Vermont Agency of Transportation
Archaeological and Historic Resources
 

State Archaeology:
An Intern’s Perspective

I applied for the internship with the Environmental Section's Archaeology team after getting an email from the Anthropology department at the University of Vermont, and was hired in April.  I didn’t really know what to expect coming into it, because, like many Anthropology majors, I didn’t know what I was going to do with my major, or how I would apply what I have learned in a working environment.  I knew from my interview and the job description that I would be spending about half of my time in the field, and half of my time in the office. 

Office work includes researching the historical and archaeological sensitivity of proposed site areas, reading site proposals and recommendations, evaluating the proposals and recommendations, and preparing permit requests for clearance.  I learn about Vermont history every day, and am getting a better idea for the geography of Vermont by the minute.  I use a program called ArchMap that has bird’s eye view photographs of the entire state, as well as topographical maps. 

My first site visit was to a bridge project in Westford.  My supervisor and I looked at the site the contractor wanted to put their trailer on and estimated impact there, and then we looked at the site they wanted to put all of the project waste on.  A lot of what I do in the site visits is going to rely on my knowledge of environmental conditions, and soil conditions.  I would recommend some type of class involving plant and soil science as background for the job, as well as environmental anthropology.  My most important class has been Prehistoric Archaeology.  Knowing archaeological terminology has been a huge help in reading and understanding the site reports. 

This position has far exceeded my expectations.  It is an excellent combination of being outside and learning about the landscape and how to find what’s in it, and being in the office learning all about the technical and legal aspects of state run archaeology.

Article written by Lydia Pitkin
VTrans Summer Archaeology Intern