Current Archaeology

An estimate of how much archaeologists earn was provided in 1999 in a survey of archaeological jobs in the UK entitled Profiling the Profession funded by English Heritage and published jointly by them, the Council for British Archaeology and the Institute of Field Archaeologists.

Current Archaeology's advice to those about to seek a paid career in archaeology is identical to Mr Punch's advice to those about to get married: Don't.

Jobs in archaeology are few and far between. However, do not despair: there are other ways of becoming an archaeologist than becoming a professional archaeologist.

Should you make a career in archaeology? The Current Archaeology Career guide has traditionally been gloomy: click here for our original - and now classic - advice and click here for our original Educational Home page. Archaeology is certainly a career where the supply of those wishing to become an archaeologist always exceeds the demand for their services, so that jobs are almost almost all poorly paid - see our review of a recent survey - and indeed compare it with our review of a similar exercise in America.
But there are jobs in archaeology: here is an informal and irreverent guide, which will we hope, be rather more useful than the more formal guides. It is arranged by age, but runs continuously.