There are many people on this list who are no longer in the field and last
week I asked people to send me their feelings and experiences about the
reasons they "jumped ship" or moved on to more lucrative work.

I received 24 responses, mostly from the states, but three from Australia
and two from England / UK.  They varied from a simple "Amen" in response to
some of my statements.  Some were short and to the point "I couldn't find
work."  Most, however, were long detailed accounts of years of education,
travel, competition, and eventually conceding that there were better ways
to make a living or that circumstances and self preservation forced a move
out.  Only one person was truly disillusioned with the whole mess, but many
others now make or find opportunities to volunteer and do their own
research in history or other closely related fields.

Since this "survey" was far from any kind of systematic study I'll just
summarize what was sent to me and thus I liberally refer to "some" and
"several" in quantifying the responses.  Although I am among those that are
leaving the field I have tried to keep my oratory to a minimum and use only
those examples that were sent to me.  In most cases they mirrored my own
perceptions and frustrations, so some of my opinion is thrown in as filler.

Since my questions were soliciting information on leaving the field of
archaeology I naturally did not get any word from people who were happy and
successful in their careers.

Nearly all of the respondents had at one time been perfectly happy if not
thrilled to death to be in the profession and still consider themselves to
be "archaeologists" even if they have not practiced for years.  We all are
in this for the love of archaeology, with our own special focus and feeling
that we had the ability to make significant contributions, even in the most
lowly positions.  That they all are members of the list is indicative of
their continuing interest in archaeology.

Many who responded did not like the difference between what they perceived
the science of archaeology to be and what it has become or how it is
practiced in reality (or more succinctly, academic vs CRM).  Many of the
more experienced or practiced respondents talked as if they were looking
back in time through the proverbial "rose-colored glasses" and as if they
were headed for the old folks home with happy stories of the olden days.

Several people said that they wished that "what they were in for" was made
clearer in the formative stages of their education and experience.  Most
people's first experiences were in class rooms where the best examples are
shown or in field schools where the best examples are excavated.  These two
realms also provide the beginner with an environment that only reinforces
the belief that field work is fun and a mind-developing challenge and
involves a lot of work with dental picks and the research is always with
stunning artifacts and really old records that will tell a wonderful story.

Granted, no teacher is crazy enough to send their students on to a site
that isn't going to yield cool finds and provide rich learning experiences,
and what student is going to sit and listen to an hour long lecture on the
adventures of Joe Archaeologist who got excited by the finding three chert
flakes and a swizzle stick in 139 shovel test pits, but some considered
this initial set-up to almost be false advertising of what they were
getting them selves into.

Field schools don't even prepare excavators for real-life work in Phase II
and Phase III excavations where time and money determine the degree of
excavation (although we spend lots of time making up detailed proposals to
excavate a "judgmental" 15% of a site.)  Essentially field schools and
other education opportunities only provide you with an ideal-situation
espousing how archaeology should be done, and when the graduate gets into
the field they are hit head-on with a train load of differing
methodologies, realities, poorly trained or differently-educated
supervisors and fellow crew members, and circumstances that go against most
of what they learned in school.  Not to mention that the newbies always get
left in the dust by the seasoned diggers who can blow through a shovel test
three times faster than they ("OK, so it isn't regulation size and depth
and we didn't screen it all, the paperwork all looks the same").

Several people reported that, like me, they found themselves getting more
and more over-qualified to do any job that a CRM firm or University was
offering or willing to pay for.  People wrote to me that they were heartily
encouraged by their professors and supervisors to expand and follow up on
their interests and explore new avenues of research and thereby create a
niche for yourself in the field, lab or office.  Throughout school and in
talks with mentors and colleagues we are taught that if you want to succeed
you have to make your self valuable and have a diverse set of skills that
make you a unique and indispensable member of the research team.  I read
some pretty wonderful stories of people who went on for higher education,
took a slew of advanced courses in computing, GIS, remote sensing,
surveying, drafting, photography, etc., and who had extensive skills in
writing and research but then they never ended up getting offered anything
that put those skills to use.  They felt that the more skills they had the
more they frightened the interviewers and supervisors who had fewer skills.

If they were taken on to a job in which a step down the ladder was
necessary but where assurances were made that they could work up the ladder
and put their skills to use, they more often than not found that there was
no ladder to climb or that favoritism, inaction, or ignorance from the
higher-ups was keeping inept people in positions that would have been
perfect for the right person.  This was mostly expressed by people who had
served the federal or state governments in archaeological positions.  It is
not that the over-qualified are unemployable, it is that no one wants to
take them aboard.

At this stage people told me (again something that I have experienced) that
they were treated as lepers - as if there was something wrong with them for
seeking out and accepting jobs that were far below their skill and
education level.  Of course there are some people who screw up and will
never make it up the ladder but we are a small community and those people
get weeded out quickly, but to have what must be hundreds or thousands of
people with advanced degrees and a decade and more of experience still
going from job to job and sending out resumes every six months is just not
right.  We need to look at the way the profession is carried on rather than
throw the blanket of stigmatism over those people who fall into the trap of
doing what their professors and peers have encouraged them to do.  These
people need to be rewarded not shunned.

One of the biggest reasons people have left the field was that they just
simply wanted to settle down and have a life.  We all seemed to enjoy the
first few years of shovel bumming it, with friends on the road in different
towns, states or even countries, toiling together under conditions that
would send the union rep (if there were such thing our profession) into a
conniption fit.  We cared little that we had no permanent address, that we
lived out of a backpack, that we ate canned soup over a Sterno can while
camping in the open bed of a pickup truck, or that we considered it lucky
to have an uninhabitable tenant house over our heads when we finally laid
our heads to rest after 8 hours of digging and 8 more of drinking and
eating.  Those were the days, my friends ...

Those days come to an end when you get to a certain stage in the
progression of life, and the field of archaeology is not at all conducive
to allowing you to have much of a life when you want one.  Sure, we all
know people in academic or supervisory positions who have kids and a home
and a car that is reliable, but they are far and few between.  For each one
of them there must be a thousand others who just as much want to carry out
their desire to be an archaeologist and contribute to the understanding of
the world around them.

Even the higher positions are not so permanent and rooted.  Some people
wrote that they traveled through several states, to New Zealand, to Nova
Scotia, and beyond hoping to keep an equitable job that allowed them to
survive.  The hobo in them lived on despite having a family in tow.  Almost
half of the people reported that they were able to continue in the field
after they married only because their spouse worked but eventually they had
to cave in when the nesting response (house) kicked in and the kids started
arriving.  Eight people reported that they were married long after all of
their high school or college friends because they were never in a situation
to settle down (I ask, what is more fun: Digging or screaming kids?).
Several reported attempts at marriage and otherwise solid relationships
that didn't stand the stresses of being in the field (the Binford syndrome?).

One person noted that the transition to outside or unrelated jobs can be
quite easy if we properly sell the skills that we have.  While we may know
what being an archaeologist includes and what skills are had by all, you
need to emphasize particular skills in order to attract the attention of
people unfamiliar with the skill set.  If you apply to a surveying company
and tell them you did archaeological projects for 15 years they will kick
you out the door because of the reputation (deserved or otherwise) that we
hold up construction projects, but if you tell them you know plane
surveying, can run the rod or the instrument, know some trig, can run the
latest programs like you were born with a digitizing pad for a behind, then
you will have a good chance of finding a buyer.  People reported that they
have sold the select components of the sets gained in archaeology and moved
into history, museums, libraries, information Tech., computer consulting,
web page design, freelance writing, teaching sociology, teaching jewelry
making, consulting for technical publishers, and one even became a
railroader!  I'm off to put my organization, supervisory and drawing skills
to use with a local jewelry manufacturer.

Some of the responses were a bit cutting.  One person wrote to opine that
those who don't make it in the field are the usual chaff that natural
selection takes care of in its own mean way.  Another wrote to say that
people want to cut back on the field work eventually to avoid the "sharks
that circle constantly" and the people who "snipe, stab, slash & burn, and
generally tear down each other's reputations to climb higher on the dead
bodies."  Now, I must concede to a degree on some of this, but in my
experience such situations are definitely not the norm.

People are bitter about being forced to chose between their passion for the
profession and the need to put food on the table or the desire to list a
house and kids on the jointly filed income tax form.  Almost all realized
that the days of being a hobo, living in hotel rooms, drinking until 3 am,
and being carefree and poor are for the young.  Also, being in your 30s or
40s and still begging for work that you did when you were fresh out of
school is a bit demeaning and the never ending or seasonal competition for
jobs is just too much of a struggle.

Most people reported that they had intentions of staying active in the
archaeological community either through volunteering or in part-time
short-term projects near their homes.  This was especially true if they
were taking care of young children or had lots of time available from their
primary jobs.  In such capacities former field workers (many with advanced
degrees and lots of experience and skills) kept in touch by doing artifact
cleaning, typing, data entry, shovel bumming for a day, or anything else
that could be juggled into their schedule.  Those of us that can't take the
time to do actual work participate through lists such as this or by
attending meetings on the local and state association levels.

What was clear, and perhaps this is more of a reflection in that they
subscribe or participate in the on-line listserves, is that all of the
respondents love archaeology for archaeology's sake and will continue to be
active in some way, shape or form.  Some are expressing their skills in
doing unrelated work, but others are satisfying their urges to dig or work
with artifacts by dong their own research and participating or assisting
with other people's projects.  They nearly all felt that they were not
burned out, that they have not walked away completely, that they still have
major contributions to make.  Be it researching your local bottle makers,
compiling bibliographies, or working part time for the little CRM guy
around the corner, we manage to keep our toes wet because that is who we
are.  Archaeologists are a unique bunch and we know it, and that is why we
will continue to "brag" about being an archaeologist many moons after we
have stopped being active in the field.

As more than a few people indicated ... "NO!  The dream has not worn off!"
(but yes, we are sick of the cortisone shots)

        Dan W.



The original message of 2/12/2001:

With all this talk of the foibles of job searching, and the clear evidence
that many people jump ship because they find they can't survive, I am
curious who is out there that has actually made that leap into the
"outside" world and now is "retired" from the field.

It seems that there are a lot of people here who may have at one time been
active arcaheologists but who are now off doing other things - and now that
I am joining your ranks I am wondering what what caused you to change?
Clearly no one here has dropped arcaheology entirely, so the love continues
...

If people respond to me (on or off list) about what it was that made or is
likely to make you  leave the field for greener pastures, I will put
together a far from scientific synopsis of what may be wrong or right about
the way we maintain the ranks?

Did the dream wear off?

Were you tired of making zilch and living from job to job despite having an
advanced degree or lots of great experience?

Did you want to grow and get married and have a family?  To have a
permanent shelter over your head?

Did you feel that you had done all that you set out to do?

Did you get too old and frail to do the back breaking work necessary in the
field?

Do you hate cortesone shots?

Tell me.

(names and other particular details will be kept confidential)

        Dan W.
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