Expert: John J. Shea - 10/11/2005

Question
Hello,

    I am an American, 22, and currently in the US Navy.  After separation from the military I plan to attend university in Australia with a major in archaeology or anthropology.  

    I absolutely love doing research on historic events!  I am particularly interested in natural catastrophes, specifically ancient catastrophes.  My interests include the eruption of Toba, c. 74,000 years ago and the "Great Flood" described in the Old Testament.  

    How can I get into studying this and making a career out of it?  Is this in the realm of archaeology?  Are there institutes or centers devoted to the research of ancient catastrophes?  What fieldwork opportunities are there?

Thanks!


Tom  

Answer
Dear Tom,
I do not know much about the details of Australian universities' archaeology curricula. For these you could look up the individual departmental websites (use Google, "university, australia, archaeology).  The departments about which I know the most are ANU Canberra and LaTrobe, but there are many others.
Your interest in ancient catastrophes would probably be best served by looking at departments with strong links to geology, or ones that have faculty specializing in "geoarchaeology".
The Toba eruption is a hot topic these days, owing to its possible link to modern human origins.  The researcher who has been most vocal in exploring this connection is Prof. Stanley Ambrose of the Univ. of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. You might write to him for advice as well.
Most archaeologists will tell you that there is no evidence for a world-wide flood like the one described in Genesis.  Rather, the part of the world in which Genesis was composed, ancient Mesopotamia, was subject to catastrophic floods because many people lived near the overbanks of major rivers (Tigris, Euphrates) that flooded unpredictbly (unlike, say, the Nile, whose floods are highly predictable).  For such people the worst disaster they could imagine would be a flood (covers/kills crops, washed away villages, increases disease, insect populations). So, in casting about for a metaphor to describe God's power in the Book of Genesis, the Genesis authors drew on a tradition of floods as expressions of divine wrath.
Now, this all being said, it is true that there were world-wide changes in sea level, reflecting the growth and shrinking of polar ice.  The last deglaciation got going around 15,000 years ago slowing to near modern levels around 5000 years ago (from -150 meters to current sea level).  Now, in many low-lying coastal plains, like much of Australia, for example, postglacial sea level rise would have resulted in the flooding of much coastal territory.  In most areas, though, such floods would not have been like the Tsunami of last year, but rather a slow increase in the high sea level stand (the pace of change would depend on topographic factors).  There could be a link between these ancient "floods" and mythological traditions about floods in many parts of the world, but a direct link would be hard to prove conclusively.
There are many opportunities for fieldwork that you can pursue before you got to college, indeed, you probably ought to go on a dig, just so that you are sure archaeology is what you hope it will be.  To look for excavation opportunities requiring little/no prior training, go to the website of the Archaeological Institute of America (www.archaeological.org) and look at their "fieldwork" section (button off to the left of their welcome page).  Opportunities are listed by geographic region.  There are listings for both volunteer opportunities and field schools (the latter confer college credit).
Depending on where you are serving with the Navy, you might also be able to find out about excavations that you can visit.  I do not know enough about the Navy to tell you what office might dispense such information, but you can probably find out by asking your officers or your local USO.  (While I was working in Belize, back in the 1980s, the British military often brought their servicemen out to visit archaeological excavations. I would imagine there are similar programs in the US military.)
Best wishes for success in your higher education.
Sincerely
John Shea