Jobs in archaeology are few and far between. First of all though, let's look at professional archaeology . There was a short time between 1973 and 1975 when jobs in archaeology were abundant. These were the years when the Government suddenly woke up to the importance of rescue archaeology and for two years in succession, Government spending on archaeology doubled and as a result virtually every graduate in archaeology in those years got a job. There has also been a boom in the 1990s, following the introduction of PPG 16, but that too appears to be petering out, so it is unlikely that there will be any 'new' jobs till 2015, when those who graduated in 1975 finally retire.
Many universities like to boast that all their students who desire a job in archaeology, find a job.
However this brings us on to the problem of the circuit digger. Many archaeological excavations are comparatively short term, ranging from a couple of months to occasionally a couple of years. There is therefore a 'lump' of circuit diggers who go from dig to dig. However all too many archaeologists reach the age of 28 and suddenly find that they want to marry, settle down and buy a house and find that they cannot do this on the casual earnings of a circuit digger. They leave archaeology when it is already rather late to find an alternative job.