To Curate or Not to Curate: Surprises, Remorse, and Archaeological Grey Area

DOCUMENT Citation Only Elaine Hughes.

This is an abstract from the "To Curate or Not to Curate: Surprises, Remorse, and Archaeological Grey Area" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA) is a private institution, yet 89% of its archaeological holdings are from federal, tribal, and state lands. The story of how MNA acquired these collections is rooted in its founding in 1928 by a group of local citizens under the leadership of Dr. Harold S. and Mary-Russell...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Holly Metz.

This is an abstract from the "To Curate or Not to Curate: Surprises, Remorse, and Archaeological Grey Area" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The mission of the Huhugam Heritage Center, which is both a tribal and federal repository, is to "ensure our Akimel O’otham and Pee Posh cultures flourish for future generations." This includes not just the physical remains of ancestral culture, but the cultural practices themselves. While we care for the...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Wendy Bustard.

This is an abstract from the "To Curate or Not to Curate: Surprises, Remorse, and Archaeological Grey Area" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Chaco Culture National Historical Park was founded to protect and preserve the cultural remains of an indigenous society whose high point was between 850 and 1150 CE. For the first 80 years of its existence, the park’s museum collection policy was straightforward because the artifacts recovered represented the...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Ellen Brennan.

This is an abstract from the "To Curate or Not to Curate: Surprises, Remorse, and Archaeological Grey Area" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Cultural Resource Managers are faced with increasing challenges regarding collection of archaeological materials from site contexts. Increased visitation, information sharing through social media, and emerging forms of recreation taking people to previously unexplored areas, contribute to challenges to...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Tracy Murphy.

This is an abstract from the "To Curate or Not to Curate: Surprises, Remorse, and Archaeological Grey Area" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. It is said that the best deaccession policy is a strong accession policy - never accession anything that is beyond your collection scope and institutional mission, and you will never need to deaccession. In a perfect museum world all incoming collections will meet institutional mission, scope of collection...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Diana Barg.

This is an abstract from the "To Curate or Not to Curate: Surprises, Remorse, and Archaeological Grey Area" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of Utah, much like other federal agencies with a law enforcement arm, recover looted or distributed artifacts through various scenarios including cases and forfeitures. The Cerberus Collection is BLM-Utah’s largest collection obtained under these circumstances, consisting of...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Lisa Leap. Gwenn Gallenstein. Stewart Koyiyumptewa.

This is an abstract from the "To Curate or Not to Curate: Surprises, Remorse, and Archaeological Grey Area" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Due to recent erosion from intensified downpours related to global warming, Wupatki National Monument archaeologists recovered artifacts from an exposed cyst that were about to fall into a newly formed wash. Working with traditionally associated tribes, the monument created an emergency excavation plan and a...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Gwenn Gallenstein.

This is an abstract from the "To Curate or Not to Curate: Surprises, Remorse, and Archaeological Grey Area" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Millions of surface-collected artifacts (and natural features for that matter) have been and are being stolen from public lands by visitors. Some are returned, often with letters indicating guilt and remorse. Most of these items have little to no provenience information attached. This paper demonstrates the...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Linda Neff. Ronald Krug. Peter Pilles.

This is an abstract from the "To Curate or Not to Curate: Surprises, Remorse, and Archaeological Grey Area" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Many land managing agencies have policies that forbid the collection of artifacts during archaeological survey and, even under controlled situations, as determined to be an "Adverse Effect" under Section 106 compliance interpretations. The main rationale is that removal destroys the contextual information of...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Patrick Lyons.

This is an abstract from the "To Curate or Not to Curate: Surprises, Remorse, and Archaeological Grey Area" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Arizona State Museum (ASM), at the University of Arizona, is the oldest and largest museum of anthropology in the southwestern United States and the largest and busiest non-federal archaeological repository in the country. ASM, as the state's official archaeological repository, is required to accept...