Expert: Ralph Salier - 2/26/2010

Question
Hello my name is tyree,i want to know how a archaeologist operate,i want to know whats the pay of archaeologist,what education do u need,dwhat do they do?

Answer
Hi Tyree

An Archaeologist is a person who studies the remains of cultures.  Not just the human bones but the stone tools, food bones, ceramics and other materials left behind by people long gone.  There are many kinds of archaeology.  There is prehistoric archaeology that looks at extinct cultures, there is industrial archaeology which looks at historical sites of the industrial revolution, there is garbology which looks at modern trash to get a better understanding of modern societies and others.  

Archaeologists carefully excavate the ground where an archaeological site is located and they record all of their observations as well as carefully map all of the artifacts and other materials found during the dig. This way it can be reconstructed in the computer.  A dig is like reading a book one page at a time and then tearing out that page and burning it.  If the archaeologist is not totally through in his or her observations, that page can not be reconstructed and data is lost.  

What does an Archaeologist make?  Well that depends on his or her education.  You need at least a Bachelors degree from a College or University that has an appropriate Archaeological curriculum.  WIth a Bachelors degree you can make between $10/hr and $25/hr and if you are very fortunate, you can find a full time job and make between $36,000 and $48,000 per year.  Most go on to get a Masters Degree and then you can make between $48,000 per year and $75,000 per year.  And a few go on to get a PhD (Doctorate) and you may then earn upwards of $85,000 per year.    

I hope that this answers your questions but if you have more, please ask,  I'm here to help you learn.  

Where are you from originally?