Museum Meet and Greet

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Many museums’ and repositories’ archaeological collections are filled to the brim with artifacts. These collections offer countless research projects that are all too often under-utilized. This poster session offers archaeologists an opportunity to get to know what types of collections museums and repositories have to offer and how they can go about accessing these collections for research. Come learn about aspects of collections that are under researched and be inspired to start a research project. Become informed about the current projects underway at various institutions that involve community outreach and collaborative projects with Native groups, and how you can assist with these efforts. This session will also allow for inquires about what archaeologists can do to improve the documentation of collections from the initial repository process all the way through to long term curation and future research.

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-15 of 15)

  • Documents (15)

Documents
  • Amerind Foundation Collection and Archives (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Eric Kaldahl.

    The Amerind Foundation of Dragoon, Arizona, is a private anthropological research center with an 80 year history. The Amerind conducted foundational studies in southeastern Arizona, but is best known for the Joint Casas Grandes Project (JCCP) conducted in Chihuahua between 1958 and 1961. The Arizona collections consist of southeast Arizona sites dating from the Hohokam Colonial period to the Spanish Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate. The New Mexico collection includes material recovered at the...

  • Archaeological Collections at the Museum of Anthropology, Wake Forest University (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Andrew Gurstelle.

    The Museum of Anthropology at Wake Forest University has several collections that are of great interest to archaeologists. Three of our collections are presented: the Rights collection, the Lam collection, and the West Mexican collection. The Rights collection consists of nearly 20,000 artifacts collected by the Rev. Douglas Rights in the first half of the 20th century from archaeological sites near Winston-Salem and in the western Piedmont of North Carolina. The Lam collection consists of over...

  • Archaeological Collections at the University of West Florida (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Elizabeth Benchley. Norine Carroll.

    The Archaeology Institute at the University of West Florida in Pensacola includes a regional archaeological museum and curation facility. Approximately 450 archeological collections and associated project archives from terrestrial and underwater sites are available to researchers and students. Projects conducted by the Institute along the northern Gulf Coast since the 1980s, and more recently by the Department of Anthropology, include Prehistoric through Industrial era archaeological sites...

  • Clovis Points, Trade Beads, and Everything in Between: Collections at the University of Wyoming Archaeological Repository (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jody Clauter. Zachary Garhart. Adam Guinard. Rachael Shimek.

    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...

  • Collections-Based Research at Poverty Point World Heritage Site (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Diana Greenlee. Stephanie Perrault.

    The Poverty Point World Heritage Site is a state-owned and -managed archaeological park in northeastern Louisiana. Named for the nineteenth-century Poverty Point Plantation, the site’s cultural significance derives from its monumental earthen complex constructed 3,700-3,100 BP. The complex includes five mounds; six enormous, concentric, semi-elliptical ridges; and a large interior plaza. A sixth mound was built 1,700-2,000 years after the initial construction. This culturally created landscape,...

  • Eastern New Mexico University Archaeological Collections (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jenna Domeischel.

    Home of the Clovis type-site and the Blackwater Draw Museum, as well as the Agency for Conservation Archaeology, Eastern New Mexico University serves as a repository for varied collections from within the state of New Mexico and from farther afield. Numerous well-known and respected archaeologists have held positions at the university and conducted fieldwork in the region, leaving their archaeological materials in trust. Additionally, the USDA Forest Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...

  • Exploring Archaeological Collections and Research Possibilities at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Amy Montoya. Diana Sherman. C. L. Kieffer. Julia Clifton. Maxine McBrinn.

    The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC) acts as the Repository for the State of New Mexico, curating archaeological materials from Federal, state, and tribal lands, and private donations. The Archaeological Research Collections (ARC) is the museum’s largest collection, with Paleoindian through historic material from New Mexico and the greater Southwest. The collection is housed at the Center for New Mexico Archaeology, a new state-of-the-art facility shared with the Office of Archaeological...

  • From Folsom to the Fur Trade: Harnessing the Research Potential of the State Historical Society of North Dakota's Archaeology Collections (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Wendi Field Murray. Meagan Schoenfelder.

    The State Historical Society of North Dakota curates collections covering 13,000 years of human history in North Dakota. The development of a more comprehensive archaeology collections program in the last five years has been geared toward increasing public access to these collections and communicating the collections’ research potential to an academic audience. The spectacular Lake Ilo Paleoindian collection documents thousands of years of continuous land use in North Dakota. Future research...

  • Future Salado Research: Roosevelt Archaeology at ASU Center for Archaeology & Society Repository (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Arleyn Simon. Stephen Reichardt.

    Archaeological collections have vital roles in contemporary and future research activities and afford opportunities for in-depth localized studies or broad regional syntheses. The Center for Archaeology & Society Repository (formerly Archaeological Research Institute) at Arizona State University curates the Roosevelt Archaeology Projects funded by the US DOI Bureau of Reclamation in cooperation with the Tonto National Forest. These well documented large scale excavations provide research and...

  • The Other 99%: Archaeological Collections, Research, and the New Jersey State Museum (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Gregory Lattanzi.

    Since 2001, the Bureau of Archaeology & Ethnography began accepting interns and opened its collections to scholars and professionals conducting research. Numerous undergraduate and graduate students have completed both senior honor theses, MAs and PhDs working with the over 2.5 million objects in our collections. Numerous professionals have utilized the collections for their ongoing research interests. The Bureau itself has had to build this program from the gound up along side these...

  • Research and Collections at the Virginia Museum of Natural History (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Elizabeth Moore.

    The Virginia Museum of Natural History (VMNH) is an AAM accredited museum that serves as the state repository for natural history collections and occupies a purpose-built structure completed in 2007. As the state museum under the Secretary of Natural Resources, VMNH curates over 10 million archaeological, biological, paleontological, and geological specimens in trust for the citizens of the Commonwealth. The archaeology department currently curates over one million specimens. While the...

  • Research at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Laura Costello. Patricia Capone. Meredith Vasta. Diana Zlatanovski.

    Founded in 1866, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University is one of the oldest museums in the world devoted to anthropology. It is dedicated to the care, study and long-term preservation of one of the largest and finest collections of cultural history found anywhere. A primary tenet of the Peabody Museum’s mission is to support the study and interpretation of its 1.2 million objects and archival collections in the service of research, teaching, publication,...

  • Texas Archeological Research Laboratory: Everything in Texas is Bigger (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Marybeth Tomka. Jonathan Jarvis.

    The Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL) was formally established at the University of Texas in 1963 to preserve an ever growing accumulation of records and collections documenting the unique history and prehistory of Texas for research, teaching and public interest. Acquisition of the collections and archive began ca. 1918. University excavations under the Works Projects Administration, and later the federal River Basins Survey salvage program for sites impacted by dams and reservoir...

  • Visualizing with GIS at Stanford University Archaeology Collections: Open for Interpretation (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Christina Hodge. Camilla Mazzucato.

    GIS-based data visualization offers a dynamic, compelling tool not only for promoting on-campus collections, but also for studying and managing these resources within frameworks of engagement, openness, and reflexivity. The Stanford University Archaeology Collections (SUAC) cares for over 30,000 archaeological and ethnographic artifacts from campus lands and around the world. These items manifest a range of complex histories and present-day significances. The collections were recently...

  • Yes! You Can Have Access to That! Increasing and Promoting the Accessibility of Maryland’s Archaeological Collections (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Rebecca Morehouse. Sara Rivers Cofield. Erin Wingfield.

    Eighteen years ago, the State of Maryland’s archaeological collections were moved into the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory (MAC Lab) at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum in Southern Maryland. This was an important step towards improving the storage conditions of the Maryland collections, but it did little to make the collections more accessible. Understanding the need for better access to archaeological collections, MAC Lab staff spent years rehousing, inventorying and...