Archaeology training involves a combination of classroom learning and hands-on experience. A four-year undergraduate degree in relevant disciplines like anthropology, geology or history is required. Fieldwork, communication, and diplomacy are important areas of training for archaeologists.
Archeology training typically involves a combination of college classroom learning and hands-on experience in field sites. Many aspiring archaeologists first obtain this necessary experience by assisting experienced professionals. Archeology jobs typically require at least a four-year undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline, such as anthropology, geology or history. The exact coursework involved in archeology training often depends on the specific areas of the field that an archeology student wants to study in depth. Archaeologist training at dig sites often includes instruction on how to recover, preserve, and catalog various types of artifacts.
University degree programs often provide a good foundation for archeology training. Regardless of the type of archeology studied, students typically take courses in math, technical writing, biology, and chemistry. Those planning to study archeology specialties, such as classical or prehistoric archaeology, are often required to complete advanced classes in subjects such as ancient history, geology, physical geography, and sociology. Some future archaeologists are interested in recovering and studying artifacts from a specific culture. A significant part of your archeology training includes studying the languages, customs, history, and interactions of that culture with the rest of the world.
Fieldwork is an important part of archeology training for anyone planning to pursue this career field. This type of work is generally open to students who are close to completing their degree programs. Hands-on training in the field of archeology often covers topics such as carbon dating, erosion patterns, and methods of preserving recovered human bones and animal bones. Many advanced archeology students also learn technology relevant to the field, including geographic information systems (GIS) and some three-dimensional software programs used to present the details of some artifacts. Thorough archeology training often prepares students to be historians as well as scientists.
Communication and diplomacy are other important areas of archeology training, particularly for the study of different cultures. Experienced archaeologists need to be able to excavate certain areas in accordance with the laws of different regions, and this type of fieldwork sometimes requires government permission. Some specialists, such as Egyptologists, collaborate in several different languages. Any type of archaeologist also learns to present discoveries to diverse audiences, so written and spoken communication skills in more than one language are often useful. Depending on their fields of expertise, some archaeologists also acquire skills in web design, photography, and image editing to create dynamic presentations of their most recently found artifacts.
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