Shovelbum

A low-level, migrant archaeologist who works on Cultural Resource Management(CRM) projects and survives on a relatively low wage (for someone with a BA) plus per diem. Low wages and transient lifestyle are often overcome by living in their pick-up truck or camping. The term is generally pejorative when used by non-professionals but is used pridefully by archaeologists as a mark of having paid one's dues and having done true dirt archaeology (as opposed to academic archaeology) for dirt pay. It is considered a rite of passage.
A shovelbum is the opposite of an archaeostitute.

Yeah I know it's dismal...I was a shovelbum for five years before I went back to gradschool.

by Matt Vaccaro December 15, 2006