Curation Program

Since initiating its archaeological curation program in 1984, the Office of Archaeological Research of the University of Alabama Museums has become recognized as having one of the finest such programs in the country. OAR now provides curation services for a wide variety of Federal and State agencies and private companies and contractors. OAR is the designated repository for all collections from a number of agencies or facilities within Alabama and adjacent areas and administers collections from throughout the Southeast and the Caribbean. Eugene M. Futato is the Curator of Archaeological Collections and Kimberly A. Rutherford is the Museum Collections Specialist.

FACILITIES

The Office of Archaeological Research is based at the David L. DeJarnette Archaeological Research Center, located at Moundville Archaeological Park, some 15 miles off campus. The two primary facilities at the center are the David L. DeJarnette Archaeological Laboratory and the Erskine Ramsay Archaeological Repository (ERAR). The laboratory was built in 1980 to serve as the home of OAR, then the Office of Archaeological Research. Immediately adjacent is the repository, built in 1949 and renovated in 1984. Approximately $190,000 was spent in the renovation of the repository and the facility meets or exceeds all requirements in 36 CFR 79 for archaeological repositories.

The main portion of the repository consists of three floors of collection stacks. Each floor holds 5,120 standard curation boxes with a capacity of one cubic foot. The stacks are now about 20 per cent full. We estimate that when all existing collections have been processed and returned to the facility, the stacks will be half full. The front portion of the facility includes the documents and photographic collections rooms on the first floor and special collections on the second floor.

Each of the two main sections of the building possesses a separate climate control system. The systems were designed to provide temperature control within +/- 5 degrees F and humidity control within +/- 5 percent. Security is provided by electronic sensors on all doors and motion detectors on all passageways and around all exterior walls on the ground floor. Additional security is provided for the special collections room. The building has no windows. Smoke and gas alarms, a sprinkler system, and strategically placed fire extinguishers protect the building. A fire hydrant has been installed at the facility. All fire and security systems are tied to the police and fire dispatcher's desk by direct telephone line. Additional sensors monitor temperature and humidity and notify OAR staff members if parameters are greatly exceeded. An occupied residence at the center provides additional security.

All facilities and equipment necessary for collections maintenance and research are available at the laboratory, the home of a large and active CRM program. This 12,000 square foot building is divided into a 4,000 square foot laboratory, a central office complex with 4,600 square feet, and an active curation facility with 3,400 square feet. The office complex includes administrative offices, archaeologist/project offices, a drafting room, a fully equipped color and black and white dark room, etc. The library here includes over 14,000 cataloged works focusing on archaeology of the Southeast. The Alabama State Site File and associated report files are also located here. OAR additionally serves as the State Coordinating office for the National Archaeological Database Bibliography.

Thus, the Office of Archaeological Research not only provides a state of the art facility for the curation of archaeological collections but does so within a framework which supports and encourages access to and use of these collections by future researchers.

To learn more about curational procedures and fees for collections housed at the Office of Archaeological Research, click here.