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Bringing the Past to the Present

Bill Parkinson talks about finding and studying artifacts from ancient cultures

Bill Parkinson at the Field Museum

Scholastic Art: What is your job?

Bill Parkinson: I am a curator of anthropology at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Anthropology is the study of people. The museum has millions of artifacts, such as tools and ceramic bowls, related to the history of people. As curator, I manage our collection of artifacts, conduct research on them, and organize exhibitions. I also manage excavations in Hungary and Greece.

SA: What is your specialty?

BP: Within the field of anthropology, I am an archaeologist. That means I study the history of people through the objects they used, the goods they produced, and the spaces they created, such as homes and neighborhoods. I am interested in how and why little farming villages in prehistoric Europe started to get big and complicated, leading to the cities we live in today.

Parkinson can learn about ancient civilizations by studying fragments of pottery.

SA: How do you find artifacts?

BP: Archaeologists love garbage pits. If somebody went through your garbage, they would know what you eat and drink and a lot of other details about your life. Ancient garbage pits are a wealth of information about how the world worked in the past.

SA: What are you working on now?

BP: I just got back from an excavation site in Hungary that was very exciting. In that part of Hungary, the big plows farmers use are plowing up ancient deposits and bringing them to the surface. So we looked for artifacts on the ground and then mapped them. We used ground-penetrating radar and other technology to see what was below the ground to better pinpoint where to dig. We discovered a 1-square kilometer area that had hundreds of houses below the ground. It was a 7,000-year-old farming village! At that time, it would have been the biggest farming village in Europe—that we know of.

Parkinson works closely with a team of archaeologists in Greece.

SA: How do you use technology?

BP: We use many different machines that can help us interpret the artifacts we find. For example, one called a mass spectrometer analyzes the chemical composition of artifacts. Knowing the chemical composition helps us identify where an object was made. And if it was found far from that area, then we can start to reconstruct trade patterns between cultures. We also can use CT scanners to discover what is inside an object, such as a mummy’s coffin, without having to open and potentially damage it.

SA: When did you know you wanted to be an archaeologist?

BP: I took an anthropology class in college, and I thought it was boring. My professor noticed that I wasn’t into it, so he invited me to his lab. He showed me some stone tools and pottery and explained that it was all left behind by the first farmers in northern Europe. It was really interesting, and I asked so many questions. My professor talked to me for three hours, and I remember thinking, “Wow, this guy loves what he does so much that he is willing to talk to some slacker.”

SA: What do you love about your job?

BP: The variety! Sometimes, I’m organizing an exhibition. Other times, I’m conducting research on an artifact in the museum. Other times, I’m writing an article or a book or I’m teaching. And I also spend months overseas, managing excavation sites. I love that every day is different.

Career Profile: Anthropologist

Salary: Anthropologists can earn between $37,000 and $75,000 per year depending on experience and location. Many anthropologists also earn money from writing books and independent research grants.

Education: Most anthropologists have bachelor’s degrees and doctoral degrees in anthropology.

Getting Started:

  • Learn as much as you can about history, anthropology, geography, and science.
  • Subscribe to archaeology magazines or find them in your library.
  • Get experience. Volunteer at an archaeological dig or a local museum.

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