Welcome to Archaeology

Archaeology is the study of the human past by analysis of the physical remains of human behaviour. Archaeology is strongly enmeshed with other disciplines, and its study usually involves a degree of interdisciplinary effort.

Objectives

• Social responsibility and relevance of Archaeology (practice stewardship of the resource, working with various diverse stakeholders, ways of using the past, partnerships, public involvement, codes of ethics).
• Basic archaeological knowledge (basic sequence of human evolution both cultural and biological, basic sequence of climate change, pattern of colonisation of the world, emergence of language and writing, emergence of agriculture, emergence of rock art and other art. How Australia is apart of world Archaeology).
• Basic archaeological skills (observing, organising and assessing data, eg. recognising artefacts, describing artefact formation, describing artefact variation graphically and typologically; stone tools, pottery, art, material culture, biological remains. Basic analysis of these types, descriptive statistics, simple inferential statistics, simple illustrations. Recognising sites, basic mapping skills, field and lab photography. Excavation skills, analysis of stratigraphy, simple curation).
• Basic archaeological theory (how archaeological arguments are constructed and their types, eg. Use of evidence of modern behaviour, experiments, other disciplines, contingent nature of knowledge and theory, how practice and theory relate, designing and assessing research).
• Basic archaeological practice (legal and regulatory frameworks, professional responsibility, accountability and accreditation, logistics and organization, assessment practices).
• Written and oral communication (eg. Practise clear writing, archaeological report formats and publication, public speaking, compute literacy, information literacy, negotiation, communicating quantitative information).
• Problem solving (eg. Teamwork, real world problem solving, work experience, site management and protection, negotiation and conflict resolution).
  We have designed units aimed both at training professional archaeologists and at contributing to the education of students who will not make Archaeology their career.

Why Study Archaeology

Students have individual reasons for studying our disciplines. Sometimes it is the romance and excitement of discovering objects from the past that tell us something of the lives of long gone people. It may be wonder at the achievements of the people of antiquity, or a fascination with tracing the evidence of our evolution from remote ancestors.

For some students Archaeology provides interesting units towards their degree. Others hope to become professional archaeologists or to work in a related profession such as cultural heritage management. The School caters to both types of students, and is at pains to ensure that both gain a set of intellectual skills and training in the art of learning, which will enrich and inform their future lives, regardless of their ultimate career paths. Archaeology is almost unique in that it combines humanities and sciences, and call upon a great range of diverse specialists in seeking to interpret and understand what the materials from the past tell us about our ancestors. Archaeology seeks to make much of little: that is, to discover past human behaviour from material preserved and discovered that is a small sample of what existed in the past. As Archaeology depends on maximising information from incomplete data it requires a very critical and rigorous approach to data and interpretation. Training in this type of analytical rigour gives graduates an invaluable approach to whatever tasks their education opens to them.

The University of New England is a good place to study Archaeology. The Commonwealth Government surveys graduates each year about their satisfaction with their courses of study. In recent surveys Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology at New England was ranked first in Australia for Good Teaching and for Overall Satisfaction. We also scored best in providing training in general skills for people who did not necessarily want to become archaeologists or palaeoanthropologists.

Careers in Archaeology

About 15 of our graduates over the past two decades have worked or are working in academic positions. Another 50 have worked or are working as archaeological consultants, usually doing impact assessments for development projects. At least a dozen of our graduates are working in the cultural heritage management services of several states. Indeed, New England graduates are prominent in this section of the applied discipline. It is possible for dedicated and able students to become professional archaeologists, to work in permanent jobs in Australia or to do fieldwork on the type of sites overseas that fulfil the public image of Archaeology. You need at least a BA (honours) degree, dedication and determination, reasonable ability, hard work, faith in your future, and a little bit of luck. You also need patience, an eye for detail, aptitude for computer work and science interests as well as the ability to work independently or as part of a team often in multicultural settings. If people tell you that wanting to be an archaeologist is a romantic dream, remember that it is also a realistic possibility.
Training in this type of analytical rigour gives graduates an invaluable approach to whatever tasks their education opens to them.