History and Research Potential of the Hale Smith Collection from Castillo San Felipe del Morro, San Juan National Historic Site, National Park Service

Summary

This presentation reconstructs the history of the archaeological collection resulting from the 1961 excavations at the Castillo de San Felipe del Morro in San Juan, Puerto Rico carried out by Dr. Hale Smith, from a collections management perspective.  A chronological timeline of the field and laboratory work will allow understanding the type and amount of analyses that has been completed for this collection. Particular consideration is given to the current location of the artifacts, notes and drawings, as well as the photographs taken during the excavations.  This effort is being made at the San Juan National Historic Site in order to exalt the scientific value of the collection, and the importance of this excavation for both local and regional historical archaeology. Finally, suggestions would be outlined for new research that can be undertaken with this collection, and the contributions that it could make to Caribbean historical archaeology.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Successful Collection Management: Using Existing Collections for Research, Education, Public Outreach, and Innovation   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 949