archaeology

intergamer

New member
real archaeology is 1-part library research, digging for clues in old primary documents, 1-part excavating, and 2-parts materials science/engineering. At my school archaeology is a subcategory of materials science.

However, there may be a lot of excitement/suspense/danger, mostly related to the unstable areas that you will be going to on digs.
 

Nurhachi1991

Well-known member
What is required to become an Archaeologist?

I'm talking strictly academic courses. I have heard you need a B.A. in Anthropology but no one has ever given me a straight answer if someone could please answer I would greatly appreciate it.
 

IndyKate

Member
Nurhachi1991 said:
I'm talking strictly academic courses. I have heard you need a B.A. in Anthropology but no one has ever given me a straight answer if someone could please answer I would greatly appreciate it.

Alright, I didn't catch your location before I hit reply, but I'm assuming you're in the US. In the US Archaeology is considered to be one of the four fields of Anthropology, along with Linguistics, Cultural Anthropology, and Biological or Physical (sort of an outdated term) Anthropology. That is why Archaeology is housed in the Anthropology Dept. To become an Archaeologist you need to receive your BA or BS in Anthropology. Most departments let their students focus on one of the four subfields and take specific courses that lead towards that part of the field. eg. I majored in Anthropology as an undergrad, focusing in Archaeology. I had to take archaeological methods and practical courses, along with statistics, chemistry, all along with my required cultural and biological courses that were expected of every Anth major - which were mainly introductory courses into each subfield, then upper division courses in specific theories, methods, eg. Kinship Theory, Biological Principles, Origins of Modern Humans, and also ethnographic or archaeological courses, like Native Peoples of North America, Eastern Woodlands Archaeology, etc.

Really, the required course load depends on the school you attend. My undergrad institution just revamped their curriculum, and courses like computer programming are no longer required, while some history courses now are (I think, I never looked it over very carefully). But most require the intro courses for most of the subfields, with you being able to choose your upper division courses.

To any aspiring archaeologist - the most important thing you can do when considering an institution is not to just pick a big name school off the list but look at who the faculty members are, do any of their interests align with your own. I'm starting my PhD this fall - not at a big school that is well-known throughout the country, but I will be working with three of the top people in my part of the field.

And then there's the Classics Department (Rome, Greece, etc) - but I don't know much about them. You'll need to find a Classicist for that.

Hope this helps.
 

MaxPhactor23

New member
Contrary to popular belief, booby traps do exist, just not even remotely as elaborate as seen in Indiana Jones. I do know that Egyptians did have falling rocks that would block the way out of a tomb or pyramid. They’d also have dead ends leading to pits or maze-like hallways that would confuse grave robbers. There was even an elaborate trap that would catch your foot while climbing a ladder in a tomb, suspending you there to eventual starvation. I just feel remarkably lazy now…so you can look some of these up yourself. But booby traps did exist, per se.

Indy style adventures have happened, again per se, they're obviously a rarity. It's possible though. These days you're more likely to run into an illegal antiquities dealer or drug smuggler then a Nazi. It has happened. Animals in the jungles are a danger. Indiana Jones takes real archeology and merely exaggerates it to Hollywood standards. Much of this stuff is based more in reality then people realize. I’ve done my research and read many books. Ironically Indy's real world equivalent’s actually a famous Paleontologist instead of an Archeologist.
 
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Nurhachi1991

Well-known member
IndyKate said:
Alright, I didn't catch your location before I hit reply, but I'm assuming you're in the US. In the US Archaeology is considered to be one of the four fields of Anthropology, along with Linguistics, Cultural Anthropology, and Biological or Physical (sort of an outdated term) Anthropology. That is why Archaeology is housed in the Anthropology Dept. To become an Archaeologist you need to receive your BA or BS in Anthropology. Most departments let their students focus on one of the four subfields and take specific courses that lead towards that part of the field. eg. I majored in Anthropology as an undergrad, focusing in Archaeology. I had to take archaeological methods and practical courses, along with statistics, chemistry, all along with my required cultural and biological courses that were expected of every Anth major - which were mainly introductory courses into each subfield, then upper division courses in specific theories, methods, eg. Kinship Theory, Biological Principles, Origins of Modern Humans, and also ethnographic or archaeological courses, like Native Peoples of North America, Eastern Woodlands Archaeology, etc.

Really, the required course load depends on the school you attend. My undergrad institution just revamped their curriculum, and courses like computer programming are no longer required, while some history courses now are (I think, I never looked it over very carefully). But most require the intro courses for most of the subfields, with you being able to choose your upper division courses.

To any aspiring archaeologist - the most important thing you can do when considering an institution is not to just pick a big name school off the list but look at who the faculty members are, do any of their interests align with your own. I'm starting my PhD this fall - not at a big school that is well-known throughout the country, but I will be working with three of the top people in my part of the field.

And then there's the Classics Department (Rome, Greece, etc) - but I don't know much about them. You'll need to find a Classicist for that.

Hope this helps.



Thank you very much IndyKate that was very helpful. I just finished High School and I'm going to a community college where they do have courses in Anthropology so I will start from there and by the way I do live in the states haha.
 

Insomniac

New member
This all depends on your what choices you make, who your friends are, what you know, your luck if you believe in that sort of thing and some other elements that are hard to control in your conditions!
:hat:
 
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