Smoke's point about his professor's advice on what's required to get a job
in archaeology was still valid ten years ago, when it was echoed to me by my
archaeology professor at Oakland Univeristy in Michigan. I'm not sure he was
aware that temporary field technician positions existed, and I sure as heck
didn't, since he was essentially my sole source for advice on archaeology at
the time. I will say that the management experience I gained in the
non-archaeology jobs I held down between recieving my BA and MS has come in
pretty handy as a professional archaeologist, though.

As far as what makes an archaeologist, it seems to me that it will never be
a black and white definition. To me, performing the work using a rigorous
methodology and making a point to communicate the results of your findings
to your colleagues on a somewhat regular basis is more important than what
sorts of intitials follow your name.

cheers,
Andrew R. Sewell, MS, RPA
Principal Investigator
Historic/Industrial Archaeology
Hardlines Design Company
4608 Indianola Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43214
(614)-784-8733
fax: (614)-784-9336
www.hardlinesdesign.com

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
Michael Pfeiffer
Sent: Friday, September 10, 2004 10:39 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Question Archaeologist in the USDA Forest Service


Again, to the point of "What is an archaeologist"?  As an undergraduate at
the Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, from Sept. 72 to Dec. 75, I was told by
both my first and second advisors (Warren Caldwell and Dale Henning), that
I would not be able to get a permanent job in the field of archaeology
without a Master's Degree.  It is hard to consider yourself a professional
archaeologist if that is not what you do for a living.  So the concept of
needing a minimum of a Master's Degree has been around a long time.