LABORATORY OF ANTHROPOLOGY SCOPE OF COLLECTIONS STATEMENT

 This Scope of Collections Statement sets forth the role of the Laboratory of Anthropology (LOA) with regard to collections and the Department of Anthropology (Department), of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (University). The LOA is recognized as an official component of the Department in its by-laws. The LOA is responsible for ensuring the professional curation and management of the Department's collections, making them available for study, and maintaining its research laboratories. Through the management of collections and research laboratories the LOA provides support for the fulfillment of the Department's educational and research mission.

The LOA is governed by the Director who reports to the Department Head. Under the supervision of the Director, the Curator of the LOA oversees the day-to-day activities of the lab with the assistance of staff and volunteers. A Collections Committee formed by the Curator, two faculty advisors, and a consultant from the Cultural Resource Management Programs provides additional advice for LOA activities as needed. The Collections Committee assists the Head and Director in evaluating accession and deaccesion requests in compliance with the LOA policies on Accessions and Deaccessions.

The LOA currently maintains archaeological, osteological, ethnographic, archival, and teaching collections. These collections are available for research and educational activities of the Department's faculty and graduate students as well outside researchers. Requests for use are governed by the LOA policies on Faculty/Student Use of Collections for Research, Faculty/Student Use of Collections for Teaching, Non-Staff Use of Collections, Outloans, Destructive Analysis, and Procedure for the Acquisition, Treatment, and Disposition of Human Remains and Funerary Objects Held by the Department of Anthropology.

The archaeology collections are comprised of material acquired from regional culture areas within Africa, North America, South America, and Europe. The vast majority of archaeological material represents excavations conducted over the past century at prehistoric and historic sites in Illinois. These collections are an integral part of the archaeological research history of the University and the State of Illinois. They reflect the pioneer work of the Department's founding members and, furthermore, are an important part of United States archaeological history. The primary collections are from the World Heritage Cahokia site, from the Langford phase Fisher Village and Mounds and the Middle Woodland Utica Mounds. New acquisitions will not be accepted by LOA. All North American collections have been transferred to ITARP. Currently held European, African, and South American collections are currently being considered for transfer to other institutions. Institutions interested in acquiring LOA collections should contact the Director. While this process is taking place the archaeological collections will continue to be professionally curated and access will be provided by the LOA to qualified users.

The Department human osteological collections contain both important teaching and research collections. They are comprised of human remains from archaeological contexts, medical school specimens, and purchased material. The collection is used for archaeological research and by biological anthropology faculty for teaching. Use of the collection for both in-house and outside research must follow the policy on the Disposition of Human Remains and Funerary Objects Held by the Department of Anthropology. An Osteology Committee assists the Head and the Director in addressing requests for research, NAGPRA compliance and consultation, and other issues related to the osteology collections. The committee is comprised of the Department Head, the Director, the Curator, and four physical anthropologists and/or archaeologists.

The ethnographic collections held by LOA were from North America (Southwest United States and Yucatec Maya of Mexico). These collections are a result of faculty research, department purchase, and donations. The archival collections contain paper and photographic records. The bulk of the archival records are related to the archaeological collections. They provide the documentation for the excavations which produced the material remains. Non-archaeological related archival records include the early photographic material of founding members of the department such as Julian Steward. These collections have been transferred to the Spurlock Museum and interested parties should contact them for information and access.

The archaeology teaching collections are in the process of being developed. These collections will be comprised of unprovenienced material currently held by the LOA. Additional material will be accessioned to augment the teaching needs of the collection. Access to the collection will be provided to appropriate archaeology faculty and graduate teaching assistants.

The LOA has supervisory responsibilities under the by-laws of the department over the curation of material by the Department's cultural resource management (CRM) programs. There are two CRM programs within the Department of Anthropology; the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program (ITARP) and the Public Service Archaeology Program (PSAP). Under the supervision of the LOA, each program has custodial responsibility for material excavated in the course of their research. PSAP conducts work within and outside of Illinois, but does not curate material. Instead, collections are curated on a pay-for-service basis at institutions within the state where the work is conducted. ITARP is a research program concentrating on the prehistory and history of Illinois. The program has been in existence for over 40 years and has developed a working relationship with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to oversee their CRM projects. ITARP and IDOT share custodial responsibility for the archaeological collections (A Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Anthropology, the Laboratory of Anthropology, and the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program on the Management of Collections, 1996). ITARP maintains a professional curator to manage its collections. These collections form the resource base for the program's scholarly research.

The primary overall goal of the LOA is to continue with the ongoing deaccessioning of the collections, while maintaining the general collections management activities such as overseeing use of the collections, NAGPRA compliance, continued collection inventories, and any additional needs which may arise.

This scope of collections statement will be reviewed every two years to remain supportive of the Department of Anthropology's mission and reflective of the collections under its management.

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Last Updated December 2005