Career & Scope of Archaeology Subjects, Jobs, Branches & Success Tips

Career & Scope of MA Archaeology
Archaeology is a field for those people who love history and they have craze of discovering the lost civilizations. Its a professional and research oriented field. In case of any success you can get great fame all over the world. There are still uncountable archaeological sites in the world waiting for excavation. Basically Archaeologists reconstruct human history and to discover missing links of human history. They study old human civilizations, take the  surveys, and excavate the historical site to discover our past. Now Archaeology has turned into a science as lot of modern technologies have been involved in this field.

There is a great demand of Archaeologists all over the world not only in academia side but also in research firms. Due to research based nature of this field it is recommended for you to go for PhD after MA Archaeology for better career prospects. Now a days following modern techniques are used by professional Archaeologists;
Genetic study
Radiocarbon dating
Thermography
Satellite imaging
MRI
That’s why just MA is enough for a successful career in this field. You need to specialize in one of the following fields.

 Archaeology

Career & Scope of Archaeology Subjects, Jobs, Branches & Success Tips

Branches of Archaeology
1-Archaeozoology is the study of past animal lives. Study of animals diversity, health, evolution, spread and domestication is also included in this branch of archaeology.

2-Archaeometry is the branch of archaeology deals with the the application of scientific techniques (analytical engineering principles) to the dating of archaeological remains.

3-Archaeobotany is the study of plant remains to discover the agricultural practices of the ancient times. Eating habits of ancient people and climatic changes are also studied in it.

4-Urban Archaeology is the study of old urban civilizations.

5-Environmental Archaeology is the study of affect of past civilizations on the environment and and vice versa.

6-Ethno Archaeology guide us about how to apply the modern day ethnological or anthropological data on past civilizations for collecting data about past.

7-Experimental Archaeology is a branch of archaeology which attempts to generate and test archaeological hypotheses in a controlled atmosphere for getting better idea about the past.

8-Geoarchaeology deals with the study of present and old soil and rock samples for comparison.

9-Marine Archaeology deals with the under water remains of ships and culture of those civilizations who have drowned.

10-Palaeontology is the study of life types that existed on our earth before the advent of the modern human being.

11-Prehistoric Archaeology deals with human culture of pre-recorded period.

12–Battlefield Archaeology deals with the detailed archaeological exploration of famous battlefields of the world like Panipat and Waterloo.

Career & Scope
Pakistan has many archaeological sites like Mohenjo-daro, Harrappa, Taxila, Takht-i-Bahi, Mehrgarh etc. There are many undiscovered sites too. You may get jobs in many government departments and private organizations. There is a great demand of archaeologists in foreign countries too. Here are some employment areas for you.
Museum
Colleges
Universities
Cultural Centers
UNESCO
Research Laboratories
Department of Archaeology and Museums (DOAM)
NGO
Archaeological Department
Private Museums
International Organizations

Prerequisites of Success as an Archaeologist
1-You should have good communication skills as you will have to communicate with local people in the field and international researchers in conferences.

2-You should have extra ordinary knowledge of History. it is also recommended to get your second Master degree in History.

3-Thirst to discover the lost past is also mandatory.

4-Its a very demanding field as some times you will have to work even for months in on archaeologist sites.

5-You should have ability work with patience as a team member.

6-If you do not love this field then it will be a horrible experience for you as excavation is tiring task. You will have to live in camps in adverse environment.

7-You must be adventure loving person as you may have to face many challenges in the field like mafia, unfriendly attitudes of local people, continuous failures,long travelling. threat for life from robbers and animals, hazardous weather etc.

8-You should have reading habit. It is recommended for you to get your field related knowledge of following subjects
anthropology, art, culture, chemistry, ancient literature, Botany, ethnology, geology, World history,Computer, linguistics, Environment, palaeontology, physics, Zoology, statistics, Old civilizations etc.

9-Its an ideal field for a research minded person who loves his work. So passion and commitment with your work is most needed quality in Archaeology field.

MA Archaeology Subjects
Following subjects are taught is MA Archaeology in Punjab University.

Science of Archaeology
Pre-and proto-history of Pakistan
Civilizations of the Ancient World: Egypt, Mesopotamia and Iran
Paleography and Epigraphy of South Asia
Early Muslim Architecture
Ancient History of India and Pakistan
Ancient Religions of South Asia
Ancient Arts and Architecture of South Asia before Muslim invasions
Pre-Muslim Coinage of South Asia
Preliminary Sanskrit
Ancient Civilizations of Greece, Rome and China
Cultural Tourism in Pakistan
Muslim Architecture (Tomb and Mosques) of Pakistan from A.D. 712 to 1706.
Outline of Muslim Rule in South Asia
Coinage of Sultanate Period
Research Methodology
Muslim Arts: Paintings and Calligraphy
Muslim Architectural Heritage of India
Environmental Archaeology
The Suri, Mughal, Durrani and Sikh Coins
Cultural Management and Museum Studies