Can someone explain (or infodump) archaeology to me?

[Lactobuzzillus]

I’m doing some research for a story, and I’m not quite sure where to start.

The main character’s parents are archaeologists. They don’t come up much since the story isn’t about them, but I want to have an accurate portrayal of what they’re doing and how it influences the main character’s knowledge and personality.

Does anyone have deep or inside knowledge they’d be willing to share?

I had a few specific questions:

What are typical jobs for an archaeologist?

What happens on archaeology sites?

Is it normal for archaeologists to travel and work on archeological sites in different countries? If so, how long would they usually stay there?

What sort of inside knowledge would a child of archaeologists end up with?

(I don’t know much about archaeology to begin with, so apologies if any of these questions are particularly incorrect or ignorant-sounding)

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I’m doing some research for a story, and I’m not quite sure where to start.

The main character’s parents are archaeologists. They don’t come up much since the story isn’t about them, but I want to have an accurate portrayal of what they’re doing and how it influences the main character’s knowledge and personality.

Does anyone have deep or inside knowledge they’d be willing to share?

I had a few specific questions:

What are typical jobs for an archaeologist?

What happens on archaeology sites?

Is it normal for archaeologists to travel and work on archeological sites in different countries? If so, how long would they usually stay there?

What sort of inside knowledge would a child of archaeologists end up with?

(I don’t know much about archaeology to begin with, so apologies if any of these questions are particularly incorrect or ignorant-sounding)

I have a friend who is an illustrator working with archeologists. He is usually at sites for up to six months at a time. The bread and butter work is illustrating the placement of artifacts within the grid demarcated on the site. This provides important contextual information. He also provides illustrations of the site, as found, and reconstuctions. Sometimes he illustrates publications. He did the illustrations for a book about the Little Ice Age.

 

[Outdated]

I’m doing some research for a story, and I’m not quite sure where to start.

Perhaps reading some of the stories that archaeologists are interested in might give you some ideas:

https://www.archaeology.org/