TAMU DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY REPOSITORY COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE Business Meeting October 13, 2008
COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE CHARGE: The Committee is to provide the Head of the Department with a definitive statement on the role of curation in the Department by December 12, 2008. The report will be presented to the Anthropology [faculty] for discussion and a vote at the first faculty meeting January 5, 2009
Excerpts from Code of Ethics TAMU Department of Anthropology (Approved October 4, 1999) III. Research A.1.c. To work for the long-term conservation of the archaeological, fossil, and historical records; A.1.d. To consult actively with the affected individuals or group(s), with the goal of establishing a working relationship that can be beneficial to all parties involved.
IV. Responsibilities C.4. Archaeologists should anticipate and provide for adequate and accessible long-term storage and curatorial facilities for all archaeological materials, records, and archives. C.6. All research projects should contain specific plans for conservation, preservation, and publication from the very outset, and funds should be secured for such purposes. C.7. No archaeological data generated by a Department of Anthropology archaeological excavation or survey are to be considered to be personal property.
Standards for handling and managing archaeological collections are discussed nationwide; our curation issues are not unique 2003 ARCHAEOLOGY: 1996 Curation in Crisis Michael Bawaya Science 24 August 2007 Vol. 317. no. 5841, pp. 1025–1026
1.) What is the role of curation to be in the Department? Curation is to include artifact collections, archaeological records, skeletal collections and notes, and retired professors' records . • Physical security • Climate control • Fire suppression • Collections monitoring • Restricted access to qualified researchers
2.) Depending on the recommendation for number 1 above, administratively where is the position of the curator to be placed and who is to be the curator's immediate supervisor? Professor Department Head Chief Executive Officer Administrative IT Support Curator of Assistant and Services Anthropology Collections Committee Lead Office Business Six Faculty Advisors Assistant Coordinator I (from Archaeology, Biological GAR(s), Anthropology (Chair), Cultural Student Anthropology, Nautical Workers, & Archaeology, CFSA, and CMAC ) Volunteers Fall 2008: 3 Work-study (2 ANTH, 1 BIMS); 3 volunteers (ANTH)
3.) What is the job description and the responsibilities of the curator? Responsibilities for the day-to-day operations of the Anthropology Repository: •Develops and implements Collections Management Policy and Procedures to provide for the curatorial needs of collections; •Supervises students and volunteers in registrarial tasks (i.e., accessioning, cataloging, inventorying); •Oversees the development and implementation of an automated inventory system for the repository's collections; •Provides technical information to other professionals about the collections; •Secures financial support through competitive state and national grant proposals for collection care; •Prepares budgets, written reports and forms related to repository operations; •Responds to collection inquiries and provides technical information access to the collection for researchers concerning the collections and collections management procedures; •Demonstrates continuous effort to improve operations, streamline work processes, and works cooperatively and jointly with faculty on collections care
Proposed new responsibilities : Teach Heritage Collections Management course using Hinds Cave collection as a case study
4.) Where does the Department stand on NAGPRA? What has been done and what remains to be done to be in complete compliance? ? TEXAS Alaska New Mexico ⌧ NAGPRA Summary—(funerary objects, etc) submitted 1993 ⌧ NAGPRA Inventory—original (human remains) submitted 1995 ⌧ NAGPRA Inventory (revised)—completed; not submitted � NAGPRA Consultation—ongoing � NAGPRA Notice of Inventory Completion—one ready to submit � NAGPRA Notice of Intent to Repatriate—one ready to submit � NAGPRA Notice of Intended Disposition—one ready to submit
Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) TEXAS TAMU NAGPRA Inventory = 190 National Park Service = 104 National Park Service = 61 Associated Funerary Objects (to be revised) ALASKA = 2 NEW MEXICO = undetermined (200+ and Associated Funerary Objects )
National NAGPRA Native American Consultation Database List of Tribes—TEXAS 1.Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas (F)* — Ongoing consultation 2.Apache Tribe of Oklahoma (F) 3.Comanche Nation, Oklahoma (F) — Ongoing consultation 4.Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma (F) 5.Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico (F) 6.Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas (F)* — Ongoing consultation 7.Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma (F) 8.Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico (F) 9.White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona (F) 10.Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas (F)* — Ongoing consultation NOTE: F = Federally recognized NF = Non-federally recognized
Other known Tribes and Groups: 1. Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma (F)— Ongoing Consultation 2. Tap Pilam-Coahuiltecan Nation (NF)— Ongoing consultation 3. Texas Band of Lipan Apache (NF) 4. Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (F) 5. Apalachicola Band of Creek Indians (NF) 6. Creek Indians of Texas at Red Oak (NF) 7. Pamaque Clan of Coahuila Y Tejas (NF) 8. American Indians in Texas at Spanish Colonial Missions (NF) Non-Federally Recognized Tribes who claim affiliations in Texas: 1. Chiricahua Apache Band (NF) 2. Chiricahua Apache Tribe (NF) 3. Kiowa, Comanche, & Apache Tribes of Indians (NF) 4. Lipan Apache Tribe and bands thereof (NF) 5. Mescalero Apache Tribe and the bands thereof (NF) 6. Warm Springs Apache Band (NF)
Examples of how we are housing human remains
NAGPRA IS FOREVER
Scope of Collections � Archaeological (e.g., stone, bone, ceramic) � Biological/Environmental (e.g., floral, faunal, coprolites, pollen, sediment) � Cultural (e.g., Bonfire Memorabilia Archive) � Osteological (e.g., human remains) � Teaching and reference (e.g., chipped stone, cook stone, casts, micro and macrobotanical, zooarchaeological) � Associated records: all of the above
5.) Review a list of all collections maintained by the Department and a complete inventory of all the artifacts, collections, and records for each collection. Anthropology Building (750 boxes) •77 Held-in-Trust Collections (with Antiquities Permit) •Pre-1991 project collections are housed in the department pro bono •Projects undertaken after 1991 have dedicated curation dollars Dulie Bell Building (300 boxes) •Richard Beene sediment samples; CSFA collections Riverside Warehouse (452 boxes) •Hinds Cave, Nan Ranch, Canada 1,000,000+ objects, samples, and reference collections
Retired Faculty Collections Transfer • Arkansas Archaeological Survey (transfer complete) • Museum of Northern Arizona (transfer complete) • Santa Rita (transfer to TARL complete) • Old Town New Mexico (transfer to TARL complete) • Belize: Colha, Pulltrouser, Kichpanha, Nohmul • Lake Roberts, New Mexico • Canyon Creek Cave, New Mexico Other Collections Transferred • Texas Parks and Wildlife collections • Northeren Rocky Mountains Field Schools • Texas National Guard
6.) Review use of existing collections over the past five years. 2004 Archaeology 1) Texas Tech University Outgoing loan—Mammoth specimens (San Antonio) 2) TAMU student research—Faunal remains Camp Ford 3) Central Texas Ceramics Project 4) Texas National Guard—Deaccession and transfer collections to UTSA 2005 Archaeology 1) TAMU in-house loan—Archaeology teaching collection used for Material Culture class 2) Oklahoma Archeological Survey—Outgoing loan land snails Health and Disease (Gulf Coastal Plains burials) 3) Soil Conservation Service—Deaccession and transfer to UTSA Biological Anthropology 3) University at Albany—Diachonic Changes in H-G Dental Health and Disease (Gulf Coastal Plains burials)
2006 Archaeology 1) TAMU student research—Lithic study Granado Cave 2) TAMU in-house loan—Archaeology teaching collection used for Material Culture class 3) San Antonio Historic Preservation Office—Enoch Jones site collections 4) UTSA Institute of Texas Cultures—Digital images Camp Ford Biological Anthropology 5) University of Texas—Dental study 2007 Archaeology 1) TAMU student research— Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry to characterize and source Rockport and Toyah Phase ceramics 2) Oklahoma Archeological Survey—Outgoing loan mammoth bone (San Antonio) 3) Harvard University and University of Texas—Sampling of whole Mimbres pottery vessels for instrumental neutron activation analysis Biological Anthropology 4) TAMU student research— Robusticity of muscle attachment sites and degenerative joint disease in the upper limb bones from Old Soccoro Mission
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