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Anthropologist/Archeologist

Academic programs / Undergraduate degrees / Career opportunities / Anthropologist/Archeologist

Anthropologist/Archeologist

Explore employment trends, required job duties and skills for this career. ASU offers a variety of degrees that can help you prepare for and meet your career goals. Visit ASU's Career and Professional Development Services to learn how to develop your career plan.

Potential job titles in this career
American Indian Policy Specialist, Applied Anthropologist, Applied Cultural Anthropologist, Archaeologist, Forensic Anthropologist, Historical Archaeologist, Research Anthropologist, Research Archaeologist, Researcher

* Additional schooling, certification, or degrees maybe be required for some of the potential careers that are listed.
What will I do?
  • Collect information and make judgments through observation, interviews, and review of documents.
  • Research, survey, or assess sites of past societies and cultures in search of answers to specific research questions.
  • Write about and present research findings for a variety of specialized and general audiences.
  • Assess archeological sites for resource management, development, or conservation purposes and recommend methods for site protection.
  • Collect artifacts made of stone, bone, metal, and other materials, placing them in bags and marking them to show where they were found.
  • Study objects and structures recovered by excavation to identify, date, and authenticate them and to interpret their significance.
  • Compare findings from one site with archeological data from other sites to find similarities or differences.
  • Plan and direct research to characterize and compare the economic, demographic, health care, social, political, linguistic, and religious institutions of distinct cultural groups, communities, and organizations.
  • Gather and analyze artifacts and skeletal remains to increase knowledge of ancient cultures.
  • Record the exact locations and conditions of artifacts uncovered in diggings or surveys, using drawings and photographs as necessary.
  • In this career, it is important to know
    Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

    Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
    It's useful to be good at
    Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

    Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

    Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

    Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

    Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

    Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

    Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

    Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.

    Flexibility of Closure - The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.

    Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
    Employment trends
    Location Pay period 2022
    10% 25% Median% 75% 90%
    United States Hourly $19.36 $24.05 $30.74 $39.00 $48.35
    Yearly $40,260 $50,020 $63,940 $81,120 $100,560
    Arizona Hourly $17.99 $23.51 $27.84 $35.01 $45.64
    Yearly $37,430 $48,900 $57,910 $72,820 $94,920
    2022 Median%
    United States $30.74 Hourly $63,940 Yearly
    Arizona $27.84 Hourly $57,910 Yearly

    Employment (2022)
    8,000 employees
    Projected growth (2022 - 2032)
    Average (4% to 7%)
    Projected job openings (2022 - 2032)
    700
    * Data obtained from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) under sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA).
    What are accelerated programs?
    Accelerated programs allow students the opportunity to expedite the completion of their degree.

    3 year programs

    These programs allow students to fast-track their studies after admission and earn a bachelor's degree in three years or fewer while participating in the same high-quality educational experience of a 4-year option. Students should talk to their academic advisor to get started.

    Accelerated master's

    These programs allow students to accelerate their studies to earn a bachelor's plus a master's degree in as few as five years (for some programs).

    Each program has requirements students must meet to be eligible for consideration. Acceptance to the graduate program requires a separate application. Students typically receive approval to pursue the accelerated master’s during the junior year of their bachelor's degree program. Interested students can learn about eligibility requirements and how to apply.
    What are concurrent programs?
    Concurrent degrees allow students to pursue their own personal or professional interests, earn two distinct degrees and receive two diplomas. To add a concurrent degree to your existing degree, work with your academic advisor.
    What are joint programs?
    Joint programs, or jointly conferred degrees, are offered by more than one college and provide opportunities for students to take advantage of the academic strengths of two academic units. Upon graduation, students are awarded one degree and one diploma conferred by two colleges.

    What constitutes a new program?
    ASU adds new programs to Degree Search frequently. Come back often and look for the “New Programs” option.
    What are online programs?
    ASU Online offers programs in an entirely online format with multiple enrollment sessions throughout the year. See https://asuonline.asu.edu/ for more information.
    What is the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)?
    The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) is a program in which residents of western states (other than Arizona) may be eligible for reduced nonresident tuition. See more information and eligibility requirements on the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) program.

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