A current project that we at the special collections have undertaken is to identify, inventory, and catalogue a collection of West Mexican ceramics and pottery. This is not an easy task, but one that I am proud to take on. As a museum science student, I am very happy to have the hands-on experience working with anthropological material. As I have been working with the ceramic figurines, I have run into a problem that many museums and collections face when dealing with historical objects: are the objects real or fake? The best way to answer this is to examine the objects looking for tell-tale signs of authenticity. For these figurines, I am looking for soil, bug, and root remains. Looking for these tiny traces of authenticity is a long and intensive process, and surprisingly, it is just the first step in analyzing the figurines. After searching each figurine for signs of authenticity, I record the data onto a data sheet; I also record item number, dimensions, and a general description of each figurine. Once all of the data is collected for the figurines, I will put it into our new museum database called TMS.
Checking Interior for Bug Casings
Checking Exterior for Bug Casings
Recording Data for TMS
Measuring Length of Figurine
Measuring Height of Figurine