Archaeological Curation

The Grissom site (45KT301) is a multi-component archaeological site in northeast Kittitas Valley excavated by Central Washington State College from 1967-1971. The site is significant because it is one of few scientifically excavated upland sites in the Columbia Plateau and likely represents part of Che-lo-han, the intergroup gathering of Plateau cultures known to occur annually in the Kittitas Valley. Furthermore, the Grissom site collection is a rehabilitated archaeological collection and, therefore, provides a cost- effective way to explore research questions while still gaining new knowledge about the past. Excavations at the site produced 13,622 catalogued bags of precontact and historic artifacts that were not analyzed or reported at the time. Site records, archival records and literature were reviewed to provide insight into the immense research potential inherent in the Grissom collection. This thesis is a summary of investigations at the site and a synthesis of what is known about the site.

Throughout the western United States, limited or no-collection policies within the DoD have led to reliance on in-field analysis for analyzing most or all artifacts used to interpret a site. The approach assumes that in-field analysis is comparable in quality to laboratory analysis and that future research and management decisions will not need access to artifacts. This project, funded by the Legacy Resource Management Program and sponsored by Fort Huachuca, consists of an experiment testing the accuracy and adequacy of in-field analysis at two sites—one on Fort Huachuca in southeastern Arizona and one on Fort Bliss in south-central New Mexico. At each of these sites, a sample of ceramic and lithic artifacts was analyzed in the field by two separate field crews. Separate sets of trained specialists then analyzed the same artifacts in a laboratory setting using only digital photographs of the collected artifacts or the physical artifacts. Assessment of the results showed that both in-field analysis and digital photograph analysis routinely misidentified artifact types and attributes. Site interpretation based on these results was substantially less accurate and precise than interpretation based on laboratory analysis of the physical artifacts. It is recommended that the decision to perform in-field analysis be made per project and that the DoD pursue efforts to improve the performance of in-field analysis.

This poster details the archaeological collections housed at the University of Wyoming Archaeological Repository (UWAR) located in Laramie. The repository houses approximately 3 million artifacts from 15,000 different Wyoming sites as well as comparative, replica, experimental, and educational materials. We highlight our extensive suite of artifacts from across the state, which includes artifacts from all time periods from the Paleoindian to the Historic. Many of these objects are submitted through private donations, academic research, or are curated by contractors through Section 106 projects. We also discuss our partnerships with state, federal, and local agencies to complete education and outreach programs. These programs increase awareness and use of our archaeological collections in a variety of ways including hosting visiting researchers, loans to museums and historical societies, exhibit preparation, school group tours and classroom activity development, and an archaeological collections management class for undergraduates and graduates at the university. Finally, we show how we have used information from our own research on older collections to enhance modern investigations.

El campo de bioarqueología se ha sometido a rápidas innovaciones metodológicas dentro de los últimos 50 años desde su génesis. Cada año, los especialistas refinan sus técnicas con estos nuevos avances, lo que conduce a estimaciones más precisas de la demografía, salud, enfermedades, causas de muerte, creencias, prácticas culturales, entre otros, de los pueblos del pasado directamente a partir de sus restos biológicos. Por ello, el análisis y reanálisis de restos humanos arqueológicos por un especialista entrenado en técnicas metodológicas de última generación es un aspecto esencial con el fin de hacer las interpretaciones más informadas. Igualmente, los métodos curatoriales adecuados son un elemento necesario para el almacenamiento a largo plazo de los materiales de origen arqueológico – especialmente teniendo en cuenta los materiales propensos a la descomposición gradual como el material esquelético. Los restos humanos, en particular, deben ser tratados con el máximo respeto y dignidad, con las consideraciones éticas que rigen su curación y su almacenamiento a largo plazo. En esta exposición, detallaré los nuevos hallazgos e interpretaciones cambiantes de los contextos arqueológicos que se han generado a partir de un proyecto de un año enfocado en reanalizar y almacenar adecuadamente los restos humanos del laboratorio de arqueología de STRI.

This talk will be delivered in two parts. Part 1 will look at typical issues surround the curation of archaeological collections, while Part 2 will narrow in on specific issues related to the curation of human remains. Topics to be considered include ethics, ownership, standards of care, accountability, access, documentation, and claims. Effort will be made to present the information from an international perspective.

This report discusses the validity of the assumptions made when, for the sake of conserving funding and curation space, in-field artifact analysis is used over lab analysis of artifacts in western states. Because test results showed that in-field and digital photo analyses of artifacts are of low accuracy and often inadequate for site interpretation, a set of recommendations is made for deciding how and in what situations field analysis is best applied.

This poster details the archaeological collections housed at the University of Wyoming Archaeological Repository (UWAR) located in Laramie. The repository houses approximately 3 million artifacts from 15,000 different Wyoming sites as well as comparative, replica, experimental, and educational materials. We highlight our extensive suite of artifacts from across the state, which includes artifacts from all time periods from the Paleoindian to the Historic. Many of these objects are submitted through private donations, academic research, or are curated by contractors through Section 106 projects. We also discuss our partnerships with state, federal, and local agencies to complete education and outreach programs. These programs increase awareness and use of our archaeological collections in a variety of ways including hosting visiting researchers, loans to museums and historical societies, exhibit preparation, school group tours and classroom activity development, and an archaeological collections management class for undergraduates and graduates at the university. Finally, we show how we have used information from our own research on older collections to enhance modern investigations.

The long history of archaeological fieldwork from Angel Mounds in Evansville, Indiana amassed a collection of over 2.5 million artifacts, approximately 23,000 pages of field notes and associated records, 5,000 print photographs, 7,000 slides and negatives, 110 published works and manuscripts, and over 1.25 terabytes of digital data, making the Angel collection one of the most systematically excavated and documented archaeological projects in North America. Staff have made efforts to enhance and preserve this legacy of data.

When I was in graduate school at the University of Missouri, my office was in a two-story, wooden-framed building that provided office and lab space for some of the archaeology faculty and students. There were study collections and artifacts kept on shelves in the offices, and boxes of site materials stored in closets and the basement. One fall day the building burned to the ground. I remember rushing past firefighters as we rescued what was most precious—our thesis drafts and notes. These were followed by armfuls of books (library books first, and then our own) thrown into wastepaper baskets that were raced out. In the end, however, I don’t think anyone thought of the boxes of artifacts and field notes that were left behind until much later....