The main question on my mind was, how do you become those archaeologists who get to dig every year in exotic remote locations such as the middle east? What do they do for the rest of the year? Well, they work at universities as lecturers. Or they are in the consulting world and might go off every year to a dig. Do I want to be a lecturer? Do I want to work in consulting? Is there any other way? I've heard of independent 'foundations' who gain grants and dig away at any location they please, as long as you have government approval/permits, the sky is the limit. The best option seems to be to gain a Phd, find your own funding and run your own digs. Or have a lucrative job that allows you to sneak away every year to gain solid experience in a particular interest area.
I'm aiming towards gaining experience in the Middle East, but have yet to do my honours degree. I'm not sure if I want to venture into academia. Consulting archaeology lacks all the reasons I wanted to enter in to the discipline in the first place. I have seriously contemplated gaining a master's in GIS or Geology to gain jobs that will enable me to afford going to these far-off digs. Both GIS and Geology have a lot to offer financially and fit in well with archaeology and are sought out by archaeology firms. In hindsight, it would have been great to do a Geology major alongside arch. Ah well, even the bad experiences teach you a lot and consulting archaeology is around to give students at least a taste of archaeology without spending exorbitant fees to field schools. As nasty and soul-less as it can be, it does offer graduates with a living in their related field whilst they are studying for bigger and better things.
Sureyya's Dream
The dream has condensed into working as an archaeologist in Israel or Jordan preferably, if the area can remain peaceful enough, and gaining solid experience in field techniques, Geophys and GIS. How does one get there? Well I'm slowly but surely finding out. And what do you do while working towards that goal? Consulting archaeology, save a lot of money and go grab that Phd. If you were clever you'd have done a major in geology or GIS and made a good enough wage to field several field trips. After all this, the real goal will stand out - how to further human knowledge and that will depend on skills that have very little to do with field work. Research, applying for grants, verbal and written communication skills. It must be said, that archaeology is very demanding both academically and physically.
Sureyya.
P.S: I hope this information helps some students have a more pleasant trip towards an archaeology career, please feel free to email me for info on companies etc.
More of Sureyya’s Journey
- Part 1: A Career Change to Archaeology
- Part 2: Career Research in Archaeology
- Part 3: A Bump in the Road
- Part 4: Sometimes Life Intervenes
- Part 5: Being a Freshman
- Part 6: Part-Time Student / Part-Time Job
- Part 7: Full Time Student
- Part 8: Sureyya the Shovel Bum
- Part 8b: Sieving Your Heart Out
- Part 8c: Big Digs and Little Digs
- You are here --> What Kind of Archaeologist Do You Want to Be?
- Part 9: Sureyya in the Field
