“What can I do with an Archaeology major?” you might ask yourself in the middle of the night as you stare at the ceiling. Well Mawrter, rest assured we have done all the work for you, umm, some of it. You still have to go to class and not fall asleep.
So what does an Archaeologist do? An archaeologist is a specialist who is trained to handle artifacts and speculate their use. Archaeologists work in different fields such as flora (plant life) and fauna (animal life, not dinosaurs.) For example, this past summer archeologists in Mexico tried to create awareness about the damage the government funded dam would do along a river near Ancient Mayan sites. This would cause floods and not only destroy current sites but also eliminate the possibility for archaeologists to discover the riches of Mayan culture.
You’re probably thinking, “Great! That doesn’t help me! What should I do now? Go to the hardware store and buy a shovel?” Nah. We think this would be a good time to clear some misconceptions. 1. You’re not always up to your elbow in dirt. 2. You can major in something you love and be an archaeologist 3. As much as you would like it to be true you are NOT Indiana Jones.
So what sort of things do you have to do in order to be an Archaeology major? You have to take a minimum of ten courses (including Arch 101, 102, a history course and two senior seminars.) A lot of the classes are cross-listed with Cities so if you are interested in Cities you can kill two birds with one stone. Not only that, the department encourages you to get fieldwork experience in your summers or when you are Junior Year Abroad. However, in order to do that, you need to start planning early in your sophomore year.
We sat down with an Arch. Major, Yukiko Sasada ’03, who spent her junior year abroad in Egypt (psst she really recommends you go) and asked her some questions.
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Sage: “Why did you choose Archeology?”
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Y.S: “As a child my family lived in Turkey. My father liked Archeology and we used to go to different sites in the summers.
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Sage: “Is there anything you believe you have learned as an Arch major?
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Y.S: “Well, I believe in every major attention to detail is important. Especially in Archeoplogy.”
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Sage: “Do you have to be an Arch major to be an Archeologist?”
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Y.S: “No, not at all. You can be a Bio. Or Chem major and still go into the field. There are a lot of scientists involved in Archeology.
There you have it folks. So you think you’re interested? Wanna know more? Take classes, hit the books (if you haven’t done so dearest Mawrter), talk to Faculty, Arch majors, and surf your buddy, the Web! Happy Digging!
