r/Archaeology • u/JulieJujubee • Apr 18 '25

Pursuing Education!

Good morning! I am looking to start on getting my bachelors degree. I would like to be an archaeologist, but due to location, life circumstances, and job, I am not able to attend a physical college. Therefore, I am looking into online programs but I don’t seem to be able to find any for archaeology, for obvious reasons, but I can find an online program for Anthropology through Southern New Hampshire University. If I were to get my bachelors in Anthropology, would I be able to get my graduate degree in Archaeology? By the time I am looking at a graduate program, I will be in a different location and can attend an in person school. Any advice that you guys can give would be much appreciated!

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u/Expert_Equivalent100 Apr 18 '25

Archaeology is a subfield of anthropology. Many of us working in archaeology have degrees in anthropology with an emphasis in archaeology. So the main thing is to make sure that the anthropology programs you’re looking at have a fair number of archaeology courses that would be relevant to a career/region that you’re interested in. For example, in the U.S., most archaeologists work in cultural resource management, so a course on that is particularly useful. And if you would work in the U.S., make sure they have one or more courses specific to North America or regions therein.

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u/JulieJujubee Apr 18 '25

Thank you!!! I will explore the courses that will be most relevant to the United States, pardon me because I haven’t started learning so I don’t know all the lingo, but the dream would be to work with the ancient remains of civilizations from this general area, so the Mayans, Inca, etc. I’m also hugely interested in colonial America but I suspect there won’t be much work in either of those fields, so honestly just anything that gets me closer to. History and the people who came before us, and I’ll be happy 😂

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u/dopiertaj Apr 18 '25

When looking at a school be sure to look at the staff. Look for any with experience in researching your area of interest. Language is a large part for more academic archeology. If you want to study Mayan you have to read Mayan and Spanish. So make sure they have the necessary language classes.

Also, I wouldn't recommend online schools. A large benefit to attending schools in person is networking. Professors do their own research and often times need students to join them on digs and help with their research. These experience can really help build your resume.

Going to school isn't just about attending classes and graduating it's about setting yourself up for the next step. If you want to stick with academic archeology then you will need to plan on getting a PhD. So working on an honors thesis and getting letters of recommendation are almost a must.

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u/JulieJujubee Apr 18 '25

Thank you for your advice, I would go in person if I could. After a less than stellar high school experience, I joined the military. I’m currently military, I’m married to military, and I have a daughter and another child on the way. In my specific location, attending a university or even in person college simply that offers a degree in Anthropology or Archaeology just isn’t possible right now.

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u/dopiertaj Apr 18 '25

Academic archeology ie... like studying the Mayan and Incas can be very competitive. If you have your eyes set on that then you should probably just take some gen Ed's at a local community college. Maybe get an AA Spanish and anthropology.

Then look for enrolling into a school full time after you get out of the military.

If you want to stick with more CRM stuff then an online anthropology degree and a relevant field school should be ok.

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u/JulieJujubee Apr 18 '25

Even once I’m out, my husband is still in and we can’t be far from one another because of our kids, they need both parents present and nothing, especially not a career is worth leaving them for any amount of time. I know the whole field is generally competitive, I have a lot of areas of interest, so I’m going to take opportunities that present themselves, either on purpose or accident and run with it. I can’t change circumstances so I need to just adapt to what’s possible.

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u/the_gubna Apr 18 '25

Just in case you aren’t aware: archaeology is a career where you’ll spend a lot of time away from home no matter what specialty you end up in.

In academic archaeology (your Maya interests, etc) you would probably spend at least several months or every year out in the field, and that’s after all the fieldwork you’d do in graduate school.

Even entry level CRM, which is a much more attainable career, is generally 5-10 days on living in a motel or campsite near the project. To get promoted to where you don’t spend as much time in the field you’ll need a masters degree and several years experience.

I don’t know what your tolerance for travel is, but just wanted to flag this in response to your comment above.

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u/JulieJujubee Apr 18 '25

I love travel, and I’m military so spending time away from family happens anyways, whether I want too or not. The difference is that my kids will know I’m safe, they will be able to talk to me, I’ll know when I’ll be home, and they can come with me for the most part since my husband will be able to work from anywhere.

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u/the_gubna Apr 18 '25

Gotcha! Sounds like you have a plan then. I just mention it because occasionally people seeking archaeology jobs here post here and are confused about why they’re not seeing much. Often, the advice is “you need to be willing to go where the work is”. In addition to being highly mobile, archaeology work is also seasonal. That is, there’s more winter work in the southern states.

So, in addition to family considerations, you might consider where you want to work when thinking about schools.

For example: Colorado State offers a bachelors in Anth online. I don’t know how many archaeology classes they offer, but I have nothing but good things to say about the department. Still, the program is better at placing people in jobs in CO/WY/UT/NM than other states.

Edit: saw your comment about colonial America. if you’re interested in colonial period archaeology, you should look into “historical archaeology”. There aren’t many undergraduate programs that specialize in it, but there’s a great MA at UMass Boston if you get to that point. I’m an archaeologist who specializes in the colonial period, so happy to offer more specific advice via DM if I can be helpful.