Archeologist, 0193

The following requirements are prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management and used to determine minimum qualifications.

Individual Occupational Requirements

Basic Requirements

1. Education

   1. Degree that included 3 semester hours each in the following course areas:

      • History of archeology.
      • Archeology of a major geographical area such as North America or Africa.
      • Regional archeology, archeological cultures, or sites in a specific part or portion of a major geographical area to acquire or develop a foundation for regional specialization for professional development.
      • Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques.
      • Archeological field school, to provide a basic understanding of theoretical and practical approaches to research design implementation, field preservation techniques, and report preparation by participation in actual field work.

        and

      • Six semester hours of related course work in:

        • geography, geology, or cultural geography;
        • history, historiography, or historical archeology;
        • environmental studies;
        • scientific writing (nonfiction English composition); and/or
        • surveying;

        and

      • Archeological field school.

   2. Related Curriculum: degree in anthropology (with emphasis on ethnology, physical anthropology, or scientific linguistics), history, American studies, or a related discipline may be accepted as satisfying in full the educational requirements, provided the curriculum supplied academic course work sufficiently similar to the requirements in A.1 (including archeological field school).

   or

2. Combination of Education and Experience

   College-level education or training that provided knowledge equivalent to that described in A above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education.

   or

3. Experience

   Four years of archeological work experience that demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles and theories of professional archeology. The work experience must have included archeology field experience, which may include that gained in an archeological field school. Field experience should have included a combination of professional experience in archeological survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, and preparation of written materials. Applicants with such field experience should, after additional experience under the direction of a higher grade archeologist, be able to demonstrate the ability to be a crew chief, directing the work of others at a single location as a part of a larger archeological project.

Experience and education requirements for GS-7 and above
In addition to meeting the basic entry qualification requirements, applicants must have specialized experience and/or directly related education in the amounts shown in the table below.

NOTE: Education and experience may be combined for all grade levels for which both education and experience are acceptable.