My work only sounds cool. Its very INTERESTING to me..because I really feel like Im being paid for a hobby. The reality of it is I spend a hours and hours and hours going blind reading stuff that is either directly related to my next project, or stuff that I casually consult on..or stuff I think is neat and justify by saying some day I may have a chance to use whatever Im studying. Then, every 6 to 8 weeks or so I go to some place that university archeologists or anthropologists wont or cant go because they have more common sense or survival instincts than I do..and then I get to do the cool stuff for a short time..then I go home.. and spend some time in the lab with some things, and debrief sponsors of my work.. and then decide on the next project. Im lucky in that I have more projects on offer than I can do, so I can choose what is most interesting for me. Theres not much else to tell.. I rarely get to get deep into projects..proper archeology projects can sometimes take decades on a good site..I am lucky if I get 2 weeks because Im often at sites that are threatened by looting, by war, or things like religious fundamentalism (as an example, Islamic influenced governments in areas like Somalia feel its their duty to erase pre-Islam history..). So I do quick and dirty excavations, removing only the most important artifacts. As an aside before people explode on the cultural imperialism of taking other countries artifacts, the artifacts are returned once their home country is able to protect them again. For example, the above two mummies are now safely back in Peru.

to paraphrase Largent80... "40 and still rockin! and boning! and digging! and sifting!"