well at least from the perspective from my anthropology teacher which I admit to highly agree with, is that archaeology is the study of "stuff, whether it be from the past or present". A better sounding definition is "the study of human cultures through the recovery and analysis of material remains and enviornmental data. My professor, or as I should say "John" which he insists we call him by is an Anthropologist himself. He has studied at UCLA, worked for the United Nations, and went to Fiji for three years to study the natives and learn their language. He is a a cultural anthropologist which is one of the four theories of anthropology. He studied linguistic and physical anthro as well, but the one he liked least was archaeology. So when my mind began to silently plead as to why he disliked this type of anthropology, no sooner he had given the answer......"archaeology is the study of stuff", he repeated bluntly. I looked up at John with big eyes and a shocked expression then realized he was right!!!!!
The only reason I am bringing this up and find this fairly significant is because about two years ago I seriously thought about majoring in this field. I thought it was amazing to be excavating ancient objects and sort of envisioned myself (don't laugh) as the female version of Indiana Jones traveling to remote locations and going into caves. What inspired me to follow this career path was the site Machu Picchu. I had found an undergraduate program that would let you study and excavate at this ancient site as well as travel to other places in Peru as well as South America. Looking back I realized that I only liked it for the travel opportunities, and the thought of working under the blistering sun for 12+ hours just wasn't too appealing. Besides what hit me the most was that this job requires PATIENCE, not just normal patience, but the type that you probably have to born with.......and I'm sorry to say I lack that very much.Don't get me wrong I applaud anyone who wishes to pursue this type of career but it just isn't of my interest anymore.
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