[NHCOLL-L:5342] Course on Care of Archaeological Artifacts starts Monday

[Helen Alten]

Offered for the first time since early 2009, and only available once in 
2011,  this course is full of excellent information for the 
archaeologist, site manager, conservator, curator and collection manager 
on excavations and in finds repositories.
*
MS215: Care of Archaeological Artifacts from the Field to the Lab*
Instructor: Diana Komejan
Price: $475
Dates: Apr 4 to 29, 2011

*Description:*
Archaeological finds come out of the ground fragile - and they often 
stay that way. Yet archaeologists and museum professionals have few 
clear guidelines for handling, moving, storing and displaying such 
materials. Participants in Care of Archaeological Artifacts From the 
Field to the Lab learn techniques for safely lifting and packing 
artifacts, safe transportation and temporary and permanent storage. The 
course also covers a broad range of excavation environments, including 
the Arctic, wet sites, tropical and temperate. Though Care of 
Archaeological Artifacts is not intended to train archaeological 
conservators, it is designed to help participants understand what can 
and can't be done to save the artifacts they unearth.

*Course Outline:*
1. The Excavation lifting, storing and packing
2. The Field Lab basic cleaning and care, the role of the site conservator
3. Transportation containers, packaging, transport mechanics
4. Storage temporary to long term

*Logistics:*
Participants in Care of Archaeological Artifacts work through sections 
at their own pace. Instructor Diana Komejan is available for scheduled 
email support. Materials and resources include online literature, slide 
lectures and dialog between students and online chats led by the 
instructor. The course is limited to 20 participants.

Archaeological Collections Care runs four weeks. To reserve a spot in 
the course, please pay at http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html If 
you have trouble please contact Helen Alten at helen at collectioncare.org

*Student Comments for MS215: Care of Archaeological Artifacts:*
I would rate my experience a 10.

Three things I really liked about the course were the reading 
selections, the availability and willingness of the instructor to answer 
questions and provide additional information, and the access it gave me 
to sources that I wasn't aware of for information.

What I liked best about the materials provided was that the class 
lectures gave a good general overview of the topic before we began doing 
the more specific and complex readings- that really helped me to put all 
of the individual reading assignments into context.

This course definitely met my expectations- I'm very happy with it. 
Diana Komejan was a wonderful instructor and very helpful. I would 
recommend her class to anyone. I heard about the course through my 
manager, who took several of them.

The volume of the materials is what I liked best. The information we 
received is valuable in terms of not just what we were quizzed over for 
the short term, but in being resources that will be kept on our own 
office shelves for future reference. I found the PowerPoints useful as 
they contained examples utilizing photographs. The diagrams illustrating 
packing techniques were useful as well.

The site was well-scripted and easy to use.

I had been told that classes at the NSCC were good and required lots of 
reading. It lived up to it's reputation.

*The Instructor:*
*Diana Komejan* graduated from Sir Sandford Fleming College in 1980 with 
a diploma in Art Conservation Techniques. She has worked as a 
conservator with Parks Canada at the Fortress of Louisbourg National 
Historic Site in Nova Scotia and the Halifax conservation lab, where she 
worked on archaeological and historic artifacts from across east coast 
Canada. Diana also interned at the Kelsey Museum of Ancient and Medieval 
History in Ann Arbor, Mich. and spent 12 years as conservator with the 
Yukon Government in Whitehorse. In addition to lab treatments, Diana has 
broad archaeological experience, including the excavation of mammoths 
and dinosaur tracks. Diana now operates a private conservation business. 
She is recently returned from excavation work in Antarctica.
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