What exactly is an archaeologist? This question comes up in many conversations between an archaeologist and the people they speak with on a daily basis. The answers (from the questioner) can be quite funny and even far-fetched. Let me first state here what is not an archaeologist.    Archaeologists do not dig up dinosaurs. First of all, archaeology is part of anthropology, which is defined as the "study of man". Sometimes an archaeologist will run across fauna (or animals) that lived in prehistoric times, but men and dinosaurs lived at very different times, so we mostly never get that deep in the earth to even come across them.    Archaeologists do not all dig in little square holes with toothbrushes and dental picks. That's what a dentist does. There's a huge process that goes into finding all the kewl stuff in those little pits, and it involves lots of walking through thick woods, walking over desert areas, looking through papers and books, talking to people and tons of driving, phoning, etc, and a whole lot of digging with regular shovels. Basically moving much dirt to find one nice area. Plus, there's tons to do even after the digging with toothbrushes.    Contrary to popular belief, archaeologists are not Indiana Jones. Nor do they scout the jungles looking for pirate gold or the lost treasures of the Nile. I suppose some people do find these things, but not often. We find kewl small things, and sometimes an old coin or a bullet, or some rather odd little piece of history. Some maritime archaeologists work on boats and dive in rivers or lakes or oceans looking for artifacts. They may find a large battleship that was lost in a war. But, I've also heard of people on projects who find nothing for six months straight, or wander the desert picking up broken pieces of pots for a year. It's not as glamorous as it sounds, but we make it, because we enjoy what we do and the little things arethe things we get excited about.    American Indian artifacts are not the only things we find. The time span goes from thousands of years ago (people who may not even be considered what we know of as present-day American Indian) to the American Indians pre-Columbus (and there are hundreds and thousands of types, who don't all live in wigwams or tipis), to Civil War people, to people living here fifty years ago.    You do not need a phD to do archaeology. Anyone can and should do archaeology. All it takes is a will to learn and explore, and someone to help you along. Not all archaeology is digging, so there are lots of ways you can be an archaeologist. Go to your library or museum or state park, or find a volunteer dig. Post a question. Ask a teacher. Do an online search. You're never too old or too young. GET INVOLVED!