Faithful reader Danielle writes: "I am starting to reconsider my career course, and would like to find out more about archaeology. I enjoy having geographic mobility and not having to work in an office, and think my diverse background might suit the work. I checked out the link to the Archaeological Institute of America that has some digs that don't require any prior archaeological experience, but are out of my price range. Can you refer me to any pages where I could find digs that would allow me to try out archaeology for free?"
It depends on what you're looking for. If you expect to travel to exotic places and spend several weeks on an archaeological excavation, I'm afraid you'll have to either pay tuition or volunteer fees in addition to travel, food, and housing. But, fortunately, there are loads of archaeology clubs around the world, and some of them have made deals with universities conducting local excavations to have training days, where the membership may spend a couple of days or a week at a nearby excavation for a nominal fee. So my suggestion to you is to find a local archaeology organization and ask them if they do that sort of thing, or know of an opportunity that might come up next field season.
It depends on what you're looking for. If you expect to travel to exotic places and spend several weeks on an archaeological excavation, I'm afraid you'll have to either pay tuition or volunteer fees in addition to travel, food, and housing. But, fortunately, there are loads of archaeology clubs around the world, and some of them have made deals with universities conducting local excavations to have training days, where the membership may spend a couple of days or a week at a nearby excavation for a nominal fee. So my suggestion to you is to find a local archaeology organization and ask them if they do that sort of thing, or know of an opportunity that might come up next field season.
- Finding the Right Archaeology Club for Volunteers, which describes what you should look for in a club
- Smoke Pfeiffer's Directory of Archaeology Associations, which has a list of professional and amateur archaeological associations in the US, Canada, and Australia
- Archaeology Digs 2007, which lists many of the upcoming and ongoing archaeological digs around the world
- More Frequently Asked Questions in Archaeology
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