Seasonal Archeologist

Full Job Description

As an Archeologist, you will serve as a cultural resources specialist, where archeological resources comprise a major part of the park story.

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-01/26/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience.

To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time).

If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience. You must possess both a Basic Requirement AND Minimum Qualification as listed below.

You must possess one of the following Basic Requirements: A degree that includes 3 semester hours each in the following course areas: History of archeology; Archeology of a major geographical area such as North America or Africa; Regional archeology, archeological cultures, or sites in a specific part or portion of a major geographical area to acquire or develop a foundation for regional specialization for professional development; Theory and methods of archeology.

Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques; Archeological field school, to provide a basic understanding of theoretical and practical approaches to research design implementation, field preservation techniques, and report preparation by participation in actual field work; AND Six semester hours of related course work in: geography, geology, or cultural geography; history, historiography, or historical archeology; environmental studies; scientific writing (nonfiction English composition); and/or surveying; AND Archeological field school.

You must include transcripts.

-OR A degree in anthropology (with emphasis on ethnology, physical anthropology, or scientific linguistics), history, American studies, or a related discipline may be accepted as satisfying in full the educational requirements, provided the curriculum supplied academic course work sufficiently similar to the requirements above (including archeological field school).You must include transcripts.

-OR- A combination of Education and Experience: College-level education or training that provided knowledge equivalent to that described above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education.-OR- Experience: Four years of archeological work experience that demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles and theories of professional archeology.

The work experience must have included archeology field experience, which may include that gained in an archeological field school.

Field experience should have included a combination of professional experience in archeological survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, and preparation of written materials.

Applicants with such field experience should, after additional experience under the direction of a higher-grade archeologist, be able to demonstrate the ability to be a crew chief, directing the work of others at a single location as a part of a larger archeological project.

-AND- In addition to meeting the Basic Requirement above, you must possess one of the following minimum qualifications: EXPERIENCE: You must have one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the federal service.

Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of an Archeologist.

Examples of specialized experience may include, but are not limited to, the following: conducting or overseeing archeological survey and testing projects, planning and conducting archeological geophysics or geoarchaeology research, performing site condition assessments, publication of personal research, providing peer reviews of projects on North American archeological research and presenting scholarly research to professional audiences, preparing technical cultural resource reports, and teaching archeological method and theory and other relevant topics in archeological study.

You must include hours per week worked.-OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education (36 semester hours) leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent doctoral degree in Archeology, Anthropology, or a field of study directly related to the position from an accredited college or university.

You must include transcripts.-OR- Successful completion of a COMBINATION of graduate education and experience as described above.

Note: Only graduate education in excess of the first year (18 semester hours) is creditable toward meeting the experience requirement when combining experience and education.

To combine education and experience, first divide your total months of qualifying specialized experience by 12.

Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond one (1) year (18 semester hours) by 18. Add the two percentages together. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.

You must include transcripts. Resume must include hours worked.

Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social).

Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment.

You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Major Duties:

MAJOR DUTIES: Serve as project archeologist managing archeological activities including record searches, document research, site inventories, test excavations, limited data recovery, laboratory analysis, information synthesis, and technical reporting.

Organizes, leads and participates in archeological field surveys by walking over the landscape and searching for archeological features and artifacts.

Conducts and leads excavation and testing of sites, including careful recovery of sample materials.

Designs inventory strategies based on Park-wide priorities and needs Records data and prepares survey records (e.g., site maps, photographs, surface artifact analysis forms, field notes, etc.) and maintains related databases, forms, maps, and files.

Processes specimens recovered in the field. Prepares specimens to be sent to dating laboratories. Identifies, labels, and packages artifacts for curation.

Collects, analyzes, and synthesizes scientific information and prepares fully professional reports presenting the results of assigned projects.

Performs data entry related to archeological artifacts and projects (e.g., artifact information, catalog records, field notes, site records, etc.) into automated systems, appropriate forms, and archival records.

Operation of a small water craft less than 26 feet in length. Operation includes transport of personnel (including visitors), tools, and materials/supplies to job/work sites.

Isle Royale National Park is a large, remote and isolated island in northwestern Lake Superior.

Isle Royale is located approximately 70 miles north of the park's administrative headquarters in Houghton, MI.

Isle Royale is 99% federally designated Wilderness, with numerous lakes and native wildlife such as moose and wolves, the park offers a superb setting for recreational opportunities such as boating, kayaking, canoeing, backpacking, camping, fishing, hiking and more.

The incumbent will be stationed on the island. There are no roads, no cell phone coverage, limited amenities and limited opportunity to travel to the mainland.

Internet access for personal business on government computers is permitted during non-business hours.

Groceries and other supplies are delivered weekly or bi-weekly depending on the incumbent's specific duty station on the island.

To protect Isle Royale's wildlife from disease and other illnesses, pets are prohibited. For more information about this park, please visit Isle Royale National Park.

Housing: Government Housing is available.