Texas A&M UniversityAnthropology Department

RepositoryCollections Committee Report

(Fall 2007)

Broad Overview of the Repository• Background

– History of the Repository– Faculty use– Grants and Funding– Collections Committee

• Collections Management Policy– Scope of the Collections– Physical Location of Departmental Collections– Size of the Collections– Type of Collections

• Current Collections Issues– NAGPRA Compliance– Summary

1971 Department of Anthropology was established along with an archaeological research laboratory; a state curatorial facility (Repository) was established to house its archaeological collections

1971–1977 Anthropology Laboratory

1978–1988 Cultural Research Laboratory

1989–1993 Archaeological Research Laboratory

1993–1994 Center for Environmental Archaeology

1995–2001 Center for Ecological Archaeology

2001–present Department of Anthropology

2005–present Collections Committee formed

2007 Collections Committee added to Dept. Bylaws

BACKGROUNDHistory of the Repository

GRANTS and FUNDING2007 National Endowment for the Humanities ($5,000)

2007 Texas Preservation Trust Fund ($24,000)

2000-2005 Bonfire Memorabilia Project ($200,000)

2004 Applewhite Reservoir (R. Beene and others) ($189,000)

2002-2004 US Customs Dept. Seized Antiquities ($35,000)

2000 Texas Department of Transportation ($72,066)

GRANT PROPOSALS IN PROGRESS

2009 National Science Foundation Biological Collections Program—Coprolite Research Collections

2008 National Endowment for the Humanities ($30,000+)—Stabilize Heritage Collections [SUSPENDED]

Program Advisors:

• Biological Anthropology—Lori Wright (Chair)• Archaeology—Vaughn Bryant• Cultural Anthropology—Sylvia Grider (term ends ‘08)• Nautical Archaeology—Wayne Smith• Curator (standing member)—Pat Clabaugh

Collection Committee2005-present

Collections Management Policy• Acquisitions• Accessioning• Deaccessioning• Disposal• Destructive Analysis• Care and Control of Collections, Associated Records, and Digital Data

Record KeepingCatalogingInventorySecurityPest ManagementDisaster Management

• Use of CollectionsAccessResearchEducationExhibit

• LoansOutgoing LoansIncoming loans

NOTE: Collections compose materials/objects/specimens/samples and supporting associated paper/photographic/digital/ and other records. A collection may only comprise records

Archaeological (e.g., stone, bone, ceramic)

Biological/Environmental (e.g., coprolites, pollen, flora, faunal, sediment)

Cultural (e.g., Bonfire Memorabilia)

Osteological (e.g., human remains)

Teaching and reference (e.g., casts, type collections including chipped stone, cook stone, macrobotanical, zooarchaeological)

Scope of Collections

Federal and State Laws and Statutes

Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property

Antiquities Act of 1906

Reservoir Salvage Act of 1960

National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (NHPA)

Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (ARPA)

Curation of Federally-Owned and Administered Archeological Collections (36CFR Part 79)

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990(NAGPRA)

Texas Administrative Code Title 13, Part II, Chapter 29 Section 29.6a

Physical Facilities• Restricted and non restricted storage on the second and

third floors of the Anthropology Building (750 boxes)

• Basement storage in the Dulie Bell Building (300 boxes)

• Warehouse at Riverside (452 boxes)

ca. 1,000,000 objects, samples,and reference collections

Anthropology Building 2nd Floor

1–Collections Room (Main) (380 boxes)2–Records Room / Reference Collections / Curation Office (12 filing cabinets, 11 map cases)3–Archaeobotany Collections / Reference Collections (75 boxes, cabinets)4–Collections Laboratory (varies; ongoing Curation)

1 23 4

ca. 500 boxes

Anthropology Building 3rd Floor

5–Human Remains / Teaching Collections6–New Restricted Access Room-Human Remains7–NAN Ranch Field School-Pottery Room8–Shafer Project Records (NAN, Colha, etc.)9–NAN Ranch Field School Collections

10–ArchaeoEcology Laboratory (Ongoing Research)11–Zooarchaeology Type Collection12–Archaeologcial Faunal Collections and Steele Project Records13–Pollen Reference Collections (ca.

57

8

9

10 11

12136

ca. 500 boxes

Dulie Bell Building Basement (ca. 300 boxes)

Riverside Warehouse (ca. 452)

• CFSA Collections (undetermined)• Non Artifactual (e.g., Sediment Samples)• Soleki Collections (e.g., Shanidar Cave, etc.)• George Carter Collections• Extra Copies of CEA/ARL Reports of Investigations

Sites / Projects numerous to list: Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Canada, Peru, Ecuador)

• Hinds Cave (235 boxes)• NAN Ranch (119)

TAMU Archaeological Collectionsby County

Gentry Steele (Emeritus)Harry Shafer (Emeritus)Vaughn BryantDavid CarlsonDonny HamiltonAlston ThomsLori WrightSylvia Grider (Emeritus)Wayne SmithTed GobelSusan Eckert

Use of CollectionsPrincipal Investigators

and Other Faculty

Dr. Steve Black–University of TexasDr. Leland Bement–Oklahoma Archeological Survey

Current Student Research

Current Outgoing Loans

Tim Reily–ArchaeologyMasahiro Kamiya–ArchaeologySunshine Thomas–ArchaeologyCharlotte Pevny–ArchaeologyDavid Foxe–ArchaeologyLynne O’Kelly–ArchaeologyVictoria Springer–Biological AnthropologyShannon Bowman–Biological AnthropologyRicci Grossman–ZooarchaeologyEloise Eilert–APRL

Visiting Researchers 2006-2007

Biological Anthropology (6)

Archaeology (3)

Cultural Anthropology (1)

SAMPLE OF SIGNIFICANT COLLECTIONS

Richard Beene

Camp Ford

Hinds Cave

Granado Cave

RICHARD BEENE10,000 of occupation

AngosturaDart Points

Timeline

CAMP FORDConfederate POW Camp1862-1865

Ceramicpipe

Worked bone

Metal objects

HINDS CAVE9000 years of occupation

Coprolites

Bone awls

Sandals

GRANADO CAVE1200 years of occupation

Sandals

Yucca rope

Deer hoof

tinklers

Rabbit SticksArrow Shafts

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation (NAGPRA)

Number of Minimum Individuals (MNI)

TEXAS=190

NEW MEXICO=undetermined

Overall Summary

• 1971–2007 Collections increase through wide range of faculty• 1990–2007 Increasing legal obligations to maintain collections standards (e.g., Held-in-Trust, NAGPRA)• Space and facilities augmented but lag behind growth• College-level staff funding 1985 (1 FTE); 1991 (.5 FTE); 2001 (.29 FTE)

COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE ISSUES• Curatorial Support

• NAGPRA consultation and compliance

• Staff availability for Visiting Researchers

• Ongoing Collections Inventory

• Preservation Grant Writing

• Digital Preservation