Expert: Ralph Salier - 10/30/2008

Question
QUESTION: Dear mr. Salier
I am writing to you by reason of me wanting to attend college to study archaeology. Firstly I wish to know how numerous of years it takes to become an arcaeology in college? As well as what kind of education I need to contain to be able to study arcaeology at a college? Do you also know what colleges that has arcaeology programs? What can I work with after college and what degree will I get? Yours sincerely

ANSWER: Hi Johanna,

I would like to know a little more about you so that I can help you in the best way.  From your use of English, I would say that English is not your first language.  This means that you may not be living in the USA>  So, what country do you live in and do you want to go to a local university/college or do you want to go overseas for your university education?

The next important question is: what kind of archaeology do you want to study.  For instance, you can study Egyptiology (Egyptian Archaeology) or Greek Archaeology, Roman Archaeology, the Archaeology or Oceania, etc... There are many options.  Is there an aspect of Archaeology that is most interesting to you? The stone tools, the plant remains, the life style of the ancient ones etc...

These are all important aspects of doing archaeology.  Once I understand your areas of interest, then I can help you find the right college or univerisity and suggest what courses to take.  Also what kind of degree you will need to obtain.

If you would kindly answer my questions, I would be more then happy to assist you further.

Ralph

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi, no I am not from a English speaking country, I lived in America for about 1 ½ year. I live in Sweden right now tough. I actually don't know what kind of archaeologist I want to be I haven't thought about it like that. But I do like pretty much everything when it comes to all kinds of history. I think I would like to work in museums and I also like to see the life style people use to live and how they lived etc. I planning on going to school overseas, if I could I would like to go to college in Nebraska because that's where I lived. But I am most thankful for your help.

Johanna

ANSWER: Hi Johanna,

Sweden has a rich history and a lot of archaeological materials from pre-Viking times through the early historic times.  In fact the underwater archaeology of Sweden is very interesting.  But since you are interested in going to university in the US, then may I suggest University of Chicago, University of Arizona or University of Florida. Each has an excellent program and include museology as an aspect of the curriculm.  They also have good programs in ethnography (the study of extant peoples)as part of their anthropology departments.  

U of Nebraska has an Anthropology department and they do have a  program in archaeology as part of the Anthropology department but it is not an extensive program.  


So, the first thing you need to discover is what kind of archaeology do you want to study.  Then, do you want to focus on Archaeological Lab Sciences/Museology.  Archaeological Lab Sciences looks at the floral, faunal, limnological, malacological and other environmental materials as well as the artifactual materials themselves. For this you will need geology, Comparative Osteology, Paleo Botany, Malacology and other biological sciences. In addition, courses in mapping, archcitectural engineering, metallugy and chemistry would all be very helpful.  To do broad materials analysis and evaluations the knowledge base must be very broad. Our ancestors were very creative in the use of a  broad range of materials available to them. The only modern material we have today is plastic. They had access to all of the others!

In addition to the Lab Sciences, curation and handling of materials as well as perservation is also very important.  The University of Chicago has one of the best programs in the world for this.  In fact the Natural History Museum in Chicago is the primary laboratory for the University.  

I hope that this helps a little.

If you have more questions, please let me know.

Ralph

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi again, everything sounds really good, but I think I am more interested in working at some kind of historical museum. Do I have to go the archaeology program then too or is that another major? And another question I don't know if you can help me with, but do you know how I can apply at a university when I live in Sweden?

Johanna

Answer
Hi Johanna,

If you goal is to work in a museum then you are looking for a degree in museology (Museum Sciences).  For this I would recommend that you do take some archaeology so that you have an understanding of where the materials come from and the conditions in which they are found.  To work in a museum, you may also need to know paeontology (fossils) and textiles, and other materials.  Again the University of Chicago has an excellent program.  Other universities like Columbia in NY city and University of California Los Angeles do to.

To apply go onto the websites for those universities and in most cases you can do an internet application.  You may need to have a credit card to pay for the application cost, typically $50 to $100 USDL.  The Admissions department for these universities are always looking for forigen students as they feel that this helps to round out the American students by exposing them to the thinking of others.

If you need help finding the web sites, please let me know and I will help youfind them.

Ralph