Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Researching museum collections and associated field data, in addition to consulting modern scientific studies, can provide a great deal of information about the presence and nature of archaeological sites in a locale. This article was developed based upon collections research conducted for prehistoric archaeological sites in Washington, D.C., using the collections of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, and other repositories. The state of collections varies widely. Some collectors gathered only perfect completed tools and other objects, while others collected these materials and debitage. The state of documentation ranges from complete and exacting with precision rivaling modern-day to non-existent. The importance of examining museum collections and private collections, where available, cannot be downplayed. Sometimes they possess the only clues remaining regarding certain practices which occurred in the past and can provide information not otherwise available to the researcher.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON n.d. Anthropological Society of Washington, Manuscript 4821, National Anthropology Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Crowell

Elizabeth A.

1984 Early Investigations Along the Anacostia River, Washington, D.C., paper presented at the Eastern States Archaeological Federation Meetings, Annapolis, Maryland.

Crowell

Elizabeth A.

1986 In Pursuit of Ancient Cultures: Early Archaeologists and Collectors in the District of Columbia, paper presented at the 1986 American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.

Fowke

Gerard

1894 Archeologic Investigations in James and Potomac Valleys, Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Holmes

William Henry

n.d. Random Records, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Holmes

William Henry

1890 A Quarry Workshop of the Flaked-Stone Implement Makers in the District of Columbia, The American Anthropologist, 3, pp. 1–26.

Holmes

William Henry

1897 Stone Implements of the Potomac-Chesapeake Tidewater Province, in 15th Annual Report of Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, D.C., pp. 3–152.

Holmes

William Henry

1903 Aboriginal Pottery of the Eastern United States, in Twentieth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, D.C.

Holmes

William H.

Dinwiddie

William

, and Fowke

Gerard

1891 Archaeological Survey of the Tidewater Maryland and Virginia Area, Manuscript 2125, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

10.

Proudfit

S. V.

1891 Records of the Anthropological Society of Washington, Manuscript 4821, National Anthropology Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

11.

Ritchie

William

1944 The Pre-Iroquoian Occupation of New York State, Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences Memoir, 1, Rochester, New York.

12.

Smith

Gerald Patrick

1971 Protohistoric Sociopolitical Organization of the Nottoway in the Chesapeake Bay—Carolina Sounds Region, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Missouri, Columbia.

13.

Institution

Smithsonian

n.d. Accession Records, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.

Walking in the Shadows of Archaeologists Past: Researching Museum Collections and Associated Records to Elucidate past Lifeways

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References