Career as an Anthropoligist

By Institute For Career Research

Discovering the hidden secrets of ancient civilizations. Protecting the treasured artifacts of the past from the inroads of the future. This report will give you the information you need to begin your career search. You will learn what you need to study in college. You will find out about earnings and the changing nature of the work in this challenging profession.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Institute For Career Research
• Release date: Dec 16, 2009
• ISBN: 9781458186416

Book preview

Introduction

Most anthropologists and archaeologists have always knows what they wanted to be when they grew up. Maybe you're like that too. You know that you've always been interested in old things, like the time you went to a museum and saw an Egyptian mummy or a Peruvian gold statue. Maybe you were digging in the back yard one day and found pieces of pottery. Or you might have noticed that an old penny had a different design on the back than a new one. When did the design change, and why?

Movies influence how we think about archaeology. Lots of people get interested after watching Indiana Jones in The Raiders of the Lost Ark. Public television programs like Nova or the National Geographic specials are very well made and very interesting. You might prefer these more factual, science-oriented programs over entertainment. What's more likely is that you'll find these programs to be entertaining because you learn from them!

If you've ever studied other cultures in school, you might be curious about the differences between the way you live and the ways people live in other countries. Maybe your friends' parents come from another country, or maybe your parents did. Your own heritage could well drive your search and your interests.

The books you have already read may play a big part in your decision to investigate this career field. Archaeologists generally started reading about the subject as children, either getting books from the adults in their lives or finding books on their own in the library. Even though most high schools don't offer a class in anthropology or archaeology, your social studies teachers may have introduced you to the subject.

Archaeology is a specialized study and career field within the overall field of anthropology. The word anthropology means the study of humans and comes from the Greek, anthropos, which means human being or man. Anthropology includes the study of primates (apes such as chimpanzees and gorillas), human social life of the past and present, language, and the effects of technology and society on people. We think of technology as having something to do with electronics, but here it means anything having to do with how people use knowledge in a practical fashion.

Archaeologists search for artifacts and sites of human habitation, then form theories based on found materials. The theories can be about lost ways of living, which are very important. Interpreting the past helps us to understand the present and try to understand the future.

This report will give you the information you need to begin your career search. You will learn the history of anthropology and archaeology, and what you need to study in college. You will find out about expected earnings and the changing nature of work in this challenging profession. You will read interviews with a variety of professionals and learn how to get answers to specific questions. You'll also learn what you can do right now to educate yourself so you can