Archaeologists?

Helium_Junkie

Helium_Junkie

Helium_Junkie

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Mornin all,

My better half is very into archaeology and history, and although our finances dont support it she is hoping to eventually study this at university.
I was wondering if anyone here worked in the area, or related areas, and could give any indication of what its like as a profession, in terms of job security/availability and (my concern) needing to move around a lot for work.

I'd appreciate any advice on this :)
 
I'd imagine you REALLY have to have the passion for it - could see it being quite painstaking.

Not sure how easy it is to get into a field like that, i'd be surprised if there is anyone here who has experience with it.
 
I'm studying archaeology at university at the moment and i'm afraid that it isn't the best job to be going into.
Jobs are mainly in the commercial sector working for companies to excavate areas before they are built upon. The starting salary is quite low 14k average in most places and jobs are hard to come by as it is competitive, lots of people not enough jobs.
It is physically demanding work, i'd very much recommend something like a training dig to give her some idea what she would be doing, i was on this one during the summer http://www.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk/hungate/abouthungate/about1.htm
 
This probably won't help but while at Uni I lived with a guy doing an Archeology degree. For his industrial placement he got a job at the viking museum in York but when he got his degree he chose a career in teaching.

I was under the impression that most jobs related to archeology would be academic-based jobs, though like History, it's the kind of degree that you can do pretty much anything once you graduate if you impress the interviewer enough.
 
scorza said:
I was under the impression that most jobs related to archeology would be academic-based jobs, though like History, it's the kind of degree that you can do pretty much anything once you graduate if you impress the interviewer enough.
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That is what most people do if they choose not to go into the physical fieldwork or specialisation. People on my course want to work in museums or be teachers.
 
Well when watching programmes like the "big dig" they do have volonteers but of course that is probably for the major dig work once things are discovered, the experienced workers moved in.

Of course there is a lot of lab work as well does she want to do field work or lab work.
 
Blackstar has it about right.
Test the water if you can - it can be a good hobby for some if you have other means of financial support, but as a full time job it's erratic, doesn't pay well - the higher you go the less jobs there are, but even as site labourers places are squabbled over on certain sites.

Working in commercial archaeology can be very frustrating, both from a work and contract point of view.
- work is often 'on demand' so contracts can be short.
- it's not all Indiana Jones hehe, often it is hot/wet/dirty and boring, even if you're qualified up to masters level.

This is from my other half, who despite working in the same place for 3 years now, still only has a temporary renewal of her contract every 2 or 3 months. She has a degree and a masters but has only recently been able to actually do the part of the work that the actually likes to do. Despite this there's still a lot of dull paperwork and recording of information to a database and other admin stuff, at this time of the year anyway.
Much of the actual excavation is done by various specialists; for example a cemetery excavation would be supervised by an osteoarchaeologist under whom relatively experienced site staff would be working. Accommodation and other 'facilities' can vary greatly depending on the location of the site - it could be in the middle of a city building site or out in the middle of nowhere. Either way you might end up paying for these, it depends.

She's really in to it, but it's something she's worked hard towards for a long time now with great expense and time involved with a less than certain outcome at times. But I've always said she's stubborn.:D
 
Capn' $qu!ff said:
On the digs do they employ volenteers as helpers or do you have to be qualified to help out?
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They sometimes rope in students and make it a module to study during the vacation. My daughter is in her second year and loves it (ancient warfare is the current module). She went to Turkey last summer for a tour of sites and should go on a dig next summer in Greece.
To the OP, if she likes the subject then she should go for it there is nothing better than doing something you like, and sort out some kind of employment after
 
Bill101 said:
They sometimes rope in students and make it a module to study during the vacation. My daughter is in her second year and loves it (ancient warfare is the current module). She went to Turkey last summer for a tour of sites and should go on a dig next summer in Greece.
To the OP, if she likes the subject then she should go for it there is nothing better than doing something you like, and sort out some kind of employment after
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I ain't a student though so will i still be able to volenteer?
 
Helium_Junkie said:
But it's a whole load of money spent for something that, from what ive read here, could be a very sparse job market!
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Yeah but a degree shouldn't be seen as vocational training. Just because she does an Archeology degree does not mean that she has to have a career in Archeology - there will plenty of options for her.
 
Helium_Junkie said:
But it's a whole load of money spent for something that, from what ive read here, could be a very sparse job market!
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This is true, it can also take you away from home to work on various digs, either in the UK or abroad, for varying amounts of time (from a few weeks to a few months). It all depends on how you want to proceed. There should be no reason why a person could not try to get some seasonal 'holiday' experience helping out - one thing that really annoys the missus is people who expect to be given work on site as diggers when they have made no effort to get involved as an interest off their own back. With the numbers of people interested in the work, initiative and enthusiasm can count for something.

Best way into it with no experience is to find a dig that will let you volunteer helping out; you won't get to do much 'proper' archaeology but it's a way to get interest and be remembered by the various units and private organisations. Just don't ask too many questions!! :o these busy academics don't have the time for us mere mortals :D
 
What about related fields? I dont know much about the area but whats the deal with museum jobs and the like? Are they also really hard to get? What kind of jobs are there?
I'm looking for something based on archaeology that has a pretty good stable job market, am I looking in vain?
 
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