"Re-excavating" Legacy Collections

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled ""Re-excavating" Legacy Collections," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Solid archaeological projects are those that are driven by clear research questions coupled with innovative methodologies and theoretical approaches. Traditionally these have come from new excavation. More and more, however, research with museum-based legacy collections proceeds within a similar structure, reframing and to some extent "re-excavating" and reinterpreting the extant archaeological data. In this session, we examine the myriad challenges and probe the possibilities of such research. The papers demonstrate that legacy collections maintain great value and should not be relegated to warehouses. Instead, they are dynamic resources that can and should be used to stimulate innovation and inform fieldwork. By critically examining the basis of our classification systems, applying technological advances, and evaluating theoretical approaches, such archaeological inquiries move beyond the common hurdles often presented with legacy-based collections. In reshaping perceptions of legacy collections, we also open dialogue for revising the policy, protocols, and research of these materials moving forward.