Preservation of Archeological Artifacts from Northwest and Northeast Arkansas

FAIN: PG-51926-13

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (Fayetteville, AR 72701-1201)
Mary C. Suter (Project Director: May 2012 to September 2014)

The purchase of archival quality storage supplies to complete the rehousing of 223,928 inventoried archaeological artifacts from 12 counties in northwest Arkansas and 16 counties in northeast Arkansas in the collections of the University of Arkansas Museum. These artifacts represent the legacy of Archaic period peoples through the mound-building Mississippian culture and span the period from 5,000 BCE to CE 1,500. They include stone tools and pottery shards, 5,244 fragile whole ceramic vessels, and organic artifacts including moccasins and baby cradles.

The project would provide an object-level preservation environment for the University of Arkansas Museum's archeological collections from northwest Arkansas bluff shelters and northeast Arkansas mound sites. The bluff shelter sites are unique in that they include preserved organics such as cane, grass, wood, and seeds, materials not normally preserved in archaeological contexts. The mound sites represent the material culture of the populous Mississippian peoples in present-day Arkansas that DeSoto met in 1541 on his march through the American southeast. Both of these collections are used to better understand the culture, lifeways, foodways, and religion of these Precolumbian peoples. These collections are currently stored in acidic boxes and trays. The purchase of storage supplies would allow us to transfer the collections into archival-quality boxes and trays for improved object preservation and access.