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I work for the local government, in a desk-based role that is simultaneously really boring and actually quite interesting. It's mostly administrative with some customer service, but also some research and records management. For the most part, I enjoy it. It keeps me busy and - most importantly - it pays the bills.
Sometimes though, I really miss working on a dig. One of my degrees is in archaeology, but I haven't worked on a dig in over a decade. I don't know that I necessarily want a full time job in the field - I'm not built to be working outside and both it and academia would frustrate me too much with the red tape.
Every now and again I have a half-hearted look at related jobs but I'm not brave enough to even apply. There have been a few digs around here lately that have been asking for volunteers and I've been very tempted to sign up but again something has stopped me. I can't even put my finger on what it is, to be able to start to address it and work through it.
I still completely love archaeology - and for those who don't know archaeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Insert joke here about the difference between grave robbing and archaeology. They (we?) have various goals, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifeways to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time. They do this by surveying, excavation of sites of interest, and eventually analysis of data collected, to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research.
I always enjoyed the research side of things more than the excavating - yet that's the bit I miss. There's undoubtedly a whole wave of not being who I thought I was going to be, and what I thought I was going to do. A mid-30s life crisis perhaps? Is that a thing? I think I have a lot unpacking to do. But that's not a job for tonight.
I have started re-reading some of my old archaeology books and have just finished reading Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice by Paul G. Bahn & Colin Renfrew. It was a lovely refresh of basics and it's definitely whetting my appetite again. I've also picked up a new copy of Archaeology: An Introduction by Kevin Greene & Tom Moore
For now, I'm going to see where this takes me and try to remove any expectations on myself to do anything other than enjoy it
Sometimes though, I really miss working on a dig. One of my degrees is in archaeology, but I haven't worked on a dig in over a decade. I don't know that I necessarily want a full time job in the field - I'm not built to be working outside and both it and academia would frustrate me too much with the red tape.
Every now and again I have a half-hearted look at related jobs but I'm not brave enough to even apply. There have been a few digs around here lately that have been asking for volunteers and I've been very tempted to sign up but again something has stopped me. I can't even put my finger on what it is, to be able to start to address it and work through it.
I still completely love archaeology - and for those who don't know archaeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Insert joke here about the difference between grave robbing and archaeology. They (we?) have various goals, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifeways to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time. They do this by surveying, excavation of sites of interest, and eventually analysis of data collected, to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research.
I always enjoyed the research side of things more than the excavating - yet that's the bit I miss. There's undoubtedly a whole wave of not being who I thought I was going to be, and what I thought I was going to do. A mid-30s life crisis perhaps? Is that a thing? I think I have a lot unpacking to do. But that's not a job for tonight.
I have started re-reading some of my old archaeology books and have just finished reading Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice by Paul G. Bahn & Colin Renfrew. It was a lovely refresh of basics and it's definitely whetting my appetite again. I've also picked up a new copy of Archaeology: An Introduction by Kevin Greene & Tom Moore
For now, I'm going to see where this takes me and try to remove any expectations on myself to do anything other than enjoy it
