Hey Guys,
Just a short note to thank all of you who responded to my original
question re: curation policies, and the potential culling of certain
artifact classes.
As most of your thoughts and opinions were presented on-line, I won't
reiterate them here. Clearly, opinions differed, but from my
perspective, most seemed to accept the position that current curation
strategies and requirements CAN effectively include selective
disposal, although the institution of such a policy should be
codified in advance ... with enough flexibility built-in to respond
to individual project requirements. I was pleased to note that
several institutions and agencies have or are in the process of
developing such formal strategies ...
Given the nature of archeological recovery, particularly with respect
to "recent" historic period resources, and the increasing cost of
curation ... the concept of conserving everything that is recovered
is clearly an approach that only J.M Barrie would endorse. And in
the end, even Peter decided to join the real world ...
I was particularly struck by the logic of the Maryland statutes (as
quoted in Praetzellis and Costello (2002), which, I'm paraphrasing,
stated that archeological sites are routinely rated/assessed in terms
of significance, and treated accordingly ... And by extension,
there's no logical reason to treat archaeological collections from
those sites any differently. Some artifacts (or artifact classes)
are of more signficance than others for long-term curation, and
can/should be dealt with accordingly.
Thanks again.
--
Mark C. Branstner
Historic Archaeologist
Illinois Transportation
Archaeological Research Program
209 Nuclear Physics Lab, MC-571
23 East Stadium Drive
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: 217.244.0892
Fax: 217.244.7458
Cell: 517.927.4556
[log in to unmask]
"There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth,
without either virtue or talents ... The artificial aristocracy is a
mischievous ingredient in government, and provisions should be made to
prevent its ascendancy."
- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
|