In this paper, we examine the curatorial and collections management-related efforts undertaken to establish the research value of an “old” archaeological collection housed in a museum in California for over one hundred years. The archaeological collection assessed is associated with one of the most important archaeological sites in the region, the Ellis Landing shell mound, a site excavated in 1906 by one of North America's leading archaeologists. First, after core issues in archaeological curation are examined, basic features of the site and its excavation are outlined. Next, the process of curating, reanalyzing, and establishing the research potential of the collection is described, recent archaeological analyses of the curated collection are presented, and the implications of this work for the museum profession and the research community are explored. Finally, to best manage these “old” archaeology collections, it is concluded that it is critical to recognize how much their research value has changed.
BarkerAlex J.2003. “Archaeological Ethics: Museums and Collections.” In Ethical Issues in Archaeology, edited by ZimmermanLarry J., VitelliKaren D., and Hollowell-ZimmerJulie, 71–84. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.
4.
BeasleyMelanie, MartinezAntoinette M., SimonsD. D., and BartelinkEric J.2013. “Paleodietary Analysis of a San Francisco Bay Area Shellmound: Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Analysis of Late Holocene Humans from the Ellis Landing Site (CA-CCO-295).”Journal of Archaeological Science40(4): 2084–2094.
5.
BonhertAllen S., and Surovik-BonhertMargo. 1991. “Destructive Analysis in Archaeological Collections: Between Scylla and Chrybdis.” In Natural History Museums: Directions for Growth, edited by CatoPaisley S., and JonesClyde, 113–122. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press.
6.
BuckRebecca A., and GilmoreJean Allmam. 2010. Museum Registration Methods.Fifth Edition. Washington, DC: The American Association of Museums Press.
7.
ChildsS. Terry. 2004. Our Collective Responsibility: The Ethics and Practice of Archaeological Collections Stewardship.Washington, DC: Society for American Archaeology.
8.
ChildsS. Terry, and CorcoranEileen. 2000. Managing Archeological Collections: Technical Assistance.www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/collections/ Washington, DC: Archeology and Ethnography Program, National Park Service.
9.
FinsteadKari M., Lynn IngramB., SchweikhardtPeter, LightfootKent G., LubyEdward M., and ColesGeorge R.2013. “New Insights about the Construction and Use of Shell Mounds from the Geochemical Analysis of Mollusks: An Example from the Greater San Francisco Bay.”Journal of Archaeological Science40(6): 2648–2658.
10.
GardnerJames B., and MerrittElizabeth E.2004. The AAM Guide to Collections Planning.Washington, DC: The American Association of Museums Press.
11.
Heritage Health Index.2004. A Pubic Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America's Collections.Washington, DC: Heritage Preservation.
12.
KellyRobert L., and ThomasDavid Hurst. 2013. Archaeology.Belmont, California: Wadsworth.
13.
LightfootKent G., and LubyEdward M.2012. “Mound Building by California Hunter-Gatherers.” In The Oxford Handbook of North American Archaeology, edited by PauketTimothy E., 212–223. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
14.
LightfootKent G., LubyEdward M., and PesnichakLisa. 2011. “Evolutionary Typologies and Hunter-Gatherer Research: Rethinking the Mounded Landscapes of Central California.” In Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology as Historical Process, edited by SassamanKenneth E., and HollyDonald H.Jr., 55–78. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
15.
LubyEdward M.2004. “Shell Mounds and Mortuary Behavior in the San Francisco Bay Area.”North American Archaeologist25(1): 1–33.
16.
LubyEdward M., DrescherClayton M., and LightfootKent G.2006. “Shell Mounds and Mounded Landscapes in the San Francisco Bay Area: An Integrated Approach.”Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology1: 191–214.
17.
LubyEdward M., and GruberMark F.1999. “The Dead Must Be Fed: Symbolic Meanings of the Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Area.”Cambridge Archaeological Journal9(1): 95–108.
18.
MalaroMarie C., and DeAngelisIldiko. 2012. A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections.Third edition. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution.
19.
MerrittElizabeth E.2008. National Standards and Best Practices for U.S. Museums.Washington, DC: The American Association of Museums Press.
20.
MorattoMichael J.1984. California Archaeology.New York: Academic Press.
21.
NelsonNels C.1909. “Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Region.”University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology7(4): 309–356.
22.
NelsonNels C.1910. “The Ellis Landing Shellmound.”University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology7(5): 357–426.
23.
NelsonNels C., and WepferA.1906. “Ellis Landing Mound: CCo-295, a Tabulation of Burials and Artifacts by Depth.” Unpublished Manuscript # 143, Archaeological Research Facility, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley.
24.
PearceSusan1994. Archaeological Curatorship.London: Leicester University Press.
25.
ReibelDaniel2008. Registration Methods for the Small Museum.Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.
26.
SchneiderTsim D.2010. Placing Refuge: Shell Mounds and the Archaeology of Colonial Encounters in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley.
27.
SchweikhardtPeter, Lynn IngramB., LightfootKent G., and LubyEdward M.2011. “Geochemical Methods for Inferring Seasonal Occupation of an Estuarine Shellmound: A Case Study from San Francisco Bay.”Journal of Archaeological Science38: 2301–2312.
28.
SimmonsJohn E.2006. Things Great and Small: Collections Management Policies.Washington, DC: The American Association of Museums Press.
29.
SmithCharlotte H. F., and HayesSarah. 2010. “Managing the Commonwealth Block Archaeological Assemblage: An Australian Case Study.”Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals6(3): 171–188.
30.
SullivanLynne P., and Terry ChildsS.2003. Curating Archaeological Collections: From the Field to the Repository.Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.
31.
WakeThomas2013. Analysis of the Fauna from the Ellis Landing Shell Mound. Manuscript on file, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA.
32.
WeilStephen, editor. 1997. A Deaccession Reader.Washington DC: American Association of Museums.
