Fortunately, there is no shortage of opportunities for interning or volunteering. Graduate programs typically have their own funded excavations for students each year. Or get your hands dirty by checking out the Archaeological Institute of America for worldwide fieldwork opportunities.

PROFESSIONAL ADVICE

With years of study and long working hours, archaeology can be an exciting and prestigious field, but also an extremely demanding one. The stress on home and family life can be tough, but for Sagona, the challenge of yearly travel while raising a daughter quickly became a natural lifestyle. “We have been traveling so long now that when the weather changes from summer to winter, I get a strong feeling that I should be on the move, going north,” says Sagona. “It’s a funny sensation—maybe many archaeologists feel like this.”

And for most, questioning and preserving human history in a cutting-edge field is an intellectual workout that makes the long hours worth it. “I try not to accept statements at face value, especially if they have been long assumed, but never really justified,” says Sagona, adding, “Never underestimate the intelligence, creativity, resourcefulness and ingenuity of the ancients.”

©iStockphoto.com/Israel Talby