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Archaeologist
Science & ResearchYou dig in the dirt looking for evidence of human history, which Indiana Jones made look exciting but is actually 98% cataloging pottery shards in a dusty tent. You'll excavate sites, analyze artifacts, and fight to preserve history against developers who want to build a parking lot where a 2,000-year-old settlement sits. The pay is terrible but the sunburns are free.
Salary Range
Low
$38k
Median
$61k
High
$92k
10-Year Growth
average
US Workers
8K
Education
Master's in Archaeology (PhD for academic positions — field school required)
Environment
outdoor
Tools & Technical Skills
- ▸Excavation techniques and stratigraphy
- ▸Artifact identification and cataloging
- ▸GIS and remote sensing for site survey
- ▸Radiocarbon dating and lab analysis coordination
- ▸Total station and GPS surveying
- ▸Cultural Resource Management (CRM) compliance
People & Mindset Skills
- ▸Patience and meticulousness
- ▸Physical endurance in field conditions
- ▸Written documentation and reporting
- ▸Teamwork on dig sites
- ▸Cultural sensitivity
Learn the skills
Courses and certifications to get you job-ready
Cultural Resource Management (CRM) compliance
What you'll actually do
- 01Excavate sites with trowels and brushes, one centimeter at a time, in the blazing sun
- 02Catalog and photograph every artifact with the detail of a crime scene investigator
- 03Map excavation grids and record stratigraphy layers with obsessive precision
- 04Write site reports that take longer to complete than the actual excavation
- 05Fight developers and politicians who see historical sites as obstacles to progress
- 06Explain to visitors that no, you've never found a dinosaur — that's a paleontologist
Related Shifts
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