways to make maps. GIS is a broad term that includes every technology used including computerized databases and statistical packages. The information comes from a number of places, one being from mapping satellites that orbit the planet. Other information includes data logged in by hand. The great thing about the GIS is that information that once took years to gather and interpret now takes a few moments. Imagine using only pencil and paper, maybe a few tools like a compass and a protractor, and yards of maps to determine a settlement pattern. With GIS, scientists can see patterns and differences over large areas of space and can also see changes over time. A specific example of GIS at work is a survey done of Roman ruins on an island off of Yugoslavia. First, data for soil and climate were entered. Then the scientists entered data for known agricultural settlements and known sites of Roman ruins. By this method, they were able to determine the probable location of places for further study and excavation with greater accuracy than without the relevant data. Another benefit to accurate mapping is a reduction in the need for actual excavation. Excavation is always destructive. There is no way the removal of large amounts of dirt and intensive digging can be anything but destructive. If archeologists have the best information available going in, they can reduce the inevitable damage.

The Value of Artifacts Wherever a site is identified, artifacts are sought. An artifact is an object either made by humans or changed by humans. A piece of charred wood from a 10,000-year-old fire circle is an artifact. Pieces of fabric are artifacts. Tools and broken pots are artifacts. Student or professional, it’s important to know what to look for. Careful study of the time and place prior to entering the site are important to identify the artifacts as they are found. When an item is collected from the surface, it isn’t just picked up and dropped in a bag. The location on the surface is important, so exact data is recorded about the item. A potsherd, for example, is more than a piece of broken pottery, trash that didn’t make it into the waste dump. That piece of pottery was once part of a whole pot. The whole pot was one of many made by people long ago, before it broke and was abandoned on the ground. Underneath that ground are layers of dirt that were, in their time, 11

surfaces also. The pots underneath the ground might be just the same – or there might be a difference, enough of a difference for anthropologists to see how the production of these materials changed over time. After all, every item formed by a person’s hands reveals something about the person or people who created it.

The Excavation Begins After all methods of surveying and mapping

are complete, plans are made for the excavation. Excavation is not about finding buried treasure or rooms full of mummies and gold. Any kind of excavation that does not follow scientific procedures is vandalism, the kind that destroys evidence and therefore loses data. The basic unit of excavation is the grid – a series of labeled squares that identify points in a site. As digging progresses, artifacts uncovered are labeled and recorded within the grid where they were found. Many excavations are vertical, that is they go straight down in a small area. Vertical digging reveals horizontal layers, which in turn gives everyone a pretty good idea of cultural sequence, or who was where when and what they were doing. Vertical excavations are also relatively inexpensive, accomplished by people with hand tools or very small earth moving machines working for a short period of time. Larger excavations, called horizontal or area excavations, reveal larger areas, such as the original plan of a house or the pattern of a settlement. These cost more, both in equipment and human labor. They take longer as there is more area to sift through and record. It may take years to excavate an area and funding is critical. More than one archaeologist has begun all over again when the money ran out for a project.

Recording and Analyzing the Finds

An excavation is only as good as its written records. As the dig goes through each strata of the earth, it is vital to record each layer. Remember, even scientifically controlled excavations are destructive, displacing material that tells part of the story. No one will be able to recreate the process once you have disturbed the area. Accurate records will survive and are always available for future evaluations. When it is time to come back from the field, there is a wealth of material to sort, test, and classify. Material is tested using a variety of techniques, including probably the best known, Radiocarbon dating, or Carbon-14. The Carbon-14 method can provide an absolute date because it’s based on the half-life of carbon dioxide, or the time it takes for an item to lose carbon-14 isotopes. It works well dating materials from about 1500 BC to 40,000 years old, sometimes older. 12

Other forms of dating include Dendochronology, or using tree-ring growth to learn the age of structures or other artifacts. Tree-ring growth is an example of relative dating, dating that depends on other objects in the landscape. Why is preserving layers and making records so important? It’s one thing to count the rings in a log that was part of a home and determine that the tree was 200 years old when it was cut down, but what good is it if you don’t know when the tree was cut? Same thing for other artifacts – they can’t tell you much out of context.

Managing a Project

Lots of administrative work goes along with the territory. It is just as important to plan and control all phases of work related to the discoveries as the discoveries are themselves. The anthropologist is responsible for the design and execution of various programs, but the actual work may be contracted out to a private firm. Design work includes deciding the scope of the work and writing up specifications. You will need to know all of the state and federal regulations that apply, which permits are needed and why, time lines, and budget constraints. Presenting information is important. You need to learn computer software programs that will allow you to run “slide-shows” and prepare electronic documents. While information is still published in print format, the transmission of data electronically is becoming standard. Information is often presented in meetings. College professor, government department head or private contractor, there are lots of meetings to attend. The meeting might entail describing the work on a project. Private contractors will meet with prospective employers to explain their abilities as a company and why they’d be able to complete a job on time and within specifications. Public officials meet with members of congress or representatives from other organizations. In all situations, there is a broad spectrum of communications with colleagues from other disciplines. Archeologists talk to geologists and historians. Anthropologists talk to lab technicians and representatives of the local Native American tribe.

Continuing Education

It is vital to stay current with new information. Professionals need to spend a lot of time reading the findings of others. Theories change, often radically, which leads to controversy and the demand to see old information in a new light. For example, it’s long been assumed that Native Americans came across the Bering Sea land bridge – from the far eastern edge of Russia to Alaska. People then migrated or diffused down through North America and South America. 13

While this still may be true, new evidence suggests that people also crossed the Atlantic from the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain) about 18,000 years ago. They sailed in boats, perhaps made of animal hide, on a journey in open seas that might have taken three weeks. There’s plenty of evidence about the Pacific islanders sailing in open waters at about the same time, so it’s quite possible. This research is also based on the Clovis culture, a group that has left little evidence of its existence. However, what is left is highly distinctive. Clovis-point blades are unique and easy to identify. They are found in Pennsylvania, Virginia and South Carolina, in addition to Monte Verde, Chile. This theory is the result of teamwork between an anthropology curator at the Smithsonian Institute and an independent researcher in Colorado.

Forensic Medicine

Anthropologists also work in the field of Forensic Medicine. Have you ever seen a human face recreated from a skull? The scientists base the design of the face on skull measurements and data on common human features. Then, layer by layer, they build up muscle and tissue using clay until we are looking at something more than a fragment of old bone; we can see a human face from across thousands of years. Kennewick Man, or the Ancient One as the remains are also known, is a recent example of this kind of work – and of the resulting controversy surrounding the removal of human remains. While science is eager to study a 9,000-year-old skull found in America, representatives of Native American tribes feel that the remains should have been given to them immediately for reburial. The team of experts at work on this discovery must also have sensitivity to the people affected by their discovery and the choice of how it is studied or even if it should be studied. You can see how important it is to be versatile and well informed on current developments long after your formal academic training is over.

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PROFESSIONALS IN THE FIELD TELL YOU ABOUT THEIR WORK I Am a College Professor “I knew I wanted to be

an archeologist when I was only eight years old. I grew up in England, and I always loved history, especially ancient history, the Greeks and the Romans. Egyptology also fascinated me. I read ancient mythology as a child. I visited museums in the major metropolitan cities of Europe and in school we were taken on field trips to ancient sites. My parents encouraged my interests. I earned my doctorate from Oxford University. I studied the First Iron Age, protoCeltic [before the Celtic culture in Europe]. After graduation, I came to America where I worked as a journalist for two years, writing feature stories on archaeology. I left England to come to America because there are more opportunities here. Of course, I never studied American Indians in England, but the techniques, the methodology, is the same. The found material culture is pretty much the same everywhere – post holes, pits, and graves – although the people were different, very different. On an excavation in Jerusalem, I found the false teeth of a Roman Legionnaire. They were made from a sheep’s teeth, which were wired together. I’m sure they must have been very uncomfortable. Another time I excavated a Roman well for three weeks and found a Cocoa Cola bottle from the 1880s in the bottom! Nothing else. And when we excavated at ancient burial sites in Israel, people threw rocks at us to protest out “sacrilege.” We had to hide behind pillars! Since there aren’t any courses in archaeology in American high schools, I would recommend a student take classes in the soil sciences such as geology. Also classes in botany, biology, and physics. It’s a multi disciplinary field, so many disciplines from the social sciences and the hard sciences come together. It’s holistic; all encompassing. I would also recommend classes in the humanities, history and social studies. Photography and pottery, anything to become familiar with material culture. There is no substitute for reading. I encourage everybody interested in the 15

field to read. I read everything I can get my hands on. Read – I cannot stress it enough. I go to schools to speak to kids, all the way from 1st grade on up. I tell them how to determine behavior patterns from the things people made and used. Of course, they think of Indiana Jones when they think of archaeology. I also talk to groups, such as the Girls Scouts. All of our excavations are public and everyone is welcome. Schools could organize field trips to local sites, to an archaeology lab here at the college where I teach. The opportunities in this field are growing, not that much in the academic sector, but very much today in the public sector and among private contractors. Federal governments and state governments employ archaeologists and also contract out for services. Hospitals hire medical anthropologists as the medicines and cures of native peoples are discovered to be beneficial. Human remains are treated very respectfully. If we find them, we contact the state office for historical preservation. A committee of anthropologists and Native Americans decide if the remains can be examined or need to be left as is. It’s important to be sensitive to the native community. There are also people from other cultures in almost any community. We are more global than we used to be. The study of human culture makes us more sensitive to these varying points of view. Archeology is everywhere, it’s ubiquitous. You are never that far from archeology. Contact your local or state archaeological association to learn of nearby digs. You never know when you’re going to find something extraordinary. Every time you open the ground, you don’t know what you’ll find; there are just spectacular things. You don’t go into it for the money – it’s the thrill of discovery that matters most.”

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I Am a Private Contractor Employee “I used to find stuff, spear tips and points, out in the cornfields in Indiana when I was a kid. At first, it was by accident. Then I started looking systematically. I waited for the corn to come up, which made it easier to find things. You could spend all day out in the field, just looking. Then I saw patterns and locations. They’re not really arrowheads, by the way. The bow and arrow wasn’t invented in America until about 900 AD, somewhere in there. The points that you find are spearheads or javelin heads – not arrow heads although that’s what people call them. They also had more than one purpose. When people moved around, they couldn’t carry a lot with them, so they used a spear head also as a knife, for example. I worked in a factory and took an anthropology class at night. The teacher worked for the Works Projects Administration during the depression of the 1930s and he really encouraged me to study. I quit the factory and went to school. Most prominent archaeologists in the past knew a little about everything – or a lot about something! The field is so broad that people tend to specialize in one area or another in graduate school. They specialize within a time period or an area, like the Ohio River valley. There are probably about 30 people in my firm, two of whom hold a PhD. The owner has a master’s degree. All of us in this office, six people, have their master’s. Some people with just their bachelor’s degree travel from site to site, excavation to excavation, for a living. We also use work-study students from the local university, generally for sorting, washing, labeling, word processing, and data entry. You need a strong science background because of the way it structures your thought process. Any science class will teach you how to think . . . how to interpret, how to speak the language of your colleagues. Reading is the best thing that you can do. Most information comes out of the lab. With new technology, old collections are re-analyzed. With new information, new theories, and new technologies, collections gathered 20 or 30 17

years ago could still be valuable. In fact, they can be more valuable than they were at the time they were collected. History is always biased or slanted. During the Civil War, for example, official records say there wasn’t any alcohol in the camps, but we’ve found whiskey bottles in the old camp privies! And, they say the history of a war is written by the winner; it can be hard to find out anything about a civilization that has been conquered and destroyed. You have to address site specific questions: How does this relate to other sites? You can’t look at a site with little material culture and say, “Oh, these people were poor.” People used to live in base-camps and then go out of the camp for different reasons, hunting or fishing or harvesting fruits and nuts. Maybe the people didn’t store all their possessions in one place as we do in our homes. Maybe, if people didn’t have permanent homes and moved constantly, they didn’t amass a lot of material possessions which they would have to move around with them. That wouldn’t necessarily mean they didn’t have a comfortable life. It’s tough; school is so research oriented, with long-term projects the rule. Then you get out in the real world as a contractor and the pressure’s on – you might have six weeks to finish a job and you have to rush it. You satisfy the requirements of the contract, but maybe more could be done. Lots of money is spent on archaeology, lots of public money. If people knew what it takes, they’d understand. Sometimes there are adversarial positions. As archeologists, you’re often in the middle: the builder isn’t always happy – it slows down production, they might be in a hurry to get on with their building. There’s a lot of prejudice that education could correct. People don’t think twice about looting an ancient mound, but wouldn’t do the same thing if there were gravestones like in modern cemeteries. Positives: It’s really interesting, putting together a puzzle, answering unanswered questions, meeting people, a good mix of outside/inside work. But when it’s cold, you kind of wonder what you’re doing out there! It’s hard to get in a rut, every site is

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different. You get to see a lot of different stuff – that’s why people go into this work.”

I Am a Federal Government Employee “I fell into it. I was a physics major, but

I failed that first semester in both my calculus and physics classes, so I switched to psychology. I became interested in anthropology and early human studies on my own and did a lot of reading on the subject. One day, a guest lecturer in social anthropology talked to one of my psychology classes. I started asking questions, stayed on the subject of early humans, that kind of thing. After class, my teacher approached me and asked me how I knew all that. I said I’d been reading, and my teacher suggested I switch to anthropology. While I was an undergraduate I got to participate at some excavations in Jerusalem. Because of my previous surveying experience and a change in personnel, I took over the duties of head surveyor. While I served in the military, I got to spend weekends on a dig in Arkansas. When I got out of the service, I went back to school to get my graduate degree. I was able to take over as the lab director for a field school after a year in graduate school. It was on the island of Cypress on a National Geographic sponsored dig. I worked two summers as an archaeologist in Vietnam and Laos. We were an MIA team, which means we searched for the remains of American soldiers who were missing in action from the Vietnam War. The work was a mixture of anthropology and archaeology. I was in charge of the excavation on three different sites, a crash site from a reconnaissance plane, an alleged burial site, and an F-4 phantom jet crash site in Laos. At the recon site there wasn’t much material. We got only 2 buckets full after 10 days of work. At the F-4 site we found life support equipment such as oxygen masks and rescue kits. We also found belt-buckles. After interviewing the people who lived there, we determined that pretty much all of the human remains had washed downstream 19

long ago, which is what we expected. But we were able to positively identify the jet by the serial number on the clock that we found so we fulfilled out mission. The few items that we did find, like the belt-buckles, were returned to the families of the missing pilots. I’ve also studied old textiles, including an 8,000-year-old Peruvian fabric. I’ve also studied textiles from Serbia and the American southwest. You can learn a lot about the habits of the people who made the cloth, the way they wove a basket or rolled cordage. Presently, I design the projects necessary to deal with the artifacts found at small local protection projects for floods. I write the specs for the job and review the bids and references of prospective contractors. I follow each phase of the project and make sure everything is going according to plan. I’m active in the state archaeological society and contribute articles and book reviews to journals and encyclopedias. I would advise a young person looking at this career field to work on your writing skills. I see so many reports that are just horrible, unreadable. They really look bad and then someone, sometimes me, has to take the time to rewrite them. In my experience, it’s difficult to find archeologists with good writing skills. So many people are content to go from dig to dig, to just stay at a lower level. I’d also advise learning about Geographic Information Systems (GIS). When we look for student assistants from the local college, many of them don’t have the computer background or experience. GIS isn’t one skill, it’s a set of skills, a series of relational databases based on spatial characteristics. You need to understand the technology to work in the field.”

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ATTRACTIVE FEATURES THERE’S NO SUBSTITUTE FOR DOING what you love and what interests you. If

you’ve always been interested in history and science, in the past, in culture and in human society in general, you’ll never be happy going against the grain of your own personality. You can take advantage of all kinds of opportunities for travel in this field, both in the United States and overseas. Not only is travel fun, but it is truly broadening. There is no substitute for seeing how other people live, and as an anthropologist it can’t be stressed enough that you need to learn about other people. Little things that you take for granted, like the light switch or service in a restaurant, are quite different even in an English-speaking country. As you learn about other cultures, you’ll see differences and similarities and you’ll begin to understand that there is no “right” way of cooking or wearing clothing. There isn’t even a “right” way that families are structured or that work gets done! It’s pretty much the same with religion, an important factor in how people see the world and how they see each other. Religious beliefs are fascinating and also affect material culture, all the way from a small carved stone that represents a god to a mosque in Istanbul decorated with blue and gold ceramic tiles. You will have the satisfaction of holding objects in your hands that are old, which were crafted long ago by people you could never hope to meet. You will add to the body of knowledge in your chosen field. This is a very satisfying concept. There are many different people who work together on research, excavation, and study. Through conferences and consultations, you will meet other people who care about the same things you do. You’ll also learn from others. Even if you don’t teach in a college, you can work on educating the public. People want to know about the past and they’ll be interested in what you do. School children, especially, love to learn about Native American cultures. If you work as an excavator or if you head a large museum, you are part of something wonderful and important. You are reclaiming the past and answering the basic questions we all ask: Where did we come from? Where are we now? Where are we going?

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UNATTRACTIVE FEATURES IT TAKES A LOT OF EDUCATION TO advance in this field, which isn’t a bad thing, but it takes a long time and costs money. However, even a doctoral degree won’t guarantee you a top-dollar salary. After you become a full professor or the chief curator at a museum or a departmental head, you’ll see your earnings increase. Keep in mind that this will happen only after many years.

There aren’t that many jobs in museums. Advancement, especially in the academic world, often depends on publication. This means writing articles and books, or editing the articles of others into a book. Job security in a college (called “tenure”) is often dependent on publication credits. Entry level salaries are in the low $20,000s. If you or your parents cannot afford to pay for your education, you will have to supplement college costs with loans and scholarships or with employment. If you teach, you may have to take the first job offered which might not be in the place you like or at a school you like. Colleges face more and more budget cuts all the time and cannot afford to hire enough faculty. Instead, many professors have temporary contracts. At the end of the contract period (usually one to three years), the job is over and you’ll need to search again. Digs and excavations are often uncomfortable, especially if you aren’t fond of camping. You will spend many hours in a crouched position, scraping dirt with a dental tool or brushing it away with a toothbrush. Not only will you be physically uncomfortable, but also your work will require your full attention. Intense concentration can be more exhausting than physical effort. Your patience will be tried in more ways than one. You might never see the end results of the excavation you work. When you are in the lab, you must classify and categorize objects and not be in a hurry to get it over with. You might also face the frustration of seeing something you care about ignored or destroyed. It happens. Not only do vandals wreck sites in progress, but storms and bad weather can re-cover your hard work. A highway might go through anyway if the artifacts aren’t considered important enough. There is always a balance between preserving the past and pursuing the future.

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Funding can run out for a project and everything is re-buried in the hope that at another time, excavation can commence. There are hard choices to make. There’s a lot of ignorance on the part of the public about what scientists do, especially in anthropology. Controversy erupts as a result. An archaeologist can quickly become caught in the middle of different groups of people, those who want heritage preserved, for example, and those who want progress. If you are in charge of a study or excavation, it is doubtful that you will please everyone.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING THE FIELD OF ANTHROPOLOGY requires advanced formal education. A

master’s degree is a must, and as you pursue your career goals, you will find that a PhD is also very desirable. While you are in high school, you need to follow college preparatory guidelines in your course work. Your school counselor will know what classes you need and when to begin applying to colleges and universities. In general, you will need classes in English, history, mathematics, and science. Of the sciences, you will need biology and chemistry. Earth science classes will prepare you for further study. You should take computer courses to learn programming and general computer skills. A course or two in photography and art would be helpful. On your own, you can visit historical sites and museums. Libraries often have interesting collections of old documents including newspapers, maps, and even journals. These archives are valuable records of the past and familiarizing yourself with them will be a good experience. You can also contact your local and/or state historical societies and ask for volunteer work experience. Talking to professionals will provide you with insight, and most adults will be happy to talk to you after they learn of your interests and goals. If you can, volunteer to work on your school newspaper, yearbook, or literary magazine. These publications will give you experience in organizing, writing, and presenting information. Read books and magazines, as many as you find interesting. Read history and learn about different cultures. Talk to people in your community who are from foreign countries. Ask them about what is different in their homeland from their life in America. They might be able to provide clues and direction for you to further your personal research. 23

As soon as possible in your junior year, you should begin to look at different colleges and begin preparing to apply. The application process will also include scheduling the College Board tests, such as the ACT and the SAT. You will want to research the different colleges and see which ones offer a program that will best suite your needs. The American Anthropological Association publishes the AAA Guide, which lists graduate and undergraduate programs at schools in the United States and Canada. Your studies as a college undergraduate will still be general and aimed towards a major in anthropology. Archeology is considered to be one of the four subdisciplines of anthropological study. The other three are physical anthropology, cultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology. If you are interested in classical archeology, you will need to take ancient languages such as Latin and Greek in addition to modern languages, such as German, French, and modern Greek. For other areas, you will need courses in material culture and folklore. Some programs of study will be interdisciplinary, which means you will have classes in languages, art, history, the sciences, and theology. While earning your Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree, you can take field work classes in the summer, or a semester in a field school working on an excavation of a site.

Graduate School

Even though you must earn a BA or a BS, this degree alone will not be enough to advance very far in a career in anthropology. The undergraduate degree will qualify you to work in a lab or in the field under supervision, or at lower levels within the federal government. After completing your undergraduate work, you will need to continue your post-graduate education to obtain a Master of Arts or Master of Science degree. An MA takes about two years and concludes with a thesis, a report of original research. Some non-thesis programs are also available. To teach at the college level, you will need to earn your Doctorate. Most PhD programs require at least 2 to 3 years. A dissertation is a requirement for a PhD. The dissertation is an important body of work that will contribute significantly to the field in which you will become an expert. Graduates with a PhD have the qualifications to become teachers, museum curators, departmental heads in government, work for private firms or start their own business.

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Field Work The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) publishes the

Archaeological Fieldwork Opportunities Bulletin (AFOB) which lists excavations and schools all over the world. This publication can be obtained through your local library or directly from the AIA. Early application to beneficial programs will ensure you gain valuable experience in your area. Some field experience programs will be strictly volunteer, some will enable you to earn college credit. All will give you experience that will be directly related to your studies and your future employment.

EARNINGS OBTAINING GREAT WEALTH SHOULD not be a motivating factor in this career

field. Our society sends the message that lots of money is essential for our happiness so that we can buy as much as possible. However, great wealth really isn’t vital when you consider the quality of your life. A Mercedes sports car isn’t going to teach you anything about the world around you. The archaeologists of the future will look at the material culture we leave behind in the form of CDs, computers, and cars and scratch their heads. People don’t become anthropologists to get rich quick, or to get rich at all. They do it because they love it! If you get only your basic four-year college degree, you are qualified to work in the lab or work in the field. You are also qualified to work for the federal government doing field work and lab work. Salaries are in the very low $20,000s for a new employee. Without additional education there is little chance for advancement regardless of your employer – government or private company. If you are in a university setting, your chances of getting a full-time job with only an undergraduate degree are almost zero. You are not qualified to teach at the college level. If you continue with post-graduate work, obtaining a master’s degree, then you can apply for a graduate assistantship while you work on your MA. Graduate assistants usually earn a stipend in addition to tuition money. A stipend is a very small amount of money suitable only for the basics of living. If you get a teaching position, the beginning salary is still quite low even with an advanced doctorate degree. Salaries usually begin between $25,000 and $30,000, while a full professor with many years of teaching experience and several publications can earn from $50,000 to $60,000. Average annual earnings are around $47,000. This is also about average for the federal government. It is possible to earn a salary in the 25

mid $70,000s, but this is after usually at least 25 years of teaching or top-graded federal service. Salaries in state government positions are usually lower than federal salaries. In all situations, you can expect to receive employee benefits. Benefits include vacation and sick days, health and dental insurance, life insurance, and retirement and investment plans. The federal government is a secure place to work. Once you have been continuously employed for a minimum number of years, you can count on a full career. However, the government undergoes periods of downsizing from time to time, and you may find yourself having to apply to other agencies in different parts of the country to stay employed. Private contractors depend on the requirements of federal regulations to stay in business. If new laws are passed that reduce federal oversight, then cultural resource management firms will be affected.

OPPORTUNITIES THE WORK OPPORTUNITIES ARE changing all the time due to various factors.

Legislation passed by the federal government has created a whole new body of regulations for almost any kind of improvement or construction project that receives federal money. That’s a pretty big category. Highway construction is the most obvious example. Flood control is another, where damns and reservoirs are built to hold water. Usually state governments fund part of the work, then the rest of the money comes from Washington. This means that any work done with congressionally allocated funds has to meet certain standards. At the same time that more standards exist, there’s less money for the federal government to hire people to do the work. An archaeologist in the government will work with a private contractor to complete required work. There are more and more private contracting firms all the time. It often isn’t necessary to earn your PhD to work for a private firm. In fact, people with only a master’s degree start firms, and then hire the people with the knowledge and advanced expertise to perform the work. The opportunities have just begun to expand at this time. It’s fairly certain that the opportunities in the academic world or in the field of museum curatorship are extremely limited and competitive. At the present time, about 5,600 anthropologists teach at the college level. That’s about 80 percent of all the trained professionals in the country 26

today, which doesn’t sound like very many people. However, the field is growing. Physical, medical, and urban anthropology are also growing fields. The medical establishment is paying more attention to plant-based cures used by older societies, and as such cultures as the inhabitants of the South American rain forests vanish, the race is on to collect information before it is too late. There is a real gap in educational materials for the classroom. After you are fully educated and have put in some time working and/or teaching, you might want to investigate the material used in elementary, middle, and high school and see what’s needed. A collaboration with a teacher might be possible, to write and create educational texts and programs. Not only would it be rewarding, but also it might be lucrative. Anthropology is also becoming popular in the business world due to the global economy. Businesses wanting to work in different cultures need insights into unfamiliar cultures to market and interact effectively. Anthropologists are employed to study a subject country and help businesses avoid making mistakes.

GETTING STARTED YOU CAN BEGIN TODAY BY LOOKING at the classes you have taken so far and the classes you will need to get into a college. Talk to your school counselor and see what units or credit you lack and what you can take before you graduate.

You need to begin researching which college you will attend. In-state tuition is cheaper than out-of-state. However, with loans and scholarships, you might be able to go to the college your prefer. Even if you can’t get into the school you’d prefer, don’t give up. It’s now normal for a four-year education to take longer than four years due to changes in majors, or because you have to work part time while you are taking college classes. You might be able to get college credit for working a dig the summer after high school. It’s worth checking into. Contact the admissions office at the colleges you choose and tell them your plan. They will direct you to the right department. Writing skills are essential. You will write many reports and publish many articles as a professional. Begin now to identify your weaknesses in writing and ask for help to improve your skills. 27

Talk with professionals. Most are very pleased to talk and are more interested in discussing their findings and their interests than talking about themselves. Since they have to be on top of their field, they will be glad to give you specific and updated information. Stay current yourself. Get familiar with the Web sites in the field and refer to them frequently. Get on mailing lists and have information delivered to your e-mail box on a weekly basis. Join your local historical and archeological societies or attend some meetings. If you belong to a youth organization, like scouts or 4-H, suggest field trips to local digs or sites of interest. If you go on vacations with your family, see if you can arrange for a visit to an archeological site. There are many historical parks to visit with old buildings and re-enactors performing the old life-ways. They are just plain fun in addition to being accurate. Historical re-enactors who participate in re-staged Civil War battles or Native American ceremonies are often fanatical in their attention to detail. You can learn a lot from watching one of these presentations.

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ASSOCIATIONS n

American Anthropological Association

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Archaeology Conservancy

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Archaeological Association of Physical Anthropologists

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Archaeological Institute of America

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National Trust for Historic Preservation

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Society for American Archaeology

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Society for Archaeological Sciences

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Society for Historical Archaeology

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Society of Professional Archaeologists

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American Anthropological Association

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US Department of the Interior, National Park Service

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The Smithsonian Institution – National Museum of Natural History

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National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers

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WEB SITES n

Archaeological Institute of America www.archaeological.org

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Anthro Net www.anthro.net

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ArchNet, University of Connecticut http://archnet.uconn.edu/

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Society for Historical Archaeology www.sha.org

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Discovering Archaeology Magazine www.discoveringarchaeology.com

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Archaeological Parks in the U.S. www.uark.edu/misc/aras

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Museums and Exhibitions Around the World www.icom.org/vlmp/world.html

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Underwater Archaeology http://nautarch.tamu.edu

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Archaeology Magazine www.archaeology.org

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EXPLORATOR - Watching the Web for News of the Ancient World www.onelist.com/archive/Explorator

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Ancient Sites Online Community www.da.ancientsites.com

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Anthropology Human Origins www.geocities.com/Athens /Acropolis/5579/TA.html

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National Parks Service Links to the Past www.cr.nps.gov/

Copyright 2005 Institute For Career Research CHICAGO 30