"The public perception of archeology derives more from Indiana Jones than from the realities of everyday practice. Recent changes in the discipline have shifted the emphasis . . . now the name of the game is curation."

"From the Field to the Files," Margaret C. Nelson and Brenda Shears

IN CONTEXT

The Long View
by Francis P. McManamon

 Collections and Curation Into the 21st Century by S. Terry Childs

Ninety years ago, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act, decreeing that archeological sites and objects on federal land are valuable and should be preserved for the public good. And none too soon. Site looters were rampant in the Southwest; museums, in the interest of research and education, were filling their storerooms with artifacts from excavations and Indian villages. After all, they thought, what better way to document extinct and disappearing cultures than through their material goods?

 Primal Fear: Deaccessioning Collections by Robert C. Sonderman

Over the past 50 years, archeology has produced a deluge of artifacts and documentation. Is it time to clean house?

 Wealth Concealed: The Importance of Preserving the Archeological Record

by Don D. Fowler, Nancy J. Parezo, and May Elizabeth Ruwell
The digging is done, the survey complete--everything washed, boxed, bagged, labeled, and put away. But if you can’t find the project records, what was the point?

 From the Field to the Files: Curation and the Future of Academic Archeology

by Margaret C. Nelson and Brenda Shears
As archeology adopts new methods of research, collections are becoming more and more valuable.