Institute For Career Research - Careers in Anthropology: Archaeology

An ancient Indic language known as Sanskrit was discovered in the late 18th century by the British civil servant and intellectual, Sir William Jones. This discovery set the stage for intensive work in comparative historical linguistics that has continued ever since. In 2014, archaeologists in Egypt discovered the remains of a previously unknown pharaoh who reigned more than 3,600 years ago. What do linguistics and archaeology have in common? They are both scientific endeavors, pursued under the umbrella of anthropology.

Anthropology is the scientific study and analysis of human beings and humanity, including all the worlds cultures, ethnicities, customs, artifacts, knowledge, habits, history, and languages. It emerged as a distinct academic discipline in England and America in the late 19th century and continues to expand its scope of study.

Anthropology is composed of four closely related fields.

The first is physical (biological) anthropology, which studies the human being as a living organism. Population genetics and primatology are common areas of focus here.

The second, and largest specialty, is cultural anthropology. This involves studying specific populations up close and personal over long periods of time to learn more about their social and cultural patterns.

The third field is linguistic anthropology, which focuses on language, from its origins, to how it affects complex social interactions in a modern, globally connected world.

The fourth field is archaeology, perhaps the most famous of the anthropological disciplines. Archaeologists can be found in the field, anywhere in the world, digging for artifacts, old bones, and other clues to how people lived in past cultures.

This is a great time to become an anthropologist. It has always been intellectually exciting. Today, more than ever, a degree in anthropology opens doors to a variety of career paths. Anthropologists have traditionally worked within the confines of academia, teaching and conducting research. This is no longer true. Anthropology graduates today are well-prepared for excellent jobs that require critical thinking skills in the realms of business, research, advocacy, and public service. Their training is uniquely well suited to the 21st century. The economy is increasingly international and, in turn, workforces and markets are more diverse. Anthropology is the primary discipline that helps people understand how communities and organizations work, even when they are separated by oceans and continents.

Anthropology offers many opportunities with good earnings, in both the public and private sectors. Anthropologists working for non-governmental organizations, such as international health organizations and development banks, help to design and implement a wide variety of programs worldwide. Many businesses look specifically for anthropologists, recognizing the value of their perspective on a corporate team as they struggle to understand consumer preference patterns not readily apparent through simple statistical or survey methods.

Agencies at all levels of government employ anthropologists to identify and protect cultural resources. Even local police departments need these professionals. Forensic anthropologists, in careers glamorized by Hollywood and popular novels, are called upon to help identify mysterious or unknown remains.

Are you considering a career in anthropology? Maybe you read about the many projects anthropologists are engaged in all over the world and think, I want to do that! If you are a high school student and have heard about anthropology, you are ahead of most people who eventually enter this profession. Many anthropologists are not even exposed to the subject until college. That means you already have a head start on preparing for your career.

Your high school curriculum should provide a strong foundation in history and other social sciences. You will also need courses in math (statistics is especially useful), physical sciences like biology and chemistry, as well as English and a foreign language. Also include any classes that would improve your computer skills, writing skills, and critical thinking.

Join as many associations as you can. The most influential is the American Anthropological Association (AAA). However, there are many others that are centered on particular topics, such as the Society for Medical Anthropology and the Society for Linguistic Anthropology. Every association offers information, scholarships, and programs for students. Some, like the Student Conservation Association, are dedicated to helping students.

Look for opportunities to volunteer, research, and study anthropology. There are tons of them available to high school students on up. The Anthropology Outreach Program at the Smithsonian Institution is a good place to start. Their internships offer student-mentor arrangements and other unique experiences for students, both in high school and college. The National Park Service has literally thousands of opportunities, offered in partnership with several national organizations. Internships of all kinds are offered, some outside in the field and some inside doing research, inventory and monitoring, interpretation, and education projects. Every August, the Park Service also conducts a career workshop in Washington DC. You can contact the park that interests you or go directly to the National Park Service website to investigate all of the opportunities nationwide.

Consider attending a field school. The best known is Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, in southwesern Colorado. It offers a three-week program for high school students to learn about the science of archaeology by researching the ancestral Pueblo Indians who inhabited the region hundreds of year ago. It takes place in the center of the richest archaeological region in the United States.

Passport in Time (PIT) is another field school of sorts. It is a volunteer archaeology and historic preservation program run by the USDA Forest Service. PIT volunteers work side by side with professional Forest Service archaeologists and historians on national forest sites throughout the US. The activities are amazingly diverse, from archaeological survey and excavation, to the analysis and curating of artifacts. Other activities include rock art restoration, surveys, archival research, restoration of historic structures, and gathering oral histories.

Anthropology is the study of the entire history of humanity. The starting point is about 200,000 years ago when modern humans first evolved in Africa. Anthropologists have learned that humans started venturing beyond the boundaries of Africa when they crossed the Sinai Peninsula about 50,000 years ago. This fact was determined by dating human bones found in Israel. The trail did not stop there, of course. Humans quickly (relatively speaking) spread to several continents. Human fossils dating to 46,000 years ago have been found in Europe, Asia, and Australia. It was about 14,000 years ago that humans reached North America by crossing the Bering strait over a land connection which is thought to have linked what is now Russia and Alaska, eventually arriving in what is now New Mexico.

In the tens of thousands of years of dispersal throughout the world, humanity has developed thousands of distinct cultures, languages, traditions, and tools. The goal of anthropology is to study all the differences and similarities between all the many societies and communities.