Your day-to-day duties will depend on your specialist area, but could include:

• identifying possible sites to study using aerial photography, field-walking and surveying
• taking part in excavations or digs
• recording finds and sites using photography, detailed notes and drawings
• identifying and classifying finds
• cleaning and preserving finds in a laboratory
• using laboratory analysis like carbon-dating
• using computers to produce simulations of the way a site or artefact would have looked
• preserving industrial artefacts and buildings
• checking planning applications and identifying the impact of development on archaeological sites
• making sure important sites, buildings and monuments are protected
• classifying, displaying and looking after artefacts in a museum

You could work in an office or in a museum.

Your working environment may be outdoors some of the time.

You may find it useful to join a professional body like the Chartered Institute of Archaeologists.

With experience, you may be able to progress to a senior role like site supervisor or director.

You could also specialise in teaching or preservation.