Question: what would you say to someone who wants to be an archaeologist when they grow up?

Lucile Crete answered on 29 Apr 2021: last edited 30 Apr 2021 9:24 am

Hi Phoebe! 🙂

First, I’d say “go for it!” 🙂 When I was younger and kept saying I wanted to be an archaeologist, people did not necessarily encourage me to work towards it as they believed it was more of a passion than a job, or they worried there wouldn’t be enough job opportunities. And I’m glad I persisted and followed my passion for History and Archaeology! 🙂

I think that my main advice for someone who would want to become an archaeologist would be to keep being curious about the past as they grow up (through school, magazines, museums), but to be aware that Archaeology is in between Science and Humanities. Because of that, it is good to learn as much as possible about History, but also about Science (biology, chemistry, geography…) to then have a good knowledge on these subjects and be able to chose more easily what kind of archaeologist they want to be (an archaeologist working on the Middle Ages, Prehistory, Antiquity…? or a specialist of bones, potteries, stone tools, weaponry…? or even a specialist of dating methods, or mapping techniques…? There are many specialties within Archaeology!).