The Archaeology of Collections: A History of Practice and Policy in Arizona State Museum Archaeological Collections

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Arizona State Museum (ASM) was founded in 1893 with the stated purpose of collecting and preserving archaeological material for what was then the territory of Arizona. In step with the larger field of archaeology, the practices and ideas that have shaped ASM’s collecting of archaeological material have evolved over the subsequent 130 years, including a long history of archaeological field schools, community-based excavations, academic research projects, and the eventual founding of the Archaeological Repository to house collections from professional cultural resource management work. This paper explores the history of ASM’s collecting practices through the analysis of trends in the contents and origins of collections taken in by the museum over time in the context of the museum’s policies, legal responsibilities, and stated goals. In doing so, we explore the intersection of theory and practice, particularly how collection practices have articulated with changing archaeological and museological philosophies and how these ideals of collecting relate to the realities of the collection, museum resources, and how the collections are used in the present day and can be used in the future.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36614.0