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Archaeology

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Archaeology

(Make this article a part of series with the following title) Eenie, meenie, mynie, moe Pick a major now that you know

Series Title: Sophomore Special: Major Decisions

Have a prologue to the series... You might think to yourself in the middle of the night as you try to decide what you are going to do with the rest of your life. Well, rest assured; we have done all the work for you. At least some of it. (You still have to go to class and not fall asleep.)

Dig Deeper into Archaeology

What does an archaeologist do? An archaeologist is a specialist who is trained to handle and discover artifacts and speculate on their use. Archaeologists work in different fields such as flora (plant life) and fauna (animal life, but not dinosaurs). For example, this past summer, archaeologists in Mexico tried to create awareness about the damage a government-funded dam would do along a river that runs near ancient Mayan sites. The construction of the dam would not only cause floods and destroy current sites, but also eliminate the possibility for archaeologists to excavate other sites and discover the riches of Mayan culture.

You may be thinking, "Great! That doesn't help me! What should I do now? Go to the hardware store and buy a shovel?" Nah. This would be a good time to clear up some misconceptions:

  1. You will not always be up to your elbows in dirt.

  2. You can major in something else you love and still be an archaeologist.

  3. As much as you would like it to be true, you are NOT going to be Indiana Jones.

In order to major in Archaeology, you have to take a minimum of ten courses including ARCH 101, ARCH 102, a history course, and two senior seminars. A number of archaeology classes are cross-listed with the Growth and Structure of Cities program. If you are also interested in Cities you can kill two birds with one stone. Not only that, the department encourages you to get field experience in your summers or during your Junior Year Abroad. However, in order to do that, you need to start planning early in your sophomore year.

We sat down with an archaeology major, Yukiko Sasada '03, who spent her junior year abroad in Egypt (psst -- she really recommends you go) and asked her some questions:

* Sage: Why did you choose Archaeology? * Yukiko Sasada: When I was growing up, my family lived in Turkey. My father liked Archeology, and we used to go to different sites in the summers. * Sage: Is there anything you believe you have learned as an archaeology major? * Y.S.: Well, I believe that attention to detail is important, especially in archaeoplogy? * Sage: Do you have to be an archaeology major to be an archaeologist?? * Y.S.: No, not at all. You can be a biology or a chemistry major and still go into the field. There are a number of scientists involved in archeology.