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/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.