The Curation and Preservation of Archaeological Materials from Panama: Challenges and Opportunities

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Unraveling the Mysteries of the Isthmo-Colombian Area’s Past: A Symposium in Honor of Archaeologist Richard Cooke and His Contributions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama has become a key repository for archaeological materials collected within the country over the past 50 years. A number of these collections are also currently housed outside of the country at Temple University in Philadelphia. The keepers of the collections at Temple are faced with the task of returning these materials and associated documents to Panama in a state that is compatible with STRI’s repository guidelines. This will require a significant amount of work as materials range from the artifacts themselves to the field records associated with their collection and the laboratory records associated with their analyses. The return of these materials to Panama will be a major step forward for the preservation of the country’s cultural heritage. Proper curation of these collections and digital technologies will allow for better documentation and access to them for researchers and scholars as well as enhancing public awareness of Panama’s rich history. This paper reports on the process and progress made on this collection’s journey from curation at Temple to ultimate preservation at STRI.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Unraveling the Mysteries of the Isthmo-Colombian Area’s Past: A Symposium in Honor of Archaeologist Richard Cooke and His Contributions   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38533.0