The current thread on nails reminded me that sometimes museums can provide critical information for dating and researching artifacts.  While we cannot travel to all the museums in the world, we can contact curators (often by email) and get authoritative information.  These thoughts were brought to mind by a strange paperback book in my library called "America's Strangest Museums: A Traveler's Guide to the Most Unusual and Eccentric Collections."  It is by Sandra Gurvis, published by the Carol Publishing Group in Secaus, New Jersey, 1998.  Thumbing through the book, there are a number of little known museums that may be helpful to archaeologists, such as the Mount Vernon Museum of Incandescent Lighting (Baltimore.  Includes about 70,000 light bulbs), the Mike Weaver Drain Tile Museum (Geneva, New York.  500 piece collection), The Center for the History of Foot Care and Foot Wear (Philadelphia.  250 pairs of shoes on display), The American Museum of Brewing History and Arts (Fort Mitchell, Kentucky.  23,000 bottles, 13,000 cans), The Museum of Beverage Containers and Advertising (Goodlettsville, Tennessee. 9000 soda bottles, 18,000 diffferent soda cans), and many others.

Allen Vegotsky