Hi! I’m in 8th grade, and I’ve wanted to be an archaeologist since, crap I don’t know how long. I’m starting to look at colleges now, because my school likes to push college as soon as you become a freshman. the college I want to go to only has an archaeology minor, so if I were to take the anthropology major and minor in archaeology, and do some field volunteer work and other school supported digs, how long would I have to be in college, and could I get a job with that degree?
Hi, sorry I took so long to respond to this! It depends on the region where you’re going to school and looking to work - I have an anthropology undergraduate degree and an archaeology master’s degree, because I went to school in Canada, which like the U.S. mostly considers archaeology to be a sub-discipline of anthropology, whereas in other regions archaeology is separate. I did not have a problem finding work due to my diploma saying “anthropology,” but most of the other archaeologists in my region have the same type of degrees as me. (Be aware that full-time permanent jobs in archaeology are sometimes a bit harder to find when you’re starting out, whichever major you have.) My undergraduate degree took 4 years, and my master’s was one more year, but some undergraduate degrees take 3 years and some master’s take 2 years, so it’ll vary depending on your program, and if you decide to take a full course load or to spread it out a little, which some colleges allow for those who want a bit more time. With field school and other dig experience, I don’t think you’d be likely to have a problem by having an anthropology major instead of an archaeology major, but I will put it out to anyone who’s following me on here to chime in on their thoughts. Good luck! And don’t worry if you’re not completely sure what you want to do at your age - I was planning to be a comic book artist when I was in grade 8. But archaeology is one of many excellent options, in my completely unbiased opinion. ;)
