ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some of the career opportunities, training, and personal qualities needed to become an archaeologist. It examines some of the ways people can contribute without becoming one and ends with a summary of the basic ethics of archaeology for everyone. Career opportunities for professional archaeologists can be found in universities, colleges, museums, government service, and private businesses both in the United States and abroad. Professional archaeologists subscribe to strict and explicit ethics in their dealings with the past, but, in the final analysis, preserving the past for the future is the responsibility of us all. Archaeology depends on informed amateur archaeologists who volunteer on excavations, in laboratories, and in museums. Many highly important contributions to archaeology come from amateur archaeologists, often members of local archaeological societies, who participate in digs and keep an eye out for new discoveries in their areas. Archaeology gives people insight into the past and the potential for involvement as an informed layperson.
