Quivira
The Quivira and Quiviran Culture exhibit displays a replica of the grass lodge where these peaceful, agricultural people lived. We house the largest collection of Quiviran artifacts in the area and use them to tell the story of the prehistoric inhabitants of Rice County.
|
|
The completion of the 2017-2018 Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant has meant positive outcomes for RCHS’s Great Bend Aspect collections. The Quivirans were part of this archaeological grouping. You will find excerpts from the final report by Dr. Lauren W. Ritterbush, Kansas State University in the following paragraphs.
IMLS 2018 Wrap–Up Report
In September 2017, the Institute of Museum and Library Services funded the Archaeological Collections Curation Project at the Rice County Historical Society’s Coronado Quivira Museum. The funds were used 1) to pay archaeological students to sort, classify, inventory, and catalog an estimated 3,000 archaeological objects under the guidance of Dr. Donald Blakeslee, Wichita State University, 2) to purchase archival supplies for proper storage, and 3) to cover the expenses of a final project report by Dr. Lauren W. Ritterbush, Ph.D., Kansas State University. The following is an overview of the project activities and findings.
Rice County is rich with prehistoric archaeological sites, many representing the protohistoric Great Bend Aspect or remains of ancestral Wichita Native Americans. Because of the significance of these archaeological sites and the landscapes in which they are located, the primary focus of the museum is the ancestral Wichita (referred to as the Quivira). Interpretation of the past lifeways of the Native peoples is possible because of important professional archaeological investigations that have been conducted in Rice and neighboring counties, in addition to extensive artifact collecting by local residents. Many private artifact collections from local sites have been donated to the RCHS over many decades. Unfortunately, other than those incorporated into existing exhibitions, many remained uncatalogued and unused.
Among the various artifacts are chipped stone tools such as hide scrapers, projectile points, knives, and drills; ground stone tools such as pipes, abraders, hammerstones, and grinding stones; potsherds, bone and shell tools, and historic artifacts. Today, these artifacts are boxed by artifact type and, for certain kinds of artifacts, more specifically, for instance, by specific kind of stone (e.g., Florence chert, Smoky Hill silicified chalk). Sorting and boxing in this manner will allow easy access to specific kinds of artifacts for research, exhibition, or education. Dr. Blakeslee’s expertise and training of the student interns made this specialized sorting possible. Archival quality materials were purchased and used for curation. Individual or grouped catalog numbers were put on each artifact following modern curation standards.
Now that the sorting, cataloging, and packaging has been completed, the artifacts have been returned to the RCHS. Shelf numbers have been assigned and that information added to the catalog. Information pertaining to individual or grouped artifacts is recorded in the catalog, which consists of Excel spreadsheets, as well as PastPerfect entries. The work will allow museum staff or researchers to utilize the Excel spreadsheets as they are simple and easy to use, requiring little or no training. Data from the spreadsheets also can be sorted easily for different purposes. The primary key for the spreadsheet is the accession number assigned by the RCHS. Newly accessioned items were assigned 2017.30 followed by a unique catalog number for each artifact or set of grouped artifacts. Other information included in the electronic catalog is box number, material type, artifact, descriptive measurements (e.g., length, width, thickness), and notes or comments. Shelf numbers will be added upon completion of the project to facilitate organization in storage and retrieval of specific artifacts for exhibition, research, or educational purposes. Photographs have been taken of a sample of the artifacts including chipped stone tools, ground stone tools, bone implements, and potsherds.
While sorting through the extensive RCHS archaeological collections, Dr. Blakeslee has identified objects that are well suited for educational purposes. Many of the donated collections do not have specific provenience (locational) data, which means they are of limited research value. However, there are numerous exemplary objects representative of the various tools used by Native peoples in this region over more than 1,300 years and especially by the Ancestral Wichita, representative of the Great Bend aspect archaeological tradition. These are ideally suited for educational trunks, public programs, and a link on the Coronado Quivira Museum’s website.
In summary, funds from IMLS made it possible to inventory, organize, package, catalog, and photograph RCHS’s archaeological objects. This will facilitate their future use for educational and research purposes, while also upgrading curation for long-term preservation of these materials. Through this project, the RCHS has extended its stewardship of often fragile and irreplaceable cultural and historical artifacts of the past for future generations.
IMLS 2018 Wrap–Up Report
In September 2017, the Institute of Museum and Library Services funded the Archaeological Collections Curation Project at the Rice County Historical Society’s Coronado Quivira Museum. The funds were used 1) to pay archaeological students to sort, classify, inventory, and catalog an estimated 3,000 archaeological objects under the guidance of Dr. Donald Blakeslee, Wichita State University, 2) to purchase archival supplies for proper storage, and 3) to cover the expenses of a final project report by Dr. Lauren W. Ritterbush, Ph.D., Kansas State University. The following is an overview of the project activities and findings.
Rice County is rich with prehistoric archaeological sites, many representing the protohistoric Great Bend Aspect or remains of ancestral Wichita Native Americans. Because of the significance of these archaeological sites and the landscapes in which they are located, the primary focus of the museum is the ancestral Wichita (referred to as the Quivira). Interpretation of the past lifeways of the Native peoples is possible because of important professional archaeological investigations that have been conducted in Rice and neighboring counties, in addition to extensive artifact collecting by local residents. Many private artifact collections from local sites have been donated to the RCHS over many decades. Unfortunately, other than those incorporated into existing exhibitions, many remained uncatalogued and unused.
Among the various artifacts are chipped stone tools such as hide scrapers, projectile points, knives, and drills; ground stone tools such as pipes, abraders, hammerstones, and grinding stones; potsherds, bone and shell tools, and historic artifacts. Today, these artifacts are boxed by artifact type and, for certain kinds of artifacts, more specifically, for instance, by specific kind of stone (e.g., Florence chert, Smoky Hill silicified chalk). Sorting and boxing in this manner will allow easy access to specific kinds of artifacts for research, exhibition, or education. Dr. Blakeslee’s expertise and training of the student interns made this specialized sorting possible. Archival quality materials were purchased and used for curation. Individual or grouped catalog numbers were put on each artifact following modern curation standards.
Now that the sorting, cataloging, and packaging has been completed, the artifacts have been returned to the RCHS. Shelf numbers have been assigned and that information added to the catalog. Information pertaining to individual or grouped artifacts is recorded in the catalog, which consists of Excel spreadsheets, as well as PastPerfect entries. The work will allow museum staff or researchers to utilize the Excel spreadsheets as they are simple and easy to use, requiring little or no training. Data from the spreadsheets also can be sorted easily for different purposes. The primary key for the spreadsheet is the accession number assigned by the RCHS. Newly accessioned items were assigned 2017.30 followed by a unique catalog number for each artifact or set of grouped artifacts. Other information included in the electronic catalog is box number, material type, artifact, descriptive measurements (e.g., length, width, thickness), and notes or comments. Shelf numbers will be added upon completion of the project to facilitate organization in storage and retrieval of specific artifacts for exhibition, research, or educational purposes. Photographs have been taken of a sample of the artifacts including chipped stone tools, ground stone tools, bone implements, and potsherds.
While sorting through the extensive RCHS archaeological collections, Dr. Blakeslee has identified objects that are well suited for educational purposes. Many of the donated collections do not have specific provenience (locational) data, which means they are of limited research value. However, there are numerous exemplary objects representative of the various tools used by Native peoples in this region over more than 1,300 years and especially by the Ancestral Wichita, representative of the Great Bend aspect archaeological tradition. These are ideally suited for educational trunks, public programs, and a link on the Coronado Quivira Museum’s website.
In summary, funds from IMLS made it possible to inventory, organize, package, catalog, and photograph RCHS’s archaeological objects. This will facilitate their future use for educational and research purposes, while also upgrading curation for long-term preservation of these materials. Through this project, the RCHS has extended its stewardship of often fragile and irreplaceable cultural and historical artifacts of the past for future generations.