Examining the Unexamined: Peruvian Archaeological Textiles from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Reckoning with Legacy Exhibits, Data, and Collections" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper discusses collaboration between the Avenir Conservation Center and Curators at Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS) through an on-going Textile Research Project. The current stage of research focuses on archaeological textiles from Peru. So far 200 archaeological textiles from Peru have been identified. This research seeks to understand the DMNS’s Textile collection in three ways. First through examination of archival information to understand how these textiles came to the museum. The majority of DMNS’s South American textile collection was donated by individuals living and working in South America during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Second, through physical examination and analysis of textiles within DMNS’s collection. Finally this paper considers ethical and care of duty responsibilities related to working with donated collections. It asks, what are the ethical considerations when working with donated collections that have limited information about provenience? How does the nature of donation affect handling of objects, conservation practices (e.g. repairs or stabilization treatments, and decision making around various forms of analysis (destructive vs non-destructive)? How do the conditions of donation affect the ability of the museum to display archaeological textiles?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Reckoning with Legacy Exhibits, Data, and Collections   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53210