Tammy, I would be very interested in obtaining a copy of your discard policy. Thank you.
--
Erica Gibson, M.A., RPA
Lab/Collections Manager
Anthropological Studies Center
Sonoma State University
1801 E. Cotati Ave., Bldg. 29
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
phone 707.664-2015 fax 707.664.4155
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-----Original Message-----
From: Tammy Seiter <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 8:59 am
Subject: Re: buttons to assemblages to ethics
In regards to your curation of artifacts that we can only get basic information
from, for my masters thesis I developed a de-accession policy for historic
artifacts. Meaning what artifacts should we keep for curation and what can be
discarded. It is a difficult decision for some on what to discard because you
never know what future research can develop for plain ironstone and what
information can we yield from artifacts down the road. But the fact is that
facilities are fiilled to the brim with artifacts from 19-20th century sites and
how much undiagnostic clear body glass does one need
So if any are interested I can forward my discard policy.> Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008
09:26:00 -0500> From: [log in to unmask]> Subject: buttons to assemblages to
ethics> To: [log in to unmask]> > Although Gaye & Carol's messages were meant to
be private, I picked up > on something and would like to use it as a springboard
to my own > question. I noticed that Gaye mentioned a collection of over 8000 >
DIAGNOSTIC artifacts (emphasis mine), and Carol mentioned a typical > collection
being about 1000 items (diagnostic or non-diagnostic not > mentioned).> > I have
been excavating house yards in the c.1880s-1930s steel towns > around
Pittsburgh, PA for a proposed new turnpike construction project. > I tend to get
over 1000 artifacts in a Phase I survey of a houselot > (mostly close interval
shovel testing and maybe 1-2 test units at most), > and get closer to 10,000 in
a Phase II (maybe 8-12 test units). In > addition to the usual building
materials (including flat glass), these > sites generate a lot of domestic
artifacts. But most of it is from > trampled yard deposits, where artifacts are
small, not from shaft > features such as privy or cistern, where artifacts tend
to be preserved > in larger pieces.> Most of the domestic artifacts are ending
up in two categories that seem > to be of little interpretive use: - plain
(undecorated) ironstone body > sherds and unidentifiable fragments of curved
glass (could be from > bottles etc or from tablewares, no diagnostic embossing
or other labels, > not large enough to determine shape/size, etc.).> Can anyone
suggest ways to wring more information out of this data, > beyond its basic
spatial distribution within the site yard? If they are > non-diagnostic, is it
acceptable to propose that not all of them need to > be curated? This gets back
to the problem with state curation > facilities getting filled up. I would like
to cull the collection, such > as only keeping a sample percentage of these
non-diagnostic items. > Pennsylvania already has a policy in place for
discarding portions of > flat glass and other building materials, as well as
unidentifiable rusty > metal lumps. But the state wants to open the question of
discarding > addition materials from recent historic sites to wider debate
before > making a decision. So I am looking for input, either information on >
curation and discard decisions in other urban projects or other states; > or
information on how to get more data value out of the artifacts and > therefore
consider them worth keeping in full.> I would like to see discussion on the
list, especially since I can't > attend the SAA and bring this up at the ethics
bowl. If you prefer, you > are also welcome to reply directly to me off-list.
Thanks,> Melissa Diamanti> Archaeological & Historical Consultants, Inc.>
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