Field Archaeologist's Survival Guide ─ Getting a Job and Working in Cultural Resource Management

Chris Webster’s handy, informative guide outlines what it take to become an archaeological technician, a field worker in cultural resource management (CRM) archaeology. Based on his popular blog feature, Shovelbums Guide, Webster offers young archaeologists useful advice about CRM work, including writing, cooking in hotel rooms, hand-mapping, surviving unemployment, life after archaeology, and more. It provides tools new CRM archaeologists need to get hired and to live life on the road in a fluctuating job market, as well as details on how to succeed as a field archaeologist. Appendices cover sample job hunting documents and checklists for fieldwork. If you will be pursuing a position in this dynamic, challenging field, this book is a must-read both before you apply for that first job and once you get one.

Chris Webster has a Master of Science degree from the University of Georgia in Archaeological Resource Management and has been doing CRM archaeology since 2005. He has worked as a shovelbum in 17 states and for multiple companies. Now owner of his own CRM firm, Digital Technologies in Archaeological Consulting, LLC, Chris is striving to bring the world of CRM archaeology to as many people as he can through books, blogging, and podcasting. Chris has a popular archaeology blog called Random Acts of Science and he hosts the CRM Archaeology Podcast.