Geoarchaeology? Part II

[Stig]

Just trying to gauge the feeling and thoughts of people out there to geoarchaeology, and how it should be done in archaeology, and how people think it fits into the work that units do? (sorry many questions I know!);)

Stig

dead cat tell no lies

[BAJR Host]

Guess you stunned us into silence. explain more though... I am intersted

[Stig]

Hello!

Well, you all prob know it, but maybe not by name...

what I'm talking about is... well there's quiet alot of stuff but for units it involves taking samples for environmental analysis, pollen, snails etc would be bioarchaeology, studying the physical and geochemical properties of sediment and soils is geoarch. So what I'm talking about, primarily, is detailed sedimentary analysis to reconstruct the environment at a site, and how people were using the land e.g. looking at the physical and geochemical properties to see if they were say, using manure in their fields etc. So part field part lab work.

I recently did an MSc in Geoarchaeology, before that I did a degree in geology, specialising in sediments and palaeontology. Since leaving I've had a good look round but there are few jobs about just yet - as Geoarchaeologists or Environmental archaeologists, mostly they seem to be limited to large units.

Soooo I was just testing the water to see what the the current level of awarness/ understanding and feelings about it are [?]

sorry for the essay I've tried to keep it short

Stig :)


dead cat tell no lies

[drpeterwardle]

Stig,

(I thought you had a job as a driver on Top Gear.)

Geo-archaeology as it is called is nothing new. The term was first mentioned in 1976 in the title of a conference proceedings. At the time there was a small number of practitioners and a small number of undergraduates doing joint degrees at Leeds (like myself) and at Bristol.

The rise of environmental archaeology was very much driven by animals and plants rather than sediments and soils. The balance was changed a bit with the intoduction of soil thin sections but still people with a biological background dominated. The also flirted with some techniques such as particle size analysis.

Mean while there was the rise of archaeological science proper (physics and chemistry) at practised at Bradford.

An MSc in geoarchaeology was set up at Reading in the early nineties.

In modern day archaeology "environmental archaeology" is a matter of routine but only the larger units employ people rather than sub contracting out to individual specialists. Geo-archaeology tends to be rather neglected except at a most basic level in any event. Like all specialism is archaeology the actual hobs tend to be few and far between.

Peter

[Stig]

Pete,

(I only drive for topgear part time)

Yeah geoarchs nothing new but I was under the impression it was 'up and coming' (partly if nothing else as I was funded), and was hoping there would be a bit more out there after the MSc at Reading; But I was wondering if I was missing anything, lol.

But most of what you said sums up what I've found so far...

So I'm currently weighing up what the best next step is. Coming from a geol undergrad I've got less than 6 months field exp, so getting employed as a digger isn't feasible. And I dont have the cash to do volunteer work.

But am I in reality going to have to become a digger who does a bit of geoarch on the side if I stay in archaeology? As there seem to be so few other entry points into archaeology?

(thinking of driving fulltime for topgear)

Stig:face-huh:

dead cat tell no lies

[drpeterwardle]

So the stig is actually Luke the geoarchaeologist - I always thought it was damon hill - want to swap jobs.

I wouldnt sell yourself short. There are many people who are geology graduates in archaeology and 6 months experience should be enough to get jobs.

I guessed that you did the Reading MSc are you still lurking there?

A good bet would be try the units who are doing work in the varioys estuaries where geoarchaeology is a very useful skill - Wessex GGAT etc.

Did you do any geophysics - some of the better geophysics companies employ geoarchaeologists.

Peter
(Now back to some really boring work)

[Stig]

Cheers Pete,

I should confess though I am not the Stig you think I am, I am in fact "Stig of the Dump" a cave man type peron who lived (unsurprisingly) on a dump. Ahem. Sorry...

Anyway thanks I haven't checked out GGAT yet so I shall take a look.

Yeah i've done a bit of geophysics (practical and lots of theory) whilst at RHUL and Reading so I'll take a look at some of the geophysics companies as well.

Yeah i'm still lurking in Reading, temping during the week to pay bills and trying to get on digs etc on the weekends (and longer where possible)to bump up my experience

Cheers

Stig:D

dead cat tell no lies

[Maratez]

hey,
have you tried looking in the states?, I don't know if your ok with moving over there, but in the US geology is really important for archaeology majors. I was required to minor in it if I wanted to get my degree in archaeology. Basically over there they require that you have at least one of the sciences as a backround, you can ask any prof. there and they will say that they think you should take geology, of course meaning that you have no choice but to minor in the subject. I think that if you are looking for something specific in geoarchaeology you should for sure take a look over there, its a popular field.
The bad part is that its like pulling teeth to get a paying job in archaeology in the states, there are tons of students who are willing to do all that stuff for free, and of course there are only so many sites over there, but on the up side with geology there are an insane amount of jobs, especially in the west(california, washington, oregon). Your geology background will get you a job with any one of the major companies out there, and they always like to have an archaeologist on site just in case they come across something while taking surveys.
I don't think that really helps, but I tried.