Transforming Narratives and Globalizing Access: Curation, Conservation and Social Engagement

DOCUMENT Citation Only Emily A Williams. Lisa Young.

While archaeological conservation is still a relatively new field, it is not much younger than the field of historical archaeology.  Literature searches mention "conservation" or preservation in many of the text books used to educate and train archaeology students in this country and archaeologists agree about the necessity of conserving finds.  Yet courses in archaeological conservation remain strangely absent from the curriculum of many of the well-established and prominent archaeology...

DOCUMENT Citation Only William Hoffman. David Krop. Gerald Hanley.

In 1987, The Mariners’ Museum (TMM) became the official repository for all objects recovered from the wreck of the USS Monitor. Starting in the 90’s, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began recovering large portions of the ironclad, which led to the retrieval of engineer John Ericsson’s 20-ton steam engine in 2001. Over the last decade, the conservation process has enabled experts to collaborate and provide insight into where and how the engine was fabricated, how it...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Laura Galke.

The examination of personal accessories recovered from George Washington’s boyhood home (1738-1774) reveals the family’s efforts to portray their respectability and gentry class identity despite the economic and social anxieties they experienced after the death of their family patriarch.  Dedicated analysis of small finds artifacts demonstrate the family’s commitment to genteel behavior and display.  Clothing accessories such as powdered wigs and sleeve buttons proclaimed their class, and, on...

DOCUMENT Citation Only David Barker.

The production process represents the beginning of the life of material things. In this paper I shall argue that the archaeology of pottery production sites is more than ‘industrial archaeology’ in the traditional sense of the term, but rather the archaeology of industrial production in the widest sense. The evidence derived from ceramic waste recovered from production site excavations informs an understanding of the life cycles of those products which progressed beyond the factory gate to the...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Bernard Means.

Virtual curation of artifacts—the creation of intangible digital models from tangible artifacts—has clear benefits to opening up America’s historic past.  Researchers and the general public anywhere in the world can access, manipulate, and share three-dimensional digital models that might otherwise be locked away behind display glass.  This enhanced access will contribute to a broader reflexive archaeology and further archaeology as a tool for social engagement.  This presentation will focus on...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Georgia Fox.

This paper examines how archaeological investigations at Betty’s Hope, a former English sugar plantation on the Caribbean island of Antigua, can encompass a variety of approaches in working with archaeological materials recovered from the site, as well as the site itself.  Betty’s Hope operated from 1651 until 1944, making it one of the oldest and most continuously operating plantations on the island. Its long history, combined with good preservation, provides an ideal laboratory for studying...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Suzanne Findlen Hood.

From its first introduction into Western homes, Chinese porcelain held mystique and value. Treasured for translucency and decoration, porcelain crossed the Atlantic with the first settlers at Jamestown who brought with them wine cups and other pieces of Chinese porcelain as symbols of the society they had left behind. These commodities were signs of the wealth and status of those who owned them. Chinese porcelain continued to represent these qualities into the eighteenth century, even as it...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Sarah Watkins-Kenney. Linda F. Carnes-McNaughton.

So far, some 200 ceramic sherds representing at least 17 vessel types have been excavated from the early eighteenth century shipwreck (31CR314), Queen Anne’s Revenge, off the coast of North Carolina.  This paper will briefly describe this ceramic assemblage, from its global origins to its consumer uses. The main focus, however, will be to tell a story. A story of how many voices of archaeology including conservators, material culture specialists and scientists, are working together to unravel...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Eleanor M Rowley-Conwy.

Recently, archaeology has become more popular and better understood within a wider public audience; arguably this has not been the case for archaeological conservation. Images of artifacts at burial sites are often publicized but when objects are miraculously revealed clean and ready for museum display, this completely overlooks a whole series of important and interesting processes that take place to get to this finished object. Having already shown an interest in the discovery of archaeological...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Phil T. Dunning.

Fort Wellington, in Prescott, Ontario, Canada was a major British post in the 19th century. The large blockhouse-type barracks in it was served by a separate wooden latrine building, built in 1838. Parks Canada archaeologists excavated the interior of the latrine, and discovered that it had been used for dumping refuse for most of its existence. Material culture researchers studied the artifacts, and found that life in the barracks was much different from what it had been thought to be. Working...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Rebecca Lang.

Since the 1980s, the MoL conservators have carried out innovative projects to engage new audiences and involve the public in conservation activities. Large structures have been conserved in the galleries, with students providing interpretation. Volunteer programmes have also been used to engage diverse audiences, offering the opportunity to handle archaeological material, take part in museum work and gain transferable skills. For the Galleries of Modern London, adults from an employment-support...