Collections from the Bureau of Reclamation

The Bureau of Reclamation was created on June 17, 1902 by President Theodore Roosevelt for water development projects in the arid climate of the West. In Oklahoma, the Bureau constructed the Norman Dam in 1965 and managed other water resources on public land for municipal and industrial use, supplying water for cities and managing flood control. For instance, Lake Thunderbird State Park and other state parks host over a million visitors each year.
The Bureau is also responsible for collecting any cultural artifacts found on federal lands around lakes and dams. The Sam Noble Museum has had an agreement with the Bureau since 2006, to house and curate collections recovered from these areas. While some collections are recent, others were excavated in the early 1900s. Many of these artifacts have been donated by the Oklahoma Anthropological Society, private collectors, and managers from WPA projects in the 1930s.
This year, the Bureau funded two student Collections Assistants to enter the catalog into the collections database for 46 collections, to make the artifacts easier to identify and find. In two months, they created 3,094 catalog entries containing 38,557 artifacts that belong to the Bureau. In the future, the museum will work with the Bureau to physically inventory the artifacts against these catalogs and stabilize them with archival materials, ensuring that future archaeologists and the public will have access to these cultural resources for many years to come.

Sarah Luthman and Samantha Hayes, cataloging collections for the Bureau of Reclamation.

Most of the sites on these federal lands are prehistoric, and include artifacts made by Native Americans from various time periods. Because so many items are recovered on the surface by private collectors, it is often difficult to determine an exact date or the associated cultural group. Examples of artifacts within the Bureau’s collections are tools (see below), including a bone awl, a stone drill, a boatstone, and five projectile point of various sizes and made from different types of stone.

These artifacts were found in Kiowa County, and are from one of the Elmer Craft Collections (A/2008/002), donated to the museum in the 1950s.

Fort Sill Part I: An Invitation

In 2014, the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (SNOMNH) began a project to curate a large archaeological collection from Fort Sill in Comanche County, Oklahoma. This collection represents the results of the last forty years of archaeological survey and excavation on the Fort Sill Military Reservation. Artifacts in the collection range from ancient stone tools to twentieth century bottles and cans. These artifacts reveal the history of Comanche County and Fort Sill in a way that written words alone cannot. As a material record of the everyday lives of people who occupied this land, both Native Americans and later Euro-American settlers, this collection tells a story that is in many ways the story of Oklahoma. Through a series of upcoming posts on the Sam Noble Archaeology Department Blog, we invite you to learn more about that story.

Late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century artifacts from Fort Sill

Archaeology Goes Public!

Display at Science in Action Day at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.

In order to celebrate our archaeological heritage, the state of Oklahoma has officially declared October to be Oklahoma Archaeology Month! As part of this month-long celebration, the Archaeology Department at the Sam Noble Museum participated in the museum’s Science in Action Day and organized Archaeology Day.

At Science in Action Day, representatives from the Archaeology Department, along with other departments, had the opportunity to meet with the public at the museum. At our table, we identified artifacts that people had brought to the museum to share with us. We also taught kids about archaeology with activities and real artifacts.

Kids learn about ceramics through a coloring activity at Science in Action Day.

Archaeologist Dr. Marc Levine explains what a scapula is to a young girl at Science in Action Day.

For Archaeology Day on October 17^th, the Archaeology Department hosted an event in the museum with a wide range of activities. Whether guests found artifacts in the exhibits through the scavenger hunt, threw atlatl darts, or watched flintknapping demonstrations, everyone had the chance to learn about archaeology first hand! Archaeology Day at the Sam Noble Museum was part of “International Archaeology Day”—including dozens of other museums across the globe.

A participant explains an atlatl at Archaeology Day. (Photo courtesy of Susie Fishman-Armstrong).

A participant at Archaeology Day throwing an atlatl dart. (Photo courtesy of Susie Fishman-Armstrong).

If you missed us this year, be sure to mark October 2016 in your calendars as Oklahoma Archaeology Month!

For more information:

https://www.facebook.com/archaeologymonth

www.archaeological.org/archaeologyday

Mystery Artifact #2 – The Reveal!

Last time, you saw this picture of an artifact from an historic site at Fort Sill in Comanche County, Oklahoma. We asked you to put yourself in the shoes of the archaeologist to analyze this artifact by answering a series of questions. How did you do? Here is how we would answer the questions!

1. What kind of material is it made of?

Because the artifact looks extremely rusty, we can determine that it is made from iron.

2. How big is it?

Using the scale in the picture, we can tell that it is roughly 12cm long at the longest point and 7cm wide at the widest. Would it fit comfortably in your hand?

3. What do you think it was used for?

Based on the shape, the material, and its location at an historic site, we think that this was a pistol.

4. Who do you think used it?

Because we know the site was an historic site and the fort itself is an army post, we think it was likely used by a solider in the army.

5. When do you think it was used?

Because guns were not used prior to the historic periods, we know it was likely made in the last 200 years. The amount of rust on it suggests that it has been outside for a long time, but it is hard to tell more than that without knowing about the other artifacts from the site. What sort of other artifacts could you use to date the site?

6. If you found this at a site, what do you think may have been happening there in the past?

Soldiers living and working at the base were likely the ones to use pistols like this one, perhaps for training at the fort.

If you answered half of these like we did, then you are definitely thinking like an archaeologist! Come back next time to analyze more artifacts in the Mystery Artifact Series!

Mystery Artifact Series – You’re the Archaeologist!: Artifact #1

The Mystery Artifact Series blog allows you to step into the shoes of an archaeologist to identify an artifact! Look at the picture below, and try and guess what the artifact might be and what it can tell us about the site it came from. The artifact below was found at a site from the historic period at Fort Sill near Lawton in Comanche County, Oklahoma. To think like an archaeologist, you try answering the questions below:

1. What kind of material is it made of?
2. How big is it?
3. What do you think it was used for?
4. Who do you think used it?
5. When do you think it was used?
6. If you found this at a site, what do you think may have been happening there in the past?

Be sure to write down your interpretation and check back for our answers!

Welcome to the Archaeology Department at Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History!

When presenting archaeology to the public, we often focus on the charismatic archaeologists, exciting excavations, and the breathtaking artifacts, but these are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Have you ever wondered happens to the rest of the artifacts that don’t make it into museum displays? At the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (SNOMNH), we not only display artifacts in the Hall of the People of Oklahoma exhibit, but we also house a myriad of collections and artifacts that never make it behind the glass. In fact, these collections make up the majority of the artifacts at the museum. However, they are sometimes out of sight and out of mind to many visitors at SNOMNH.

But no longer! In this blog, we invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes visit to the museum. Here, you’ll learn more about the rich archaeological record of Oklahoma through the artifacts, sites, and collections that clue us in to how people lived in our state in the past. Stay tuned!

Family, Heritage, and Archaeology: The Lois Bookout Collection

Some days you really get a sense of the human side of archaeology.  This is the story of a wonderful woman, Ms. Lois Bookout, and the very special gift she made to the Museum.

This past June, Ms. Bookout visited the Sam Noble Museum with two members of her extensive family.  She brought with her a large piece of worked stone, broken into three pieces.  The object was originally found in the 1950s.  Ms. Bookout’s husband’s mother, Evelyn, saw the artifact while she was out collecting wild onions in LeFlore County, near the Poteau River.  She brought it home and gave it to Lois, who kept it safe for the next 60 years.

Ms. Lois Bookout

Lois and her daughters hoped that the Museum would be able to identify the object and tell them about the people who made it.  Archaeology staff identified the artifact as an elongate celt.  It was made of a stone local to LeFlore County that had been painstakingly worked; chipped and ground down until it was just the right shape.

Lois Bookout Collection: Elongate celt in three pieces

With growing excitement, the archaeology staff realized the celt was similar to those found at the Spiro Mounds site, the major ceremonial center also located in LeFlore County, along the Arkansas River.  Ancestors of the present-day Caddo and Wichita people once lived at and around Spiro from about A.D. 800-1450, more than 700 years ago.

Lois’ elongate celt is very similar to one in the Spiro collection at the Smithsonian, illustrated on p. 97 (figure 6.21a) of Sievert and Rogers’ recent publication (currently available as a pdf document at http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/handle/10088/17285?mode=full).  Both have one end (the bit) that is flared out and rounded.  Both are slanted at the other (proximal) end.  Lois’ celt is large: 46.5 cm long, 11 cm wide at the bit, and 5 cm thick.  This is larger than the Smithsonian celt; indeed, larger than many celts.

Lois Bookout Collection: Elongate Celt

Some celts were once used as weapons or as tools.  Lois’ celt is so massive, though, that is was more likely used as a ceremonial object – a symbol of office, perhaps, for a great leader.

After sharing this information with Lois and her family, the archaeology staff gave them a tour of the collection, showing them other artifacts made by the people who once lived near Spiro.

Two months later, we received a sad call from Lois’ daughter, Ms. Kim Manuel.  Lois had passed away on July 15.  One of her wishes was for the celt, which had been with her for so long, to be given to the Museum so that it could be shared with everyone.  Ms. Manuel visited us on August 23, bringing us the celt and sharing reminiscences of her beloved mother.  It was difficult for her to leave this piece of her family history with us, and we promised to take good care of it.

We are very grateful for the gift of Ms. Lois Bookout to the Museum.  More than that, we are grateful to have had the opportunity to spend time with Lois and her family.

Ms. Lois Bookout

We have labeled the celt pieces with the catalog number 34Lf0/240, which means that this is the 240th set of archaeological objects from unknown locations in LeFlore County to have entered the Museum’s permanent collection.  We have placed them in an acid-free box and cushioned them with ethafoam and acid-free tissue paper.  We look forward to sharing them with the public.

This story reminds us that objects have many meanings.  Artifacts have research value that teach us about the way people lived in the past.  They are also culturally-significant representations of history that are important to the descendants of those who made and used them.   Artifacts are also, however, cherished pieces of family history, making this donation even more meaningful.  We thank the Bookout family for this special piece of their family history.

(Sievert, April K. and J. Daniel Rogers. 2011. Artifacts from the Craig Mound at Spiro, Oklahoma. Smithsonian Contribution to Anthropology No. 49. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, Washington, D.C.)