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Have Trowel Will Travel

Part 4: Acquiring Dignity

By , About.com Guide

Have Trowel, Will Travel, The Series

As I was assembling the various columns for this series, I corresponded with several field technicians and professional archaeologists. As you might guess from some of the columns, the conversation has been lively and in some cases heated.

By and large, though, one thing has become apparent to me. There is a lack of dignity or respect for persons engaged in the field technician job, a lack which is not helped by anyone referring to them as "shovel bums." When it was suggested to me on an electronic discussion list that "shovel bum" was inappropriate, a contentious debate developed among the readership, including outrage at the prevalence of the "politically correct" school of thought, lamentations from under-appreciated field crew, and, as is always the case, wicked humor. One northwestern United States wag commented that the accepted term for field technician in his neck of the woods was "archaeo-American."

But, joking aside, the point is well taken. I suspect that part of the problem is that the profession of archaeology is not taken seriously by the public, by our fellow scientists, and, to a large degree, by ourselves. The term "shovel bum" suggests that any unpaid or underpaid lackey off the streets may perform the field work. This is patently untrue. Archaeological research is difficult, performed under stressful situations, and most of the time away from laboratories. It takes extensive training, in the form of university education, field schools, and on-the-job experience. Because it is presently not recompensed at the level of other scientific research assistantships, does that make the practitioners any less scientists?

Unfortunately, the same could be said for the profession as a whole. There are more web sites dedicated to cockamamie theories in archaeology than in any other science. How many members of the general public want to know if the laws of physics were handed down by aliens, or believe that certain chemical reactions are the sole property of one ethnic group or that political borders are already explained by God and so the rest of us have no right to study them?

For several decades now, professional Americanist archaeologists have been seeking to develop a professional association, like the Bar for the law profession. The Society for Professional Archaeologists, or SOPA, was an attempt to fill those needs. This year, SOPA was dissolved to form a new Register of Professional Archaeologists, ROPA. ROPA is explicitly developed to address our concerns about ethics, professional standards, and public accountability. I don't know if ROPA is the answer, but it is a sorely needed first step to clean up our Indiana Jones image.

And maybe, just maybe, our research assistants will get dignity with the rest of us.

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