Expert: Ralph Salier - 1/16/2006

Question
I am a high school student doing a research paper on archaeology and was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. If you could please respond within 24 hours I would greatly appreciate it.

1. What are some of the events in a normal day in the field?

2. How long is your typical day in the field?

3. Would you recommend this career to someone who is interested in history?

4. What are some of the places you have traveled to?

5. What qualities do you look for in a good archaeologist?

6. How much training and/or schooling did you have to go through to work in the field?

7. How much time do you get off to do the things that you want to do?

Thank you again for you time.

Answer
Hi Jennifer.  A day in the life of a field archaeologist:

1) Uncover the site.  Make sure that the survey markers are intact.  Assign excavators to squares. Digging proceeds, Mapping of artifacts as found and the recording of this on recovery bags. Soil, botanical, gastrapod samples taken and mapped.  If carcoal is found, it is recorded and then collected based on the required standards.  If human remains are found, these are collected, mapped and recorded as the law requires and handeled with dignity.  At the end of the day all materials recovered, maps, photos, drawings samples etc.. are transported to the lab for further work up.  The site is shut down for the night with tarps covering the excavated areas and the site is locked up or the fence is closed.

2. From day break to sun down. Unless it is operated as an eight to five operation.

3) No. Become a historian with a background in Archaeology.

4) I have dug in Wales, Scotland, England, Switzerland, Germany, and many places in the US and Canada.

5) Highly organized, a keen eye for detail, the ability to see spatially (3D) and understand (or learn to) neauances.

6) You can do it as an amature as I started out doing.  By the time I went to college I had already had 8 field seasons under the supervision of a professional.  To become a professional however, you need a bachelors degree in Archaeology/Anthropology and then work in the field for at least two field seasons.  Some states require certification while others do not.

7) Such as??  If you are on a field team, you work, in the evenings, you may also be assigned lab work and  this could go into the weekends too but typically you do get SAT and SUN off.