Speaking of archaeology job opportunities, let’s chat about how to become an archaeologist & THPO! 1/ https://twitter.com/kristin_gail/status/1289080765590929408

First, archaeologists come from all backgrounds. I didn’t start in archaeology. From age 9-19 I wanted to be a marine biologist! Turns out I found my better fit in anthropology. 2/

Archaeologists in the US are mostly trained as anthropologists and have a variety of education levels. I work w/ archaeologists who have PhDs, Masters, Bachelors, & arch technicians with no degree (the latter is uncommon and tends to be specific circumstances). 3/

I have a B.S. & an M.A. in Anthropology, & an M.L.S. in Indigenous People’s Law. Don’t worry about your masters topic too much - its purpose is to show you can do research & write. I won’t get into academic archaeology here - perhaps someone else can chime in on that path 4/

To work as an archaeologist in Cultural Resource Management, a few things to know: Some states (Oregon) have laws about education/experience to be a Qualified Archaeologist (obtain permits, etc) which may differ from SOI quals - check your state regs! 5/

https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/390.235 

Archaeologists work in a variety of businesses. Some are independent firms, some are departments in larger companies (I have worked for several CRM branches of engineering companies and the like), others are government sectors 6/

Some archaeologists are in the field a lot (though rarely always, there is lab work, research, report writing, and meetings that take up a lot of time!) those that are in the field always are - in my experience - field technicians. 7/

Some archaeologists are in compliance (like SHPOs, THPOs, FHPOs, and agency archaeologists) whose job it is to review and consult projects (road construction, pipelines, cel towers, etc) and are rarely in the field 8/

In my opinion, you need field experience to be effective at compliance. And to know the region/environment. You should also have report writing experience to review reports. 9/

I personally recommend taking time between UG & grad school. I worked as a tech & did extra field schools in specialized areas before grad school (I know not everyone has the funds or time to do that). /10

The combination of extra training & CRM helped me narrow my interests down to what I really want to spend 40-60 hours a week doing for the foreseeable future so I didn’t bounce around (too much) in grad school 11/

After grad school, I went back to CRM for about a year, then life happened. I left archaeology for a bit to work a desk job at a cryobank. (Honestly loved that job. Would absolutely do it again if I couldn’t do archaeology) 12/

CRM life at the time was not a fit for me because of the constant travel. I was a full time, solo caregiver for my family and couldn’t balance being away for 10 days at a time. And that’s how I came to be with the Tribe 13/

A quick note about THPO backgrounds: not all THPOs are archaeologists. Tribes w/ THPOs decide what qualifications they need to have. In Oregon, 7 of 9 federally recognized Tribes have THPOs: 1 is an historian, 5 are archaeologists, & 1 is a former policy planner & logger. 14/

I recommend FEMA ICS training, wilderness first aid / CPR training, and HAZWOPER training at a minimum for anyone going into archaeology. 15/

That was supposed to be short. Whoops :) anyway, I encourage anyone else to share their experience, if it differed, and how to get into the field. Happy to answer any questions!