Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T15:08:31.352Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Excavating Repositories: Academic Research Projects Using Archaeological Collections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2019

Paola A. Schiappacasse Open the ORCID record for Paola A. Schiappacasse [Opens in a new window]
Paola A. Schiappacasse*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Sociología y Antropología, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, Puerto Rico 00931, USA
*
([email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Around the world, archaeological collections are curated in museums, universities, foundations, government agencies, and other organizations. Some are carefully documented and readily accessible, while others are languishing in substandard conditions as a direct result of the curation crisis. This article highlights the value of collection-based research. It encourages the mutually beneficial approach of training students in both collection preservation and collection-based research and demonstrates other ways to obtain data for research projects, aside from excavation. Using my collections-based research carried out in Puerto Rico and the continental United States as a case study, I draw attention to the valuable information that can be derived from acquisition and accession documents and offer ways to incorporate new datasets. This allows for more accurate narratives of collections’ historiographies.

En todo el mundo, las colecciones arqueológicas se curan en museos, universidades, fundaciones, agencias gubernamentales y otras organizaciones. Algunas están cuidadosamente documentadas y son fácilmente accesibles, mientras que otras languidecen en condiciones por debajo de los estándares establecidos como resultado directo de la crisis de curación. Este artículo destaca el valor de la investigación basada en colecciones. También fomenta el enfoque de beneficio mutuo de capacitar estudiantes en la conservación de colecciones y en los estudios que se pueden hacer con estas, y demuestra otras formas de obtener datos para proyectos de investigación, además de las excavaciones. Utilizando mis trabajos con colecciones, en Puerto Rico y los Estados Unidos continentales, como casos de estudio, traigo a la atención la información valiosa que se puede obtener de los documentos de adquisición y registro, y ofrezco formas de incorporar nuevos conjuntos de datos. Esto permite narrativas más precisas de las historiografías de las colecciones.

Keywords

collection-based researchCaribbean archaeologyPuerto Rican archaeological collectionsInvestigación basada en coleccionesarqueología caribeñacolecciones arqueológicas de Puerto Rico
Type
Articles
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 7 , Special Issue 3: Archaeological Collections Care: Current Topics and Innovative Trends in the Repository , August 2019 , pp. 247 - 257
Copyright
Copyright 2019 © Society for American Archaeology 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES CITED

Barker, Alex W. 2003 Archaeological Ethics: Museums and Collections. In Ethical Issues in Archaeology, edited by Zimmerman, Larry, Vitelli, Karen D., and Hollowell-Zimmer, Julie, pp. 71–83. AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, California.Google Scholar
Barker, Alex W. 2004 Stewardship, Collections Integrity, and Long-Term Research Value. In Our Collective Responsibility: The Ethics and Practice of Archaeological Collections Stewardship, edited by Terry Childs, S., pp. 25–41. SAA Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Barnes, Mark, and Medina, Norma 1995 Ballajá: Arqueología de un barrio sanjuanero. Oficina Estatal de Preservación Histórica, San Juan, Puerto Rico.Google Scholar
Bawaya, Michael 2007 Curation in Crisis. Science 317 (5841):1025–1026. DOI:10.1126/science.317.5841.1025, accessed May 24, 2019.Google Scholar
Britton, N. L. 1926 Estudio científico de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Revista de Obras Públicas de Puerto Rico 3(31):887–889. https://issuu.com/coleccionpuertorriquena/docs/1926-07_a__o_3__n__m._31/17, accessed May 24, 2019.Google Scholar
Childs, S. Terry 1995 Curation Crisis: What's Being Done? Federal Archaeology 7(4):11–15.Google Scholar
Childs, S. Terry 2004 Our Collective Responsibility: The Ethics and Practice of Archaeological Collections Stewardship. SAA Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Childs, S. Terry 2006 Archaeological Collections: Valuing and Managing an Emerging Frontier. In Of the Past, for the Future: Integrating Archaeology and Conservation, edited by Agnew, Neville and Bridgland, Janet, pp. 204–210. Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, California.Google Scholar
Childs, S. Terry, and Benden, Danielle M. 2017 A Checklist for Sustainable Management of Archaeological Collections. Advances in Archaeological Practice 5:12–25. DOI:10.1017/aap.2016.4, accessed May 24, 2019.10.1017/aap.2016.4Google Scholar
Fewkes, Jesse W. 1903 Preliminary Report on an Archaeological Trip to the West Indies. In Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections Vol. 45, Quarterly Issue Vol. 1, pp. 112–133. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Fewkes, Jesse W. 1907 The Aborigines of Porto Rico and Neighboring Islands. In Twenty-Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1903–04, pp. 3–220. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Françozo, Mariana, and Strecker, Amy 2017 Caribbean Collections in European Museums and the Question of Returns. International Journal of Cultural Property 24:451–477. DOI:10.1017/S0940739117000248, accessed May 24, 2019.10.1017/S0940739117000248Google Scholar
Goetze, Christine E., and Mills, Barbara J. 1991 An Assessment of the Research Potential of Museum Collections: The Babbitt Collection at the Museum of Northern Arizona. Kiva 57:77–91.10.1080/00231940.1991.11758185Google Scholar
Guzmán, Amanda 2011 From Puerto Rico to the Peabody: A Portrait of Samuel Kirkland Lothrop, His Harvard Puerto Rican Collection, and the History of Early Archaeological Studies on the Island. Bachelor's thesis, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Haeberlin, Herman 1917 Some Archaeological Work in Porto Rico. American Anthropologist 19:214–238.Google Scholar
Holmes, W. H. 1907 Report of the Chief. In Twenty-Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1903–04, pp. xxi–xxix. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Joseph, Joe, and Bryne, Stephen C. 1992 Socio-Economics and Trade in Viejo San Juan, Puerto Rico: Observations from the Ballaja Archaeological Project. Historical Archaeology 26(1):45–58.10.1007/BF03374159Google Scholar
Kersel, Morag M. 2015 Storage Wars: Solving the Archaeological Curation Crisis? Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 3:42–54. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/576378, accessed May 24, 2019.Google Scholar
King, Julia A. 2009 The Challenges of Dissemination: Accessing Archaeological Data and Interpretations. In Archaeology and Cultural Resource Management: Visions for the Future, edited by Sebastian, Lynne and Lipe, William D., pp. 141–167. SAR Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico.Google Scholar
King, Julia A. 2014 Collections-Based vs. Field-Based Research: A Need for Dialogue. Society for Historical Archaeology, Collections and Curation (blog), December 22, 2014. https://sha.org/blog/2014/12/collections-based-vs-field-based-research-a-need-for-dialogue/, accessed May 24, 2019.Google Scholar
King, Julia A. 2016 Comparative Colonialism and Collections-Based Archaeological Research: Dig Less, Catalog More. Museum Worlds 4:4–17. DOI:10.3167/armw.2016.040102, accessed May 24, 2019.10.3167/armw.2016.040102Google Scholar
King, Julia A. and Patricia, Samford 2019 Making Archaeological Collections Available for Research: Recommendations for Repositories. Advances in Archaeological Practice 7(3). DOI:10.1017/aap.2019.27.10.1017/aap.2019.27Google Scholar
Kirakosian, Katie, and Bauer-Clapp, Heidi 2017 A Walk in the Woods: Adapting Archaeological Training to Archival Discovery. Advances in Archaeological Practice 5:297–304. DOI:10.1017/aap.2017.17, accessed May 24, 2019.10.1017/aap.2017.17Google Scholar
Lothrop, Samuel K. 1917 Archaeological Sites in Puerto Rico. Manuscript in the Yale Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, New Haven, Connecticut. Manuscript in the Harvard Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
MacFarland, Kathryn, and Vokes, Arthur W. 2016 Dusting Off the Data: Curating and Rehabilitating Archaeological Legacy and Orphaned Collections. Advances in Archaeological Practice 4:161–175. DOI:10.7183/2326–3768.4.2.161, accessed May 24, 2019.Google Scholar
Majewski, Teresita 2010 Not Just the End Game Anymore: A Perspective from the Western United States on Proactive Budgeting for Project Curation Needs in a Changing Archaeological World. Heritage Management 3:167–188.Google Scholar
Majewski, Teresita 2019 Best Practices for Collections Management Planning. In Using and Curating Archaeological Collections, edited by Terry Childs, S. and Warner, Mark S., pp. 67–77. SAA Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Maldonado, Norman 2010 Dr. Agustín Stahl, pionero de las ciencias en Puerto Rico. Galenus 7. http://www.galenusrevista.com/Dr-Agustin-Stahl, accessed May 24, 2019.Google Scholar
Mason, John Alden 1917 Excavation of a New Archaeological Site in Porto Rico. Proceedings of the XIX International Congress of Americanists, edited by Hodge, F. W., pp. 220–223. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Mason, John Alden 1941 A Large Archaeological Site at Capá, Utuado, with Notes on Other Porto Rico Sites Visited in 1914–1915. Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands Vol. 18, No. 2. New York Academy of Sciences, New York. http://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/00/09/14/87/00017/VID00017.pdf, accessed May 24, 2019.Google Scholar
Mason, Otis Tufton 1899 The Latimer Collection of Antiquities from Porto Rico in the National Museum and the Guesde Collection of Antiquities from Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe, West Indies. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. https://archive.org/details/latimercollectio00maso/page/n6, accessed May 24, 2019.Google Scholar
de Historia, Museo, Arte, Antropología y 2000 Ballajá arqueología histórica de un barrio de San Juan. Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras.Google Scholar
Rainey, Froelich G. 1940 Porto Rican Archaeology. Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands Vol. 18, No. 1. New York Academy of Sciences, New York. http://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/00/09/14/87/00017/VID00017.pdf, accessed May 24, 2019.Google Scholar
Rodríguez López, Jorge 2009 Notas sobre algunas colecciones arqueológicas precolombinas procedentes de Puerto Rico. Anales del Museo de América 17:130–141.Google Scholar
Rodríguez López, Miguel 1989 La colección arqueológica de Puerto Rico en el Museo Peabody de la Universidad de Yale. Revista del Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe 8:27–41.Google Scholar
Rothschild, Nan A., and Cantwell, Anne-Marie 1981 The Research Potential of Anthropological Museum Collections. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 376(1):1–6.10.1111/j.1749-6632.1981.tb28158.xGoogle Scholar
Rouse, Irving 1952a Porto Rican Prehistory: Introduction: Excavations in the West and North. Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands Vol. 18, No. 3. New York Academy of Sciences, New York. http://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/00/09/14/87/00017/VID00017.pdf, accessed May 24, 2019.Google Scholar
Rouse, Irving 1952b Porto Rican Prehistory: Excavations in the Interior, South and East: Chronological Implications. Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands Vol. 18, No. 4. New York Academy of Sciences, New York. http://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/00/09/14/87/00017/VID00017.pdf, accessed May 24, 2019.Google Scholar
Schiappacasse, Paola A. 1994 Colecciones arqueológicas de Puerto Rico en cuatro museos del este de los Estados Unidos. Master's thesis, Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe, San Juan, Puerto Rico.Google Scholar
Schiappacasse, Paola A. 2002 Historia de las colecciones arqueológicas de Puerto Rico en el National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. y el American Museum of Natural History, N.Y. IV Encuentro de Investigadores: Trabajos de Investigación Arqueológica, edited by Pérez Merced, Carlos A. and Rivera Fontán, Juan A., pp. 108–118. División de Arqueología del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico.Google Scholar
Schiappacasse, Paola A. 2016a Why Are Archaeological Collections Relevant in the Twenty-First Century? The Caribbean Experience. Paper presented at the 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida.Google Scholar
Schiappacasse, Paola A. 2016b History and Research Potential of the Hale Smith Collection from Castillo San Felipe del Morro, San Juan National Historic Site, National Park Service. Paper presented at the 19th Annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Smith, Hale G. 1962 Archaeological Excavation at El Morro, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Notes in Anthropology Vol. 6. Document on file at the National Park Service, San Juan National Historic Site, San Juan, Puerto Rico.Google Scholar
Sonderman, Robert C. 2004 Before You Start That Project, Do You Know What to Do with the Collection? In Our Collective Responsibility: The Ethics and Practice of Archaeological Collections Stewardship, edited by Terry Childs, S., pp. 107–120. SAA Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Stahl, Agustín 1889 Los Indios Borinqueños: Estudios etnográficos. Imprenta y Librería de Acosta, San Juan, Puerto Rico.Google Scholar
Stone, Tammy 2018 A Guide to the Use of Museum Collections for Archaeological Research. Advances in Archaeological Practice 6:372–376. DOI:10.1017/aap.2018.13, accessed May 24, 2019.Google Scholar
Sullivan, Lynne P., and Childs, S. Terry 2003 Curating Archaeological Collections: From the Field to the Repository. Archaeologist's Toolkit Vol. 6. AltaMira Press, Lanham, Maryland.Google Scholar
Swain, Hedley 2007 An Introduction to Museum Archaeology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Trimble, Michael K., and Marino, Eugene A. 2003 Archaeological Curation: An Ethical Imperative for the Twenty-First Century. In Ethical Issues in Archaeology, edited by Zimmerman, Larry, Vitelli, Karen D., and Hollowell-Zimmer, Julie, pp. 99–112. AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, California.Google Scholar
Trinidad Rivera, Gelenia 2018 La colección arqueológica de Jácanas: Estableciendo los hechos. Revista [IN]Genios 4(2). http://www.ingeniosupr.com/vol-42/2018/4/13/la-coleccin-arqueolgica-de-jcanas-estableciendo-los-hechos, accessed May 28, 2019.Google Scholar
Voss, Barbara 2012 Curation as Research: A Case Study in Orphaned and Underreported Archaeological Collections. Archaeological Dialogues 19:145–169. DOI:10.1017/S1380203812000219, accessed May 24, 2019.Google Scholar
Warner, Mark 2014 Turning Inwards: Collections-Driven Research and the Vitality of the Discipline. Paper presented at 47th Annual Conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.Google Scholar
Watters, David, and Brown, Jennifer A. 2001 New Data from Old Caribbean Collections at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Proceedings of the 18th International Congress for Caribbean Archaeology, Pt. 1, pp. 291–303. Grenada, West Indies.Google Scholar