The Documentation, Conservation, and Exhibition of the Skiles Collection

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Skiles Collection, named for landowner Jack Skiles, consists of Indigenous, Euro-American, and Asian-American cultural material from the Lower Pecos Canyonlands Archaeological region. Beginning in the late 1930s, the Skiles Family amassed an exceptional collection of cultural material representative of the Indigenous peoples who once lived in the canyon where significant archaeological sites such as Bonfire Shelter, Kelly Cave, Skiles Shelter, and Eagle Cave have been recorded, and of the historic laborers associated with the second transcontinental railroad. The Indigenous component of the Skiles Collection includes a wide array of artifacts made of faunal bone and lithic, as well as uniquely preserved perishable artifacts. Over multiple generations, the Skiles were consistently good stewards of the archaeological sites located on their property, and in 2016 the private collection was relocated to the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University (CAS) for an evaluation, limited conservation, and temporary curation. This paper provides an overview of the collection’s contents and condition, and an account of CAS’s work evaluating, rehousing, documenting, and conserving the Skiles Collection. The collection’s research and educational value will be discussed, as well as the “Ancient Life in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands” exhibition that resulted from it.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Archaeology of Eagle Nest Canyon, Texas: Papers in Honor of Jack and Wilmuth Skiles   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38163.0