Geoff Carver observed:


"someone on the german-language list said that many british (and, he
assumes, US and canadian) excavations are mostly staffed by untrained
volunteers and green students - i said that there has been some discussion
lately about the fact that professional units and private companies don't
really have any room for supervising volunteers, so most rescue excavation
is done by trained and experienced personnel - that volunteers and the like
no longer have a chance to gain experience - and that apart from a few digs
run by local societies and the like (university training digs), excavation
has pretty much gone professional in english-speaking archaeology - is that
about right or have i got it wrong?"

I can't speak for consulting firms in the U. S., as I work for the federal government.
However, for our in-house projects, we make an effort to use one volunteer for every
three paid positions on field crews. We in the National Park Service have a formalized
system for volunteerism in all professional categories, and have found that enthusiastic
volunteers, when properly supervised, make wonderful additions to our otherwise
professional, paid archeological crews. In some cases, people who started out as
volunteers on our projects over a decade ago went on to get graduate degrees in
Anthropology and are now the paid professionals heading up the projects. In my opinion,
everyone wins. The volunteer gains valuable experience, the crew is invigorated by the
fresh enthusiasm, and the American taxpayer gets more for its dollar.

Cathy Spude
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National Park Service
Santa Fe, New Mexico