Caring For The Past: Connecting To Archaeological Collections

DOCUMENT Citation Only Angelika R. Kuettner.

Coupled with inventories, receipts, account books, trade cards, and newspaper advertisements, archaeology broadens the interpretation and understanding of an object’s value and worth in the period in which it was made and used. Evidence of mended ceramics in the archaeological collections at Colonial Williamsburg and in other collections provides a means to assist in the identification, dating, and contextual understanding of repairs made to ceramic objects of a variety of materials. Questions...

DOCUMENT Citation Only William Hoffman.

USS Monitor conservation staff are often asked, "What was the goal for recovering artifacts from the ironclad’s wreck site?" The answer is to use the artifacts as mediums to tell the stories of the ship and crew. Two Worthington steam pumps recovered in 2001 are good examples of this concept. Both pumps are complex machines which led to extensive research to understand how they operated and physically changed during burial to be able to safely conserve them.  As the conservation of the pumps...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Kathleen M. Sullivan.

Underwater archaeological sites are typically inaccessible to the general public. The public’s interaction with such sites occurs through connections made with excavated artifacts. However, the conservation of these artifacts, especially if they come from a marine environment, can take decades. Interpreting conservation to the public promotes understanding of the lengthy treatment process, thereby fostering support for the project and creating a connection to the artifacts and their history. USS...

DOCUMENT Citation Only David Krop.

NOAA’s Monitor Collection, consisting of over 200 tons of artifacts recovered from the wreck site of the famed Civil War ironclad, is the focus of the world’s largest marine archaeological metals conservation project at The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia.  But the Monitor Collection represents farm more than a series of advanced conservation challenges; it embodies a physical connection between America’s 19th-century history, technology, and culture, our modern efforts to conserve...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Ian D Simmonds. Sarah Stroud Clarke. Brandy Culp. Suzanne Findlen Hood. Kelly Ladd-Kostro. Martha Zierden.

How should the curator of the Nathaniel Russell house in Charleston, South Carolina, decide what glass to acquire to better interpret the house for the public?  Can she use Colonial Williamsburg as a guide or is Charleston, as usual, a special case? Elsewhere, glass scholars have long known that Henry William Stiegel of Manheim, Pennsylvania manufactured fine lead glass, selling it widely, including in Charleston. How can we broaden our understanding of his production and that of his...