"Re-excavating" Legacy Collections
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)
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.
Other Keywords
Museums, Collections, and Repatriation •
Conservation and Curation •
Woodland •
Historic •
Cultural Resources and Heritage Management •
Migration •
Ethics •
Theory •
Paleoethnobotany •
Urban Archaeology
Geographic Keywords
United States of America (Country) •
North America (Continent) •
USA (Country) •
Delaware (State / Territory) •
Georgia (State / Territory) •
Mississippi (State / Territory) •
Tennessee (State / Territory) •
North Carolina (State / Territory) •
Kentucky (State / Territory) •
West Virginia (State / Territory)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-12 of 12)
- Documents (12)
- Artifact Boxes and Cans of Worms; Navigating the 87 Church Street Legacy Collections (2019)
- Bioarchaeology Legacy Collections: Varying Perspectives, Perceptions, and Challenges (2019)
- Creating Context: Analyzing Legacy Documentary Data to Understand the Emergence of Enslaved Societies at Flowerdew Hundred Plantation (2019)
- The Hidden Voice of Forests: Revisiting Archaeobotanical Legacy Collections from Southeastern U.S. Shell Rings (2019)
- Lost and Found and the Peculiar Lives of Collections: Examples of Bridging Ethical Stewardship and Research with Florida National Park Legacy Collections (2019)
- The Paper Chase: Legacy Collections’ Records (2019)
- Relatedness, Circularity, and Place-Centeredness in Belle Glade Artifacts: Reevaluating South Florida Collections from an Ontological Framework (2019)
- Rewriting Narratives by Challenging Old Ideas: The Potential in Applying Recent Innovations in Archaeology to Legacy Collections. (2019)
- Rose Red-Filmed by Any Other Name: Pottery Typology and Genealogy in the Southeastern US (2019)
- Tale of a Test Pit: The Research History of a Midden Column from the Turkey Pen Site, Utah (2019)
- The Value of Legacy Collections for Recognizing and Reducing Error in Artifact Analysis (2019)
- Who Tells Your Story? Utilizing Legacy Collections to Serve a Living Culture (2019)