Field Technician Training Program

The AWA Field Technician Training Program aims to provide students, Tribal members, recent graduates, early career professionals, and those seeking accessible training with opportunities to develop and enhance their professional skills. In 2021, the first Program organizers recognized that many factors combine to limit diversity in the field of archaeology. Access to field training opportunities is a hurdle for many students and early career archaeologists when preparing for a job in the CRM industry, and limited access to field schools disparately impacts economically disadvantaged people and People of Color. This Program aims to provide free, flexible field training opportunities that are closer to home to increase field experience accessibility. This is why AWA individual members, institutional members, cultural resources management (CRM) companies, local Tribal Nations, agencies, and university staff come together to offer free training opportunities for individuals interested in pursuing careers as archaeological field technicians. AWA understands this Program will not remedy the diversity and inclusivity problems that exist in archaeology today, but it is one step towards increasing equity and growing our community.

The training sessions are led by volunteer CRM professionals each spring and summer online and in-person across various locations in Washington. These trainings provide some experience with skills needed for entry-level CRM work, such as historical and pre-contact artifact identification, Pacific Northwest culture history, pedestrian survey, shovel probing, archaeological monitoring, test unit excavation, human and faunal bone identification, soils and sediments, remote sensing, general introductions to CRM, networking opportunities, guidance on seeking employment, and resume assistance. Some virtual presentations were recorded and are posted below. Efforts are made to offer both virtual and in-person training sessions at night, during various weekdays, and on the weekends.

The professional archaeologists leading the trainings are responsible for creating each training’s content; providing a physical location for in-person trainings; creating and sending links to virtual trainings; providing any required equipment or readings; staffing the training sessions as appropriate; and communicating details to the students and early career archaeologists who signed up to take the trainings. Students and early career archaeologists sign up for whichever sessions they are interested in attending, and trainees are responsible for getting themselves to/from the sessions unless specific assistance or other direction is provided by the professional volunteer leader. AWA does not provide the trainings directly, nor does AWA endorse, recommend, vet, or assume responsibility for the trainings. AWA does require that all sessions comply with all applicable cultural resources regulations and laws. In Washington, these include (but is not limited to) RCW 27.53, RCW 27.44, and RCW 42.56.300. Any sessions outside of Washington must also comply with the applicable local, state, and federal law.

The technician trainings are intended to help attendees build their basic understanding of CRM practices in Washington and instill confidence in participants when applying for jobs. Training sessions are not meant to replace formal field school education. Instead, these training sessions may help attendees fill a gap in their education or get a jump start on getting a job in CRM. These trainings are supported by professional CRM staff volunteers to meet their personnel needs. Attendees can list the specific training sessions they attended on their resumes when applying for archaeological positions. Although the AWA trainings do not meet minimum qualifications for all jobs, such as federal positions that require attending a field school to adhere to Secretary of Interior Professional Qualification Standards, some firms may be willing to hire on new staff with training experiences through this Program, and then provide those field technicians with further guided, on-the-job supplemental training.

For more information, reach out to awafieldtraining@gmail.com and CC awadiversity@gmail.com.