Expert: Ralph Salier - 3/23/2011

Question
Recently I've been reading about bioarchaeology and have become very interested in the field. However, I'm not sure on how to proceed in order to get involved.
I'm a graduate student in biomedical sciences with experience in molecular and evolutionary biology. On one hand, I'm familiar with the techniques used in the bioarchaeology papers, but on the other hand, I don't have any background in archaeology. I don't know if it's possible, with this academic background, to become directly involved in this field, or if I should pursue archaeology as a second career.

Answer
Hi Elizabeth,

Your talents and knowledge is very important to the field of Bioarchaeology.  This is a skill set that most (98%) of archaeologists don't have and they rely on people like you to meet their needs.  Having some knowledge about archaeology and how samples are collected would be important and if you have improved methods for collecting samples from the field, this would invaluable to the archaeologists.  Contact the Archaeology department of your university to offer them your help.  You may consider "trading" your services for the opportunity to work on a dig.