Internship in Museum Anthropology

Anthropology 3920 Internship in Museum Anthropology Spring 2013 Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Instructor: Dr. Marc Levine, Curator of Archaeology Collections work supervised by Dr. Elsbeth Dowd, Collection Manager of Archaeology, and Ms. Emily Turriff, Collection Assistant Contact Information Marc Levine mlevine@ou.edu 405-325-1994 Elsbeth Dowd efield@ou.edu 405-325-1199 Emily Turriff efturriff@ou.edu 405-325-1199 Office Hours: By appointment. Museum anthropology involves a broad scope of activities, including collection management, research of material culture, education and outreach, and exhibit design. The goal of the internship this semester is to teach students basic methods in the management of anthropological collections in a museum setting. We will focus on collection maintenance, including the procedures for processing and cataloging artifacts. Students will work with materials from the Museum’s Spiro collections, assisting collection staff in conducting a major inventory, repackaging, and documentation project. The Spiro mound site was a major ceremonial center in eastern Oklahoma, occupied primarily during the Mississippian period (ca. A.D. 1000-1450). The Sam Noble Museum curates a major portion of the collections from this important site. We recently received a grant from Institute for Museum and Library Services to help care for the collection, which includes diverse archaeological materials, including ceramics, lithics, faunal material, engraved shells, pipes, beads, and numerous other objects reflecting daily life and ceremonial use. By the end of this semester students should have a familiarity with these classes of artifacts (commonly found across North America) and will have learned basic methods of caring for an archaeological research collection. Further, through both reading and hands-on experience students will learn how archaeological anthropologists have used this collection in the past to interpret site history, how properly caring for and documenting the collection will assist future research and preservation efforts, and the role of ethical considerations in the treatment of Native American material culture. Students may be asked to assist the collection staff in other activities, such as loan preparation and data entry, as needed. Grading Your grade is based on: Completing the required service hours of collection work Following instructions of collections staff to complete assigned tasks Following the Archaeology Department house rules and policies of the Sam Noble Museum Completing a final paper, ~10 pages, topic to be determined in consultation with the instructor Failure to comply with Museum rules and policies is grounds for immediate dismissal. Readings A number of short readings will be assigned throughout the semester to help students learn more about anthropological collection management, museum anthropology ethics, and archaeological interpretations of the Spiro site. We will have a short discussion about the readings each week. Readings will be distributed at the beginning of the semester. Students should be prepared to discuss the reading before coming to work that week. The readings are not meant to give you a thorough understanding of every topic. Rather, they are designed to introduce you to some key issues in the field, which you may decide to pursue further in your paper or at other times in the future. The readings will include: Portions of the Sam Noble Museum Archaeology Department Handbook, including Processing and Cataloging Artifacts into the Research Collection Maintenance of the Collection and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Storage and Preservation Guide (Leith 2005) Artifact Classification Brooks, Robert 2012 A Response to Perttula and Cast. In Plains Anthropologist 56(220):369-370. Brown, James A. 1996 Introduction to the Collections. In The Spiro Ceremonial Center: The Archaeology of Arkansas Valley Caddoan Culture in Eastern Oklahoma, pp. 295-298. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, No. 29. Volume 2. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Also assorted chapters on material classes, as relevant. 2012 Spiro Reconsidered: Sacred Economy at the Western Frontier of the Eastern Woodlands. In The Archaeology of the Caddo, edited by Chester P. Walker and Timothy K. Perttula, pp. 117-138. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln. http://books.google.com/books?id=_kiYVFYjmdMC&lpg=PA125&ots=sf4Anzpd5t&dq=Brown%20Spiro%20Reconsidered&pg=PA117#v=onepage&q=Brown%20Spiro%20Reconsidered&f=false Cast, Robert, Timothy K. Perttula, Bobby Gonzalez, and Bo Nelson 2006 A Rediscovery of Caddo Heritage. Archaeologies 2(1):45-51. Merriam, Larry and Christopher Merriam 2004 Introduction, Prehistoric Site Evolution, and The WPA Excavations. In The Spiro Mound: A Photo Essay, Photographs from the Collection of Dr. Robert E. Bell, pp. 5-21 and 51-61. Merriam Station Books, Oklahoma City. National Park Service 2003 Portions of Managing Archeological Collections. U.S. Department of the Interior. Online Guide http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/collections/ Perttula, Timothy K. 2012 The Archaeology of the Caddo in Southwest Arkansas, Northwest Louisiana, Eastern Oklahoma, and East Texas: An Introduction to the Volume. In The Archaeology of the Caddo, edited by Chester P. Walker and Timothy K. Perttula, pp. 1-25. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln. Perttulas, Timothy K. and Robert Cast 2012 The Term “Arkansas River Basin Caddoan” Has Outlived Whatever Usefulness It Had as a Cultural Taxonomic Term. In Plains Anthropologist 56(220):365-367. Preucel, Robert W. 2011 An archaeology of NAGPRA: Conversations with Suzan Shown Harjo. Journal of Social Archaeology 11:130. Reilly, F. Kent, III 2007 The Petaloid Motif: A Celestial Symbolic Locative in the Shell Art of Spiro. In Ancient Objects and Sacred Realms: Interpretations of Mississippian Iconography, edited by F. Kent Reilly III and James F. Garber, pp. 39-55. University of Texas Press, Austin. Rogers, J. Daniel. 2011 Spiro and the Development of a Regional Social System. In Artifacts from the Craig Mound at Spiro, Oklahoma, edited by April K. Sievert and J. Daniel Rogers, pp. 1-12. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology No. 49. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, Washington, D.C. Sievert, April K. and J. Daniel Rogers 2011 History of Spiro Research. In Artifacts from the Craig Mound at Spiro, Oklahoma, edited by April K. Sievert and J. Daniel Rogers, pp. 13-18. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology No. 49. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, Washington, D.C. Final Paper The final paper should be approximately 10 pages, double spaced, in a size 12 standard font (Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman), with 1 inch margins on all sides. Figures and the works cited list do not count as part of the 10 page total. The paper topics will be distributed later in the semester. Students are welcome to use the archaeology library. No plagiarism will be tolerated on the final paper. Any instance will be pursued according to the OU rules of Academic Misconduct. Plagiarism includes the presentation of the work or ideas of others as your own. If you have any questions, please ask us as you are working on your paper. You are expected to know and understand university policy regarding academic misconduct (see http://www.ou.edu/provost/integrity). Accommodation Policy The University of Oklahoma is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for all students with disabilities. Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully demonstrating his or her abilities should contact us personally as soon as possible so we can discuss accommodations necessary to ensure full participation and facilitate your educational opportunities. Students with disabilities must be registered with the Office of Disability Services prior to receiving accommodations in this course. The Office of Disability Services is located in Goddard Health Center, Suite 166, phone 405-325-3852 or TDD only 405-325-4173. Students whose first language is not English should discuss any concerns or needs with us as soon as possible. Course Schedule Week Topic Readings Jan. 14-18 SNOMNH Policies and Collection Management Portions of Archaeology Department Handbook MLK Jr. Day Jan. 21 (holiday) Jan. 22-25 Collection Management: Introduction NPS – (2) Introduction to Curation Jan. 28 – Feb. 1 Spiro: Archaeological Background Merriam and Merriam 2004 – Introduction; Prehistoric Site Evolution Feb. 4-8 Spiro: History of Collections 1 Sievert and Rogers 2011; Brown 1996 Feb. 11-15 Spiro: History of Collections 2 Merriam and Merriam 2004 – The WPA Excavations Feb. 18-22 Collection Management: Planning for Curation NPS – (5) Curation prior to field; (6) Curation in the field and lab Feb. 25 – Mar. 1 Collection Management: Day-to-Day NPS – (7) Repositories; (8) Collections Management Mar. 4-8 Collection Management: Research and Other Issues NPS – (4) Today’s Key Issues; (9) Acess and Use of Collections Mar. 11-15 Spiro: Interpretation 1 Rogers 2011 Spring Break, Mar. 18-22 Mar. 25-29 Spiro: Iconography Reilly 2007 Apr. 1-5 Spiro: Interpretation 2 Brown 2012 Apr. 8-12 Collection Management: Laws, Ethics, and the Future NPS – (3) Relevant Laws, Regulations, Policies, and Ethics; (10) The Future Apr. 15-19 Perspectives in Repatriation Preucel 2011; Cast et al. 2006 Apr. 22-26 Spiro and Repatriation: Whose Ancestors? Perttula 2012; Perttula and Cast 2012; Brooks 2012 May 6-10 (exam week) FINAL PAPER DUE MAY 10