What does an archaeologist do on a typical day?

A project plan must be created that includes the purpose of the dig, the procedure, funding, and safety considerations. You may also need to get permission to dig depending on the location. The project plan needs to also go over what happens after the dig.

Everything recovered and recorded during the excavation must be studied, archived and published to be of any use. The site sequence needs to be set out, the artifacts examined, soil samples processed and analyzed, and bones cataloged and studied. These need to be written up in reports by relevant experts and integrated with the overall excavation report for the site to be interpreted and understood and a final account published. This process might take years, and should be a very significant part of the overall project budget.

A typical day-to-day after recovering artifacts from the field includes carefully washing, sorting, cataloging, and storing recovered artifacts. They are then analyzed, individually, but still keeping in mind group patterns.

Other day-to-day tasks include:

• Research, survey, or assess sites of past societies and cultures in search of answers to specific research questions.

• Write, present, and publish reports that record site history, methodology, and artifact analysis results, along with recommendations for conserving and interpreting findings.

• Describe artifacts' physical properties or attributes, such as the materials from which artifacts are made and their size, shape, function, and decoration.

• Present findings from archeological research to peers and the general public.

• Compare findings from one site with archeological data from other sites to find similarities or differences.

• Record the exact locations and conditions of artifacts uncovered in diggings or surveys, using drawings and photographs as necessary.