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World of Archaeology? - kath - 30th April 2005
I too have been reading for awhile but as I am in Canada I didn't think of much to contribute. However, I see you are interested in conditions etc in OZ. I figure I am just about as far away, would you like to know the situation in Canada, well Western Canada?
Here goes...
Undergrads do a 4 year BA or BSc and must have 6 credits worth (about 6 weeks digging) of field school to graduate. This does vary by uni though. Field schools are fairly intensive. You learn to dig in 1x1m squares in 5-10cm arbitrary levels unless you encounter a paleosol or occupation layer and all finds are 3D recorded using a string line attached to a known datum. Eah student is given their own sqaure. Each sqaure has its own datum which is tied into the national grid. Excavation is entirley by hand, no JCB's like I hear you use in the UK. Students are also taught how to survey in a grid, draw finds, and keep accurate records. Basically field schools are the stepping stone to working for a CRM unit, the work is the same but on a smaller scale.
Employment opps are good over here. Most people with a BA get jobs after they graduate with a CRM (cultural resource management) firm. There is a lot of field walking and recording of possible sites. Food and lodging is always included on top of your pay, and pay is around $10-$12 an hour plus overtime. It's great because you have no expenses during the week except beer.
The work week is usually 10 hour days, 10 days on then 4 days off which works well because the sites tend to be in the middle of absolutely nowhere and getting home can be a long journey (4-5 hrs). Diggers are encouraged to write reports about the site for publication in journals. Downfalls are the sweltering heat, the mosquitos, ticks, deadly snakes and spiders and aching arms from all that shovel shaving! Also, the archaeology is quite samey. It is all lithics and hearths and debitage. Lots and lots of debitage which all has to be recorded in 3D, by hand. Gets a bit tiring after awhile. Also field work dries up in the winter (due to the ground being frozen solid) and some people get lab work to do while others have to find something else. If you come across a skeleton the RCMP have to be called in and that can put a site on hold for a quite a while. They check to see if the body is that of a murder victim etc because bodies were very, very rarely buried before the Euorpeans came over.
There aren't any unions that I know of but contracts tend to be long, about 4-5 months. In some provinces you must have an MA in archaeology In order to hold a permit to dig (run and manage a site, not be a digger).
Everything varies a bit depending on which province you work in but the pay and the conditions are pretty much the same. The one constant is you [u]never</u> work for a company that doesn't provide food and lodging on top of pay.
World of Archaeology? - BAJR Host - 30th April 2005
I think I can see an opportunity... State of Field Archaeology - World !
Canada, USA, Oz, France, Ireland, etc.
Anyone care to start a thread??
BAJR
ps... I will gather everything together and turn into a document available online with the Digger perhaps.
World of Archaeology? - uncle andy - 1st May 2005
Hmm, might move to Canada.
Well Troll, since you asked... the flea bites are fine.
Undergrad training in Aust seems reasonable, encouragement to undertake fieldwork, broad range of topics covered in classes, etc. Mind you, fieldwork in Aust is not that easy to get at times, Winter espec. They are not always publicised very well, and screw paying someone for the privelidge of working for them. As a student, i will volunteer, but dont expect me to pay dig fees. can get F/*ked.
My main concern is employment. Although Ive been told by some that for the 1st time Archaeologists are having to turn down work, as far as I know, few of last years graduates are in full time employment. I know of one person who got first class honour and can only muster 3 days a week. From what I can tell sofar, Arch in Aust is a very insular profession, possibly due to its very nature...ie v.scarce
However, people keep saying it will be a growth industry, linked to a growing public appreciation for heritage, blah, blah, the question is how long will it take?
Anyway, I will let you know the pay and conditions when i can. In the meantime, World Union of Field Archaeologists (WUFA) has a certain ring to it. I nominate our BAJR Moderator for Pres, and the Troll in a Secretarial/Treasury role.[8D][:p]
Must go change my flea collar now
World of Archaeology? - troll - 1st May 2005
Now this is good stuff! Thank you to Kath and Uncle Andy! Australia and Canada ay? Welcome to our colleagues from anywhere! This could be an important sharing of views and I have to be honest-I`m fascinated to hear how everyone else on the planet feels about the job. I am tempted by the idea of food and lodgings in Canada and the blistering heat of Oz but-ya can keep Bruce Springstein and Neighbours! It does seem that although commercialism has swallowed archaeology in a number of nations, relatively speaking (so far) it sounds as though it is only here in the U.K (pronounced yuk) that professionals are seen as little more than heritage dustmen/women. How do other nations view their heritage and how does that manifest itself or become reflected in legislation/standard practise within the dominant ideology? Lots more of this please!Spread the word-lets get loud. p.s, nice idea Uncle Andy- I would make a sh*t secretary cos I aint` got the legs for it and, as treasurer-well, I`d be off round the world would`nt I?
Kath- many thanks for your contribution, please keep it coming and let your colleagues know that we want their opinions-lots of them! All is not well in British commercial archaeology and we could do with new voices and perceptions in order to place our little world in context.Hear from you again soon guys...
World of Archaeology? - uncle andy - 1st May 2005
actually troll, rather than being seen as heritage dustmen/women, archaeologists in Australia are still a novelty (or slight pain in the arse)on-site. The community at large, and labourers on-site still dont have enough exposure to archaeologists to take us for granted yet.
There are probably two major reasons why Australian Archaeology probably wont go the way of the UK practices:
1. Our historical archaeology is only a couple of hundred years old, so is bound to be important to someone (dont you knock down my bloody pub!!), which sort contributes to a national identity that possibly may not exist quite as strongly if a developer in Britain wants to build over a Roman market (I am speculating here, please dont take offence if i'm wrong).
2. Aboriginal Archaeology is heavily protected and Native Australians has a certain degree of autonomy in how their heritage is managed (I know its not perfect, but at least there is some legislative protection and I know from experience that Aust archs have great respect for native issues- again, dont shoot me if i have misinterpreted the reality of the situation!) so it offers more protection to Aboriginal sites than the current Romans living in Britain can to their Roman Market, if you see my point.
While this doesnt mean that we wont end up with shonky archaeologists, and I believe that there are already problems with amateur archaeologists (bottle collectors), the movement towards heritage management, possibly triggered by awareness of native title and transferred to the historical stuff, has perhaps seen some legislation pre-empt some of the problems that you have raised in this and other threads.
Still, the basic requirement is that the people doing the digging are trained properly both in theory and practice- and ethically too. As long as there is somebody out there prepared to do any job as quick as they can, for the lowest price, etc, etc, then any commercial industry is going to end up ****ed. I have seen this in other industries. Thats capitalism for you.
Rant over for now
World of Archaeology? - Maltaire - 3rd May 2005
I will try to share my experience with archeaology in Poland. But sorry for the mistakes, my English is still very far from proficiency.
Here you have to do a 5 years MA university studies, after that you need 12 months of field experience and then you can get permission to your own excavation. Archaeology here is still mainly a science, commercial archaeolgy is slowly developing (but we have so far 16 years of capitalism). It is almost impossible to get a steady job, such cases are really exceptional and more possible if you have Ph.D.
I am quite pleased with my temporary job. I am a technician on rescue excavation. There are great investments made to build motorways now. The government (with EU help) has to finanse the rescue excavations. And there is really something to do. All these works are made by small companies which employ temporary workers. It is a great oportunity to get experience and to earn quite good money.
World of Archaeology? - troll - 3rd May 2005
Maltaire-Hi and thank you for your contribution! Earning good money? That`s unheard of over here. I have to say that your English is far better than mine and way ahead of some of the British report writers too. A similar program of motorway building took place in Ireland recently and again-provided an opportunity for many to gain some good experience. It is very similar here in that it can be difficult to find a steady job with a regular income. Does the archaeology profession in Poland have a representative institution? By this, I am asking if there is an organisation that oversees the standards and quality of work carried out by archaeological units in the commercial sector. Although capitalism can have some positive points, I don`t believe that archaeology should be subject to commercial pressures as standards of work can fall dramatically in order to be competative in the market-what do you think? Again, many thanks for your words and I look forward to hearing lots more!
World of Archaeology? - Maltaire - 4th May 2005
Well, as far as earning money is concerned we have different conditions here. Besides with my job experience nobody would give me more so I am quite pleased. And perhaps you are used to different standards. The institutions here are mainly scientifical and the commercial sector is overseen by officers (archeologists who can give permission reaserch, excavation, and so on) Of course when money are important the standard of excavation is less important. Sad but true. Fortunately these rescue excavations have different financial conditions. Some can say it is a waste of money but the excavation is carried carefully, fast but not too fast, and there are regular supervisions and they are very carefull about proper documentation of finds.
World of Archaeology? - deepdigger - 4th May 2005
One way to get more people reading BAJR might be to get the university lecturers to promote it, you know, in the same way that they promote their own publications for use in your degree reading list!!
deep
World of Archaeology? - Illuminated - 7th May 2005
Its great to hear about archaeology in other countries.
Is there a shangri-la somewhere of good pay, stable work and professional respect? Japan maybe?
I've not posted before as much of what I'd like to say is of the whistle blowing and naming and shaming nature over pay and conditions and treatment of staff. if traced back to me, this would surely adversely affect my shaky job security. I'm sure there are many like me.