Archaeologist
What the work is
Studies human activity in the past, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data left behind, which includes artefacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes (the archaeological record).
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Cleans, examines, records and preserves archaeological finds and sites
- Collects, analyses and interprets data from artefacts and archaeological sites
- Uses methods such as aerial photography and remote sensing techniques to locate archaeological sites
- Collects information and produces simulations to recreate the way a site or artefact would have looked in the past
- Assesses archaeological sites for resource management, development or conservation purposes
- Recommends methods for archaeological site protection
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a council archive and a small heritage consultancy in a regional town. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A dusty box of old records turns out to hold the missing piece of a local story
- A community group trusts you with something precious and you handle it well
- A visitor finds their grandparents in a register you helped save
Hard days
- Two groups who both care about a place want opposite outcomes from your advice
- A funding deadline and a pile of slow, careful work land in the same week
- Someone wants an answer now, but the evidence only supports a maybe
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 232331, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.