AboutRalph Salier Expertise Archaeologist for the last 30 years. Norh American generalist and Hopwell culture/Red Ocher culture specifically. Lithics Expert and Ground Stone tools.
Experience
Past/Present clients Numerous museums in US and Canada. Several University Anthropology Departments.
I am mostly interested in Archaeology. Particularly the Incas, however I am also interested in some of the Central American civilizations such as the Mayans and Aztecs.
As far as schools go, as I said before I am looking for a state school, as even being an out of state student, most have a lower tuition.
Also, while I got very very high marks on my ACT I did not take the writing portion at that time, so that limits my schools options slightly.
Thank you again for the help!
ANSWER: Hi Ashley,
Both UCLA and UNC-Chapel Hill conducted field schools in Peru this last year. Both schools have strong programs as does SIU Carbondale.
The best way to find a school is to look for the field schools. Pick the culture and look up the field schools for that culture and the description will include the school. Then go to that school's website and look at who is on the faculty and the course selection. This will give you a good idea of the education you can expect to get.
Don't be to worried about your ACT or SAT scores, were you involved in community volunteering, did you tutor fellow students, read to children at the library? Are you able to write well and handle essays?
I am a bit worried that you avoided the writing portion. In archaeology, there is a lot of writing and bunches of papers. It would not be unusual for an anthro class to have two papers and lots of essays as part of the grade. When I was teaching both anthro and archaeology I had my students writing constantly.
Consider this recommendation from Mary Leaky to me a very long time ago: " Become an archaeologist, just also take the time to have a back up plan. Study economics, social work, plumbing, electrical work something that will allow you to have a back up when you can't find work in the field. Become a teacher..." I am very happy that I listened... It has allowed me to stay in this field for nearly 40 years.
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QUESTION: Thank you for the help again!
As far as the writing section, I didn't avoid it. My high school gave the test to every junior student for free, but without the writing portion. I got a high enough score that the university I was going to go to waived the writing requirement so I never took it as the extra money to pay for a retest would have been a strain on my family at the time.
Do you have any recommendations for websites I could look at for field schools?
Answer Hi Ashley,
The best one by far and used by most (but not all) is www.shovelbums.org. This is a great place to find work in the field too. This is a non-profit and a small donation is alway welcomed. This would be the first place I would look. #2 would be the school of choice and #3 a college or university near you that may have a summer field school this summer that you could get onto (if it isn't tolate) and you would earn credit for the effort. Always good to start school with some credits in the back pocket. I spent my last three summers of High School getting college credit doing summer field schools and had 24 credits going in.
