I only just noticed this thread...
Archaeology is undoubtedly my favourite area of history. I think that the mix of theory about 'history' blended with the raw practicalities of archaeology attract me to it.
For archaeology, you really have two options: Macquarie or USyd. The differences are that USyd only do Classical antiquity, ie, Greece and Rome. Macquarie span all of ancient history from prehistoric north Africa to late antiquity; you can do subjects in prehistoric Egypt and subjects in Constantinople.
Another huge plus for Macquarie is that you can not only learn about archaeology, you can participate in it. Macquarie at the moment has 3 dig sites in Egypt (a prehistoric/early Dynastic site at Helwan, a bunch of Old/Middle Kingdom mastabas at Giza, and a New Kingdom site in Thebes). Not only that, but there are is a tonne of past material that was dug up at Saqqara, the tombs at el Mashayikh, and Avaris. Remember that archaeology utilises so many fields; epigraphy (drawing of art/architecture/writing), philology (the study of the writing), archaeological science (chemistry, biology, osteopaleanthropology, etc), there are so many areas you can get into.
The deal with going to the 3 current sites that Macquarie has is that you go generally as a 3rd or 4th year. It counts towards your degree, there is a certain amount of funding, and it's a really rewarding experience. If you end up wanting to go into a vocation as an archaeologist, it's really worth-while. The thing to remember about archaeology is the fallacy of 'it's all been found'. Think of it this way; we only think it's all been found because we only know what we find! As an example, there's a huge gap in Amarna archaeology, late (Saite) Egyptian tombs, pre Dynastic stuff, etc etc that is still out there buried in the sand. Not only that, there is a shit load of stuff that needs to be properly documented. If you know about NKE, you'll have heard of Ramesses II's 'Battle of Kadesh' inscription; that thing hasn't even been properly epigraphed! The Egyptian government is just waiting for a team to do it.
I would really recommend coming to Macquarie. I'm sorry I used all Egyptian examples, but rest assured that you can do a lot of archaeological units in things like Rome, Greece, late antiquity, etc. One possibility is doing underwater archaeology with Tom Hillard!
In the mean time, look what I said about the differences between the BA and the BAncHist(Hons) degree
here. If you have any questions, you can pm, email, or add me to msn.
