An alternate spelling of archaeology, most common among Americans.
Though one might expect this to be little more than an esoteric spelling curiousity, it has created one notable source of confusion within the States.
The United States government employs a number of archaeologists, primarily through the Forest Service, National Park System and Bureau of Land Management. Due to their large land holdings, the Armed Forces also maintain a small army of archaeologists. The duties of these government archaeologists are myriad, including: visitor orientation, preservation, documentation, excavation and working land swap deals with private landholders. Even excluding state universities, the US government employs more archaeologists than any other entity in North America. As such, any prospective professional archaeologist would do well by themselves to investigate current openings therein.
Unforunately, the government never settled on which spelling--"archeologist" or "archaeologist"--would be standard and thus a search of government jobs by class will tend to split available positions between the two. Thankfully there is a way to sidestep this problem altogether. Both spellings are tied to a single numerical classification, 0193, and searches using that designation will turn up the majority of applicable positions.
Despite the government's indecision on the matter, professionals generally prefer the archae- spelling. Most popular and scholarly journals and organizations (e.g. Archaeology, Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Journal of Field Archaeology and the Archaeological Institute of America's own Journal of the Archaeological Institute of America) use that spelling, as does Internet-based archaeology job clearinghouse Shovelbums.org. | 
