Collections Management
Our laboratory staff understands the principles of modern collections management. Proper archival collections management includes database inventories, archival document management techniques, and artifact stabilization and storage. Following curation guidelines developed for federal collections by the National Park Service, and considering similar guidelines and ethical standards of the Society for American Archaeology and the Society for Historical Archaeology, we have devised a complete system for handling artifacts and other materials under our control. Our staff has acquired significant expertise in the detailed management of databases, documents, and artifacts through graduate study and by attending seminars and training workshops. We now teach workshops to other archaeologists and agencies.
Additionally, we carry out in-house specialized conservation and stabilization of fragile, rusting, or deteriorating items, including all kinds of metal, ceramic, wood, and fabric artifacts. For unusual items (such as the recent acquisition of a nineteenth-century dugout canoe), we work with a national network of specialists.
Working With Older Archaeological Collections
An especially challenging task for us has been working with older archaeological collections from the 1940s and 1950s. Our staff has rehabilitated several thousand cubic feet of artifacts and documents for several federal agencies as well as private clients. Such projects were stored by university museums and departments, but their curation standards had not been updated over the years. Our tasks included preparing all related records for archival storage, creating finding aids to ensure that future researchers can locate data within the collections, and preparing copies for off-site storage in case of catastrophic damage to the originals. We have prepared specialized archival storage media for fragile artifacts and we have photographed significant artifacts using modern procedures.
Laboratory analysis of archaeological artifacts is undertaken in our Charleston office. All artifacts are carefully cleaned and stabilized to avoid deterioration. Then, all specimens are identified and analyzed; they are cataloged and their data are entered into computer data base files for tabulation.
A soapstone fragment, broken at the center hole. Drilled soapstone was used as weights for nets and spear throwers. They were also heated in fires and dropped into pots, baskets, or soapstone bowls to cook stews and soups.
