Labeling Native American Collection - Part 1 Completed

At last the MAC Lab lot numbers have been printed on the bag tags as well as on the bags themselves for all the artifacts recovered by CCASM at a Native American site near Bryans Road.  Saturday March 21 Peggy, Barbara, and Carol stayed until the last bag was processed.   Labeling Part 1 has been completed. 

Barbara, Carol, and Peggy working on the last bags

Thanks to all those who helped - Merritt, Carol, Lindsey, Gary, Rich, Sarah, Barbara, Peggy, Noelle, Debbie, and George.

The collection (sixteen boxes of artifacts) is to be donated to the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory (MAC Lab) at JPPM.  In 2013 Patricia Samford, Director of the MAC Lab, was contacted to find out the requirements for a collection to be accepted, and CCASM is trying to ensure that those requirements are met.  CCASM met with Rebecca Moorehouse, Curator for  State Collections, at the MAC Lab.  She reviewed how we had processed and bagged the collection and indicated no changes were needed.  At that time a range of MAC Lab lot numbers were provided.  These numbers needed to be added 1) to the bag tags and the bags themselves and 2) to the artifacts.

So Labeling Part 1 has been completed.  CCASM is looking for help with Labeling Part 2.  Any ideas?

Here are the previous lab days ---

Lindsey, Peggy, Gary

Gary, Lindsey, Peggy, Sarah, Rich, and Carol came out Saturday February 28.  We finished over five boxes, more than on any other lab day.  The boxes contained artifacts from Test Units 1-7, and there were lots of interesting artifacts identified to be photographed later.  Only four more boxes remain to be processed for this phase of adding the MAC Lab lot numbers to the bag tags and to the bags.  YEA!!

Saturday January 24 we reached a minor milestone.  We finished adding the MAC Lab lot numbers to the bag tags and the bags for all of the STPs as well started working on Test Unit 1.  YEA!!  So we have finished six of the eighteen boxes.  However, these six boxes represent about half the artifact bags.  The Test Units have a lot more artifacts per bag, and so the bags take up more space.

Lindsey, Barbara, Debbie (not a member but definitely a welcome addition), Carol, Rich, and Noelle showed up to help.  Luckily the weather forecast changed Friday night, and the lab didn't have to be postponed.  There was no snow on Saturday, just rain. 

Debbie, Barbara, Lindsey

Rich, Noelle

There was only one person able to attend the November 8 lab, but it was held any way.  Any time spent puts us that much closer to the end.

Carol took some of the unlabeled artifacts to the ASM Field School at SERC and had a min-lab on the evening of October 14.  George Riseling, another ASM member helping at the Field School, helped.

Noelle (the new CCASM secretary), Lindsey, Peggy, Gary, and Carol continued to add the MAC Lab lot numbers on Saturday September 27.  We finished STP transects F-K.  So we are definitely making progress.  With the ASM Field School as well as the ESAF Conference in October it will be several weeks before another Saturday is available for scheduling a lab. 

The first lab for adding the MAC Lab lot numbers to the bag tags and to the bags was held Saturday September 13.  It was also a chance to to see the artifacts and check the catalog.  And Barbara took pictures of some of the artifacts that were diagnostic or were just interesting.  Others helping out were Lindsey, Peggy, Carol, and Merritt (a new member).

We finished STP transects A-E.  This is about one third of the STP bags, and there are still Test Unit bags to go.  So expect future labs.