August 15, 2022

Care of Archaeological Collections

The Archaeological Field Laboratory

By Diana Komejan

Activities in the field lab

Think about your typical archaeological site. The vast majority of archaeologists work in primitive conditions. The same is true of most field conservation labs. As a result, identifying, registering, packing and performing simple treatments are the most you can hope to accomplish in a field lab.

Cleaning should be minimal. Limit activities to soft brushing to remove loose dirt, possibly with gentle encouragement from a bamboo skewer or wood applicator stick. If more cleaning is required, then you should have a conservator staffing the field lab.

Registration assigns a number to each find. This number ties the paperwork - the records you create - to the find. Registration will be discussed in more detail in this section. Usually the site registrar is responsible for primary record keeping.

Record keeping requires that you tell as much as possible about the piece in the field. It’s also important to include condition photographs and simple condition reports – something a conservator might complete. In the records, also note pieces that could benefit from X-rays. The conservator ensures condition and treatment records are linked to the registrar’s records using appropriate site numbers.

Drying. You may be able to dry some artifacts, such as certain stable ceramics or glass. Always test dry a sample artifact to make sure no changes occur. Metals, from “dry” sites should be air-dried before packing and kept dry in sealed boxes with dry silica gel. Antler and bone from dry sites can usually be air-dried, too.



However, the unheated site lab humidity may still be much higher than the storage area that is centrally heated. Taking material from the field to storage can be problematic. Organic materials should go through a conservation facility first.

Packing. All artifacts should be packed for safe shipment back to the research facility. Further examination and conservation would occur there.

In some instances, there is no research facility or main laboratory where artifacts will receive further treatment. In those cases, your field lab must provide more in depth treatments, bringing the artifacts to a stable state for long-term preservation. This will require more staff, more time and more materials. Even then, some objects might be temporarily stabilized and stored for continued work in a following season.

Excerpt from Care of Archaeological Artifacts from the Field to the Lab.

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Diana Komejan graduated from Sir Sandford Fleming Colleges Art Conservation Techniques program in 1980. She has worked for Parks Canada; Kelsey Museum, University of Michigan; Heritage Branch Yukon Territorial Government; National Gallery of Canada; Canadian Museum of Nature; Yukon Archives and the Antarctic Heritage Trust and is currently teaching Conservation Techniques in the Applied Museum Studies Program at Algonquin College in Ottawa. In 1995 she was accredited in Mixes Collection with The Canadian Association of Professional Conservators. Her work as a conservator has been quite broad in scope, having worked with historic sites, archaeological excavations and museums. In addition to lab treatments, Diana has broad archaeological experience, including the excavation of mammoths and dinosaur tracks.

Join Diana for MS215 Care of Archaeological Artifacts from the Field to the Lab starting September 6, 2022 and learn more about how to care for your archaeological collections.

Early Bird Discounts Available for Full Length Courses

An Early Bird Discount is available for anyone who signs up for a full length course from museumclasses.org 30 days prior to the start of that course. 

Sign up for a full length course up to 30 days prior to its start and save $100.00!

For our course list or to sign up: http://www.collectioncare.org/course-list

To take advantage of this discount, you must enter coupon code EARLYBIRD at checkout at collectioncare.org

Earlybird Discount Deadline for October 2022 Courses is September 3, 2022

Earlybird Discount Deadline for November 2022 Courses is October 8, 2022

September Courses

MS 014: Education Collections

September 12 to 16, 2022 

Instructor: Karin Hostetter

Description:

What do you do with collection objects that no longer belong in the scientific collection but are too good to throw out? What do you do with the donations that just don't quite 'fit?' Use them in education collections. Their value as educational objects for the public is immeasurable.

MS 215: Care of Archaeological Artifacts from the Field to the Lab

September 6 to October 3, 2022 

Instructor: Diana Komejan

Description:

Archaeological finds come out of the ground fragile - and they often stay that way. Yet archaeologists and museum professionals have few clear guidelines for handling, moving, storing and displaying such materials. Participants in Care of Archaeological Artifacts From the Field to the Lab learn techniques for safely lifting and packing artifacts, safe transportation and temporary and permanent storage. The course also covers a broad range of excavation environments, including the Arctic, wet sites, tropical and temperate. Though Care of Archaeological Artifacts is not intended to train archaeological conservators, it is designed to help participants understand what can and can't be done to save the artifacts they unearth.

MS227: Care of Paintings

September 6 to October 3, 2022  

Instructor: Elizabeth Burton

Description:

Caring for paintings requires some knowledge of the component structure of paintings and the reaction of those components to both natural and man-made environments. This course looks at the painting structure, the effects of damaging environments, and proposes simple steps for basic care. Topics include the structure of paintings, proper condition reporting with standard damage vocabulary, and basic care and handling including environments, storage, and transport. The course is intended to help those entrusted with the care of paintings in any environment.

MS 268: Creating Interpretive Gallery Tours

September 6 to October 3, 2022

Instructor: John Veverka

Description:

There is more to a guided tour than information – you also need inspiration. This course will help curators teach and coach their docents and volunteers to create interpretive stories and experiences that will help make their presentations “come to life” for their visitors.

This training course will help curators help prepare their docents for tours that:

1. Have an interpretive theme.

2. Have accomplishable objectives.

3. Has about 7 tour stops, each of which illustrate the main interpretive theme.

4. Use interpretive communications structure for each stop (provoke, relate and reveal).

5. Use the techniques of tangibles and intangibles in their presentation.

6. Encourage the use of multiple senses to relate to visitors.

7. Have a provocative introduction and then ending conclusion summary for the tour.

8. Have as much "inspiration" as "information".

9. Leave the visitors asking for more (when's your next tour?).

MS303: Found in Collections: Orphans, Old Loans and Abandoned Property

September 6 to October 3, 2022 

Instructor: Sarah Kapellusch

Description:

Every museum has a few stray items. Some lost tags long ago. Others turn up as surprises during inventories. A few are all that remain from long-ago exhibits. While you'll want to keep some, others may be deteriorating. Even worse, some pose significant hazards for staff and the rest of the collection. All raise legal and professional questions. How do you deal with objects that have no records? Or loans from unidentified or deceased lenders? Found in the Collection addresses how to identify abandoned objects and old loans. It further covers the application of state laws and rules for identifying owners or establishing ownership.

October Courses

MS 106: Exhibit Fundamentals: Ideas to Installation

October 3 to November 11, 2022  

Instructor: Karin Hostetter

Description:

Nearly every museum develops exhibits, but how can we improve communication with visitors while taking care of our objects? Exhibit Fundamentals explores exhibits from idea to final installation in a variety of settings. Topics include exhibit theory, the role of the museum's mission, creating a timeline, accessibility and script writing. Also covered are design elements, installation techniques, object safety and security, visitor safety and evaluations. Each student develops an exhibit plan for his or her museum.

MS204: Materials for Storage and Display

October 3 to 28, 2022   

Instructor: Laura Elliff Cruz

Description:

One of the great benefits of the 21st century is the abundance of materials for storing and displaying collections. Materials for Storage and Display covers this vast array in detail. Lectures and handouts separate materials by properties: rigid, padding, barrier and attachments. Slide shows illustrate the use of each. The course emphasizes acid-free materials and how to retrofit less appropriate materials. Materials for Storage and Display keeps current with the latest materials available for preservation. Using material testing as a decision making tool is covered.

MS 234: Archives Management

October 3 to 28, 2022  NEW DATES

Instructor: Jennifer Edwards

Description:

Archives include flat paper, photographs, bound pamphlets, books, small 3-dimensional objects, and magnetic media. The Archives Management course covers an introduction to the materials found in archives and typical use of these materials including use patterns, retrieval needs, finding aids, handling and exhibition. The last half of the course details optimum storage options for archival materials. Storage includes furniture, storage techniques, standardized and specialized housing such as folders and boxes and custom-made housings.

November Courses

MS 001: The Problem with Plastics

November 7 to 11, 2022 

Instructor: Diana Komejan

Description:

As we march boldly toward the 22nd century, artifact collecting includes that most fragile of materials - plastic. Not only is it in our collections, but it is used to house our collections, too. What problems have you seen? What problems have others seen? What materials are best? What can we, as caretakers, do to minimize long-term damage? Join Diana in this mini-course for discussing care and deterioration of plastics. Bring any questions you have about plastics in your museum.

MS 007: The Mission Statement: Is it really that important?

November 7 to 18, 2022  

Instructor: Peggy Schaller

Description:

The heart of every museum is its collection. A mission statement is critical to preserving that collection. Participants in The Mission Statement will discuss their mission statements and whether they really make a difference. Peggy has seen and heard it all as a consultant to small and large museums. She will help you figure out ways to make your mission statement work for you.

MS 211: Preservation Environments

November 7 to December 16, 2022  

Instructor: Ernest Conrad

Description:

The museum's brick exterior wall is crumbling. The powder coated metal storage shelves have active rust under the foam padding. Objects in fur storage are covered in mold. It is raining in the exhibit hall. This is the damage that occurs to museum buildings or collection when staff do not understand preservation environments. Preservation Environments is essential knowledge for any collecting institution. Everyone should understand how humidity and temperature are controlled by a building and its mechanical system. For museum staff considering a new building - and any institution planning to expand or rebuild an existing one - Preservation Environments provide important information for calculating whether the proposed improvements will actually improve the environmental control of your protective enclosure. Participants learn the advantages and disadvantages of numerous methods of temperature and humidity control. Preservation Environments does not try to turn museum professionals into engineers. Rather, it arms them with the knowledge they need to work with engineers and maintenance professionals. And helps explain why damaged occurred and how to keep it from happening again.

MS 212: Care of Textiles

November 7 to December 2, 2022  

Instructor: Ann Coppinger

Description:

Caring for textiles demands an understanding of how and why they deteriorate. This course offers a simplified explanation of the origin and structure of textile fibers as well as the finished textile object; be it either a piece of whole cloth or a finished garment. Care of Textiles teaches students to identify fibers, fabric structures and finishes, write condition reports, and understand the agents of deterioration that are harmful to various fabrics both in storage on exhibit. Topics include preparing textiles for storage and exhibit, the use of archival materials with textiles, and three dimensional supports.

MS 218: Collection Inventories

November 7 to December 2, 2022  

Instructor: Peggy Schaller

Description:

Collection inventories are vital to collection management and security. You need to know what is in your collection to be able to manage it well. This means regular inventories must occur. But knowing you must do them and actually having the time and manpower to complete an inventory are two different things. Collection Inventories discusses everything you ever wanted to know about collection inventories. From how to set one up to how to conduct an inventory. Other topics include what to look for during an inventory and how to reconcile the information.

MS273: Advanced Interpretive Techniques -Interpreting the "rest of the story"

November 7 to December 2, 2022  

Instructor: John Veverka

Description:

Interpreting "the rest of the story", a powerful Interpretive communications technique for revealing and releasing the "rest of the stories" hidden in artifacts, objects, historical figures/events, landscapes, or sites through both live presentations and interpretive media text and label copy. This course will help you utilize and blend the Paul Harvey Rest of the Story format with Tilden's Interpretive Principles. An interpretive technique marriage that can be embraced and used throughout your interpretive career.