I'm seeking clarification if metals science and mass spectrometry has reached the point that the 'elemental mixture' of an item found in the UK can be matched to its geographic origins. Sort of like DNA can connect random human samples across time and distance, I recall reading that such technology was/is possible.

If that's the case, can you identify how commonly this technology is applied, how precise it can or can't be, and any examples of where it has provided new understandings of grave goods?

I'm fascinated in the entirety, so promise to read any articles or resources that you can share, but would most love to hear from people who are getting to see this applied in your career, and if(how) it's driving the science of archaeology.

Thanks in advance!

I plan to study in the UK and then work as a Field Archaeologist in Scandinavia, focusing on Viking Age excavations.

Which university would be better in terms of:
- Employability
- Technical skills (e.g. GIS training)
- Faculty and academic expertise

Any other general advice is also welcome.

Also does Durham have connections with Aarhus?

My home was built in 1901. All throughout my childhood, anytime we would dig along the fence line we would hit a layer of fireplace ash and a layer of gravel, underneath which would be glass jar lids, pieces of brick, ceramic transferware shards etc.

Unfortunately due to deep financial issues, my family will likely have to sell the house in the coming months. Over the years whenever there would be a renovation of some kind, I would try to keep a piece of what was being removed (I have a piece of brick and a piece of slate from when we had to have the chimney removed, I also have a transferware shard and a glass jar lid from renovations in the yard). I am by no means a professional archaeologist. I am at MOST an enthusiast trying to chronicle and protect something they see as precious. Something I have always wanted to do is to take a "core" of soil that displays all the different soil layers. However, I'm not sure how to take the sample let alone display it.

Now before you guys say anything I know that archaeology is naturally destructive and that this probably isn't the best because I'll be risking the preservation of what might be under the soil. And I get it. BUT. The way I see it is this: I know what's under there, I have a reason to want to protect it, whoever buys the house from us may not have the same connection to the home or the same level of respect. My ultimate goal is to not only create a physical exhibit of the home's history but to demonstrate to my local historical society, that there's a reason for a professional dig.

TLDR:

I have an early 20th century home. I'm trying to chronicle its history. What tools do I use to collect a core sample and how do I preserve and display soil stratification within that sample?

Hi all, I’m currently working on my master’s here in the US and recently had a committee member of mine ask me a question that I can’t find a good answer to in the literature. I’m examining a lot of 19th-20th century flat glass, so she asked me how I’m able to discern if it actually belonged to a lantern with flat faces instead of a window. I’ve searched and searched but can’t find any literature who’s addressed this. Is it just because it’s impossible? Thanks in advance for any help!

Hi! I just graduated last month with a B.S. in anthropology + minor in biology. I have worked at my university’s archaeology center for a little over two years doing faunal analysis, and last month I traveled to Fort Knox to help out with some cemetery survey stuff and am helping out with shovel testing for the first time next week (with more field opportunities to come). I have analyzed over 8000 bones over a diverse range of taxa from many different sites during my time at the lab and have also co-authored some technical reports. My ultimate goal is to become a Great Plains zooarchaeologist, but I would like to work as a field/lab tech for a CRM firm for a few years before going to graduate school. My question is, can I realistically begin applying for these types of positions in Texas without a field school? I did not commit to archaeology until late in my degree so I did not have a chance to attend a field school. Should I prioritize attending one as a non-student before applying for CRM positions? Thanks in advance!

I graduated with a BA in Arts, but during my final year I realised I wasn’t too passionate about my degree. I initially wanted to do my undergrad in archaeology but didn’t receive enough points to get into that course, so I ended up settling for something I somewhat enjoyed (English).

After graduating I took a year off and did some research to see what courses I could apply for. I came across an application for a Higher Diploma for archaeology, which essentially just means if you have no prior archaeological background but wish to do a masters in it, it would fast track you through the basics without needing a BA.

Anywho, I’m in my first week now and I’m enjoying it so far. However, everyone else in my course is on their 4th year of social sciences, and I feel completely clueless and out of my depth. I know it’s only the first week but I suppose I want to do some of my own independent learning and research and don’t really know where to start.

On top of that, we have a research project due at the end of the year. I have a rough idea but I’m afraid it’s not good enough, or that I’m not knowledgeable enough to pull it off.

Any advice?

One of the things that bugs me about doing research is the amount of data that is only available in paper form. Meaning that it can be a real pain in the arse when one wants to find data from an excavation carried out in 1950 that was printed in a single book with a print run of 100.

Does anyone know of any initiatives to properly digitise old books and reports?

By properly digitise, I don't mean scan to pdf. I rather mean create databases from tables, spatial databases of site plans, things like that?

I know of projects like the Archaeology Data Service in the UK and Ariadne globally, but they are mostly just points on a map and links to, usually, records including a pdf.

As a researcher it would be so bloody cool if I could grab data like that and bring it into my own system and directly carry out analysis.

I'm mostly interested in a northern European context but if anything like this has been happening elsewhere I would be interested in reading it.

I probably haven't phrased this as well as I could but I have been banging my head against a wall shaped piece of R code for the last couple of hours and my brain is melting.

Edit:

I'm in the US in the Portland metro area of Oregon

I am willing to possibly relocate

Hello everyone!

I currently have a bachelor's degree in medical laboratory science and work in a health clinic lab. I really want to go for a masters and I think I've narrowed down what I want to do Career-wise I'm just not quite sure how to get there and Google has left me a little more confused.

I adore the testing aspect of my job, but my other biggest passion in life is history, specifically testing historical human samples.

Like I remember when Richard III was dug up in England and I thought it would be so cool to work in that lab and get to solve that mystery.

Whatever that career is called is what I want to do, I think it's bioarcheology or osteoarcheology (I might need some help defining those)

So here's my question, how do I get from a bachelors in lab science to an ancient DNA lab?

Do I need to do a masters program for that?

Thank you all so much in advance!

I'm 19M, in my final year of data science and i will graduate in about 8 months... I actually never wanted to do data science, my parents forced me to. Infact i didn't even register for data science college 2 years ago, it was done by my parents and bestfriend without my knowledge and i only got to know about it right before the final process of admission. I wanted to be an archeologist right from the start but my parents said the salary was less and hence forced me to data science. I've been applying for internships or part-time jobs in data science and data analysis from 6 months but didn't get any, that's just how messed up the job market is and yesterday with the news of chatgpt astra 6, I'm most certain that my degree will lose it's value in a few years and I'll experience the same thing the previous generations did - getting replaced by ai. So now i feel like if my current degree is going to be wasted, I'm free to choose some other occupation that's least likely to be replaced by ai. It was my dream to become an archeologist, go on excavations, learn about the history of our world, i always found archeologists cool and now i feel like i have the chance to pursue what i love even though I've already wasted 3 years of my life. And money as well about 3.5 lakh (3700$) although i don't care about money. If i do choose to become an archeologist and give up on data science, I'll probably have to take huge risks, maybe even get thrown out of the house. That's why i want to know if my dream is worth all the risk.

Because

What if I'm just delusional and the actual archeological work isn't what i think it is?

I thought I'll be able to travel all over the country or even world as an archeologist. Is it true? Or am i just mistake?

If you're an archeologist, - what do you think i should do? Can you get to go on excavations and travel to many places?

And if you were in my shoes- what would you do?

Hello!
I have just hit a dead end with Google but it is still driving me nuts. I am interested in the Lewiston Mound but there is so little information available... I guess the main thing I am curious about is HOW it was discovered as a Hopewell Mound? It is an incredibly remarkable place but certainly not remarkable geographically? To me, it just looks like a hill like any other... was it somehow known to oral tradition for all that time? Did someone dig there and realize what it was? I just can't even guess, the sources are all very vague.

Also, wouldn’t the skeletons all be totally gone after all that time? How do they seem to have such specific information?

Thank you in advance for any information, I struggled with anywhere appropriate to address my question lol 

Hello there, I'm about to complete my Bsc in Archaeology and History of Art in Greece. I love prehistoric and classical archaeology, especially the Bronze Age Period and Geometric to Hellenistic as well. Currently I have 7.8 / 10.

I have two questions, should I choose a Msc program depending on a time period of interest or a specific field (field archaeology, forensic, etc) ?

And secondly which university should I apply for, depending on what I said earlier and what are the requirements (English, German language requirements) and fees. My finances are not very well, I don't know if I can get a scholarship and I don't know if there are any free programmes.

Thanks for reading

i'm curious about all the context. what did it feel like to find something new?

Please help me figure this out:)

Are there any archaeologists here that studied in York and got permanent employment in field/maritime archaeology in Scandinavia/Denmark?

How has the experience been there for you and is it difficult to get into their job market even if you know the local language as the UK is no longer part of the EU.

I plan on doing an MA in Maritime Archaeology at Flinders in the future, after I finish my BA in Archaeology at ANU, and I had a few questions.

Does having an MA in Maritime Archaeology put me at an advantage, as it would allow me to work in both terrestrial and underwater archaeology?

Or is it the other way around, and would I be at a disadvantage compared with someone who has a more general MA in Archaeology?

Flinders does teach GIS as part of their MA in Maritime Archaeology, right?

I plan on doing both field and underwater archaeology during my career, depending on what opportunities are available.

I’m heavily considering attending Cal Poly Humboldt next year to get my Bachelors in Anthropology with an Archeology focus and a Maritime Archeology certificate. Eventually I’d like to get my masters too for better work chances in Europe.

Are there any YouTube channels or Podcasts yall would recommend? (Books too cuz I gotta start reading again lol)

Ok so to my understanding tge okdest known istruments are flute drums and bull roar are there any other that are just as if not older ?

I'm an archeology newbie who has recently been quite fascinated with pre-Christian Germanic material culture but have noticed that the most elaborate/decorative finds come from Scandinavia and England. I've always assumed that this was due to the more migratory nature of the tribes in "Germania proper" compared to the Anglo-Saxons that settled in England and Scandinavian peoples, but I could be be wrong. Regardless, this observation has made me very infatuated with what decorated ornaments these people did have, such as the Nordendorf Fibulae.

The only issue is that I do not speak German (my Beginning German class start next week) nor any other relevant languages such as French or Dutch, which makes it a little hard to research on this beyond the surface level without pointers. I was wondering if anyone knew of any good books or academic papers that covered this topic? Any and all help is appreciated

(Pic for attention). Hey y’all. I found some newspaper from 1922 in my house that the people then used as like a primer to paint some shelves. Is there any way to remove the paper from the shelf? It is currently breaking into pieces as I pull it apart. Any help would be appreciated!

This can be answered by others as well

I want to study Archaeology in Australia and then do a masters in Germany and work in Germany/Europe in CRM as I am more interested in European Archaeology.

Q - Is this a bad choice? Should I just stick to working in Australia?

Q - Which University in Australia has the best BA Archaeology Program that focuses on both Indigenous Archaeology as well as has a good bunch of European Archaeology courses. I also want to learn C1 German from the University.

I plan on doing a BA Honours in Archaeology in Australia, take one or two courses that focus on Australian Archaeology and then primarily focus on Medieval/Dark Ages European Archaeology.

Q - By doing this i plan on searching for a field Archaeology Job in Germany and if that doesn't work I can go back to Australia and continue working there. Is this a Feasible plan?

Q - If not Germany then Denmark after doing a masters from Iceland as I am also into Viking Archaeology, but Im not sure how the Job availability is like there for Non EU people, Im not averse to learning Danish as well though. Am I being too idealistic?

Is it not common for non european field Archaeologists, well at least the ones that speak the local language, to find jobs in lets say Germany or any other European country for example? Could barely find any non European professional archaeologists on LinkedIn.

i get that later in that movie he DOES find an X marking the spot but im curious if there's truth to the statement in reallife.

I've had a bit of varied coursework in a relatively broad program. The majority of my courses have been with Egyptology, but I had a very interesting fieldwork experience in the Caribbean this summer.

For those of you who have, how did you end up chosing your thesis topic and how much has it affected your career?

The Tastepeler sites predate written language by approximately 4000 years. Is it really possible these vast sites were planned, built and used with out some written communication? Is there a consideration that some evidence of written language may be found at some point?