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Investigating the Potential of Deaccessioning as a Tool for Public Archaeology Education

An Example from New Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2020

Jenna Domeischel Open the ORCID record for Jenna Domeischel [Opens in a new window]  and
Tawnya Waggle
Jenna Domeischel*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Applied Archaeology, Eastern New Mexico University, 1500 S. Ave. K, Station 53, Portales, NM 88130, USA
Tawnya Waggle
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Applied Archaeology, Eastern New Mexico University, 1500 S. Ave. K, Station 53, Portales, NM 88130, USA
*
(jenna.domeischel@enmu.edu, corresponding author)
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Abstract

In the United States, deaccessioning is a poorly understood collections management tool. Archaeologists often view deaccessioning with what Robert Sonderman called “primal fear,” and this fear has caused them to overlook the opportunities that deaccessioned artifacts and collections may provide in the area of public archaeology education. Although deaccessioning without checks and balances can be problematic, when done properly and ethically, it offers previously untapped resources to the creation of educational programming, such as teaching trunk programs. This article discusses the process of deaccessioning and suggests that deaccessioned artifacts may be useful as content for teaching trunk programs. We discuss a case study from our own institution, where we implemented a trunk program in 2016 that was largely stocked with material from a deaccession we had performed the previous year. We also offer suggestions for anyone wishing to implement a similar program.

En los Estados Unidos, el desacoplamiento es una herramienta de gestión de colecciones poco conocida. Los arqueólogos muchas veces ven el desapego con lo que Robert Sonderman llamó “miedo primario”, y este miedo nos ha llevado a pasar por alto las oportunidades que los artefactos y colecciones desacreditadas pueden brindarnos en el área de la educación pública de arqueología. Mientras se desacopla sin controles ni equilibrios puede ser problemática, si se realiza de manera adecuada y ética, ofrece fuentes no explotadas previamente para la creación de programaciones educativas, como la enseñanza de programas troncales. Este artículo discute el proceso de desaccesión y sugiere que los artefactos desacoplados pueden ser útiles como contenido para enseñar programas troncales. Discutimos un estudio de caso de nuestra propia institución, donde implementamos un programa troncal en 2016 que estaba en gran parte abastecido con material de desaparición que realizamos el año anterior. También identificamos los desafíos que encontramos durante este proceso y ofrecemos sugerencias para cualquiera que desee implementar un programa similar.

Keywords

public archaeologyeducationdeaccessioningcollections managementcurationteaching trunkarqueología públicaeducacióncesiónmanejo de coleccionescuraduriamateriales educativos
Type
Articles
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , November 2020 , pp. 420 - 427
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology.

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References

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Appendix A

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