
Internship Opportunities
Crow Canyon offers paid internships to undergraduate and graduate students in archaeology, anthropology, education, and related fields.

Internships
Build your resume, expand your transferable skills, and develop professional connections that advance your career pathways.
Crow Canyon typically offers internships in various fields of Research, Education, and American Indian Initiatives:
Field Archaeology: Build experience in survey, excavation, and mapping techniques along with artifact documentation.
Lab Archaeology: Engage in the cataloging and analysis of archaeological collections, particularly pottery and stone artifacts.
American Indian Initiatives: Collaborate with Native American partners and advisor to support cultural continuity initiatives and educational outreach.
Dendrochronology: Gain analytical skills in the application of tree-ring dating techniques, sampling strategies, analytical methodologies, climate research, and educational outreach.
Zooarchaeology: Develop specialized skills in faunal analysis that aid in you development as archaeologists and paleozoologists.
Education: Help students build cultural competencies and learn about the rich cultural heritage of Southwest Colorado through traditional and distance learning programs.
The Crow Canyon Archaeological Center maintains high standards of research and scholarship. Students participating in the Center’s programs are closely supervised by staff members, ensuring a positive learning experience, as well as high-quality contributions for the profession. In addition, American Indians—many of them descendants of Ancestral Pueblo people—consult and collaborate on all facets of the Center’s research, and colleagues from many other disciplines lend their expertise to advance mission initiatives. In such an environment, interns have the opportunity to gain valuable experience in working with, and learning from, a wide variety of people.
Crow Canyon’s research focuses on the Ancestral Pueblo occupation of the Mesa Verde region. In 2017, Crow Canyon launched the Northern Chaco Outliers Project, an investigation of an Ancestral Pueblo village with two Pueblo II period (A.D. 950–1150) great houses.
Contact us at hresources@crowcanyon.org or 970-564-4349 for more information.
Benefits
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- Interns are paid $14.81 per hour (five-day week, Monday through Friday)
- Lodging is available at no cost
- Meals included when the kitchen open, stipend provided when the kitchen is closed
- A travel allowance (up to $350) is available to help defray travel expenses
- Interns will be eligible for sick pay at one hour for every 30 hours worked
Note: Interns are not eligible for the Crow Canyon benefits package. Also, Crow Canyon does not provide vehicles for personal use.
Course Credit
Crow Canyon does not offer course credit for internships, but will gladly certify work/study performed and provide evaluations if students wish to arrange for credit through another institution.
Campus Amenities
The following on-campus facilities are available to interns at no cost:
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- Lodging provided in rustic hogans on campus. A shared restroom with running water is nearby for convenience.
- Washers and dryers are also available in the Lodge
- Meals provided when the kitchen is staffed; stipend provided and cooking facilities available when the kitchen is not staffed
- Crow Canyon provides Wi-Fi Internet service in campus buildings
- 5,000-volume research library and desk space
- Access to Crow Canyon’s 170-acre campus, which includes a large meadow, pinyon- and juniper-covered hillsides, and short nature trail
Employment: Crow Canyon Archaeological Center is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration or employment without regard to race, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, or marital status. Must be a U.S. citizen or legally eligible to work in the U.S.
2025 Internships
Internships are entry level positions designed to provide valuable on-the-job training and a positive learning experience while working and learning from our staff.
Dates for Session I: May 11 – July 18
Dates for Session 2: July 27 – Oct 03
Deadline for Applications: March 3, 2025
Archaeobotany Internship (application deadline extended to March 16)
The Archaeobotany Internship provides hands-on training in the identification of plant parts commonly recovered from Ancestral Pueblo archaeological sites in the Mesa Verde region and northern U.S. Southwest more broadly. Interns will gain experience in all stages of the macrobotanical analysis process by working with modern and ancient plants in field and laboratory settings.
Education and/or Experience:
Advanced undergraduate and/or graduate course work in archaeobotany/paleoethnobotany, archaeology, anthropology, botany, and/or ethnobotany or related fields of study is required.
Zooarchaeology Internship
The Zooarchaeology Internship is designed to provide valuable experience to students in the fields of zooarchaeology and environmental archaeology by working with and learning from our research staff in the lab and field on zooarchaeology related projects and topics. Working with research staff at Crow Canyon, this internship will provide valuable on-the-job training related to faunal analysis. The zooarchaeology intern will develop a broad range of skills that will aid in their development as archaeologists and paleozoologists. The intern will advance their non-human osteological identification skills with fauna from the U.S. Southwest and learn new quantitative methods/interpretative frameworks related to zooarchaeological data. The intern will apply these analytical skills to enhance Crow Canyon’s research interpretations, educational outreach, and overall understanding of the culture history of the greater Mesa Verde region.
Education and/or Experience:
Advanced undergraduate or graduate course work in education, museum studies, archaeology, anthropology, American Indian studies, or a related field is required.
Archaeology Field Internship
The Archaeology Field Internship is an entry level position designed to provide valuable hands-on experience working with and learning from Crow Canyon’s field staff.
Education and/or Experience:
Advanced undergraduate or graduate course work in education, museum studies, archaeology, anthropology, American Indian studies, or a related field is required.
Archaeology Laboratory Internship
The Archaeology Laboratory Internship is an entry level position designed to provide valuable hands-on experience working with and learning from our staff in Crow Canyon’s laboratory.
Education and/or Experience:
Advanced undergraduate or graduate course work in education, museum studies, archaeology, anthropology, American Indian studies, or a related field is required.
Education Internship
The Education Internship is designed to provide experience in developing and delivering education programs and products for all learners with an emphasis on public archaeology, American Indian engagement, and outreach. Interns will gain valuable experience working with, and learning from, Crow Canyon’s education, field, lab, and American Indian initiatives staff, and they will engage with members of the public (in person or remotely). The Crow Canyon Education department specializes in the fields of Southwestern archaeology, anthropology, and American Indian studies. Responsibilities include developing interpretive materials and displays for sensitive material culture, teaching and supervising participants in Crow Canyon programs, curricula development, and preparing educational materials.
Education and/or Experience:
Advanced undergraduate or graduate course work in education, museum studies, archaeology, anthropology, American Indian studies, or a related field is required.
The Life of a Crow Canyon Intern
Where are they now?
Crow Canyon’s Internship Program with four past interns