Why study for a degree in archaeology?
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Until comparatively recently archaeology was thought of as a very specialised field of study, and school leavers were often warned not to contemplate studying the subject at university, as opportunities for graduates were few and far between. Over the past twenty years or so this perception has been transformed. Archaeology is now widely recognised as an excellent subject for degree-level education, regardless of the career that a student is intending to pursue. Why should this be so?
One reason is that archaeology has been much more visible in the media, particularly through television programmes such as Time Team and Meet the Ancestors. This has meant that what archaeologists do has become less mysterious, and in the process employers have increasingly recognised the value of archaeology graduates.
- Archaeologists are both literate and numerate. They write essays, lab reports and dissertations, but they are equally at home with computing and statistics.
- Archaeologists work in groups as well as individually. In the field, on survey and excavation projects, they learn team-building and leadership skills as well as subject-specific skills.
- Archaeologists work with evidence of various different kinds to construct arguments. The subject demands flexible thinking, and the verbal and presentational skills to make and defend an argument in public.
Most students find archaeology fascinating, because the study of the human past through material things is constantly changing, and new interpretations and new evidence are continually coming to the fore. Moreover, far more people are employed in archaeology and related fields than even a few years ago: in field archaeology, in museums, in the heritage sector and in education. But one of the principal reasons why the numbers of archaeology students in the UK (at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels) has increased exponentially since the 1980s has been the recognition that the subject provides an outstanding preparation for a professional life, regardless of the career that a person ultimately decides to follow