Penn Museum Conservation Celebrates 50 Years
The Penn Museum’s Conservation Department commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Conservation Lab’s founding by hosting an international symposium. “Engaging Conservation: Collaboration across Disciplines” was held October 6–8, 2016 and included 30 presentations by conservators, archaeologists, and allied professionals from seven countries The very successful meeting was attended by over 120 people and featured a keynote address by Dr. C. Brian Rose entitled “Negotiating the Interaction of Archaeology and Conservation in Turkey during the 20th and 21st Centuries.” The Symposium was divided into five themed sessions: Engaging Education, Engaging Archaeology, Engaging Community, Engaging Institutions, and Engaging Science. Subjects of papers included pioneering women in conservation; collaboration in Italy, Turkey, Sudan, Egypt, China, and Peru; how museums reach out to their communities; and various new technologies in examining artifacts. A full listing of the presentations may be found at www.penn.museum/ love conservation and a publication is forthcoming. To celebrate the Lab’s 50 years, each session started with a short “Penn Conservation Stories” vignette presented by Museum staff members; these can be seen on The Digital Penn Museum (see below).
Online Engagement: The Digital Penn Museum
In late October, the Penn Museum launched a major new component to its website—The Digital Penn Museum—a portal to a rich array of digital content. In addition to a new interface for the Museum’s online collections database and its cool MyFinds functionality, this portal provides a browsable experience for those interested in learning more about highlights from our collections and on-demand videos (from archival films to our engaging lectures series and other playlists). In addition, the portal links directly to the Museum’s Expedition magazine archive, the Museum blog, and our suite of more than 40 legacy websites focused on exhibitions, research projects, and fun interactives. To explore The Digital Penn Museum, visit www.penn.museum/collections/, and be sure to check back often as new content is added.
President Obama Announces Sabloff Chairman Appointment
On September 30, 2016, President Obama appointed former Museum Director Dr. Jeremy A. Sabloff to the position of Chairman, Cultural Property Advisory Committee.
Dr. Sabloff is currently an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute and the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Anthropology Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, positions he has held since 2015 and 2010, respectively. Previously, Dr. Sabloff served as President of the Santa Fe Institute from 2009 to 2015, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania from 1994 to 2009, and Williams Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology from 1994 to 2004.
He is a Member of the National Advisory Board of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Exploring Women in Antiquity
Dr. Stephanie L. Budin (Penn Ph.D.) and Dr. Jean MacIntosh Turfa (Consulting Scholar in the Mediterranean Section) have recently published Women in Antiquity: Real Women Across the Ancient World (Routledge, 2016). The 1,074 page book features new essays from some of the most respected scholars of ancient history and physical anthropology who give an overview of the lives of real women in antiquity. Many different parts of the world are represented, including Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia, Cyprus, the Levant, the Aegean, Iberia, and Western Europe.
Sacred Tlingit Hats Return Home to Alaska
Two clan hats approved for repatriation by the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in 2010 were transferred to Tlingit tribal officials on July 17, 2016. Mr. Harold Jacobs, Cultural Preservation Specialist of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (CCTHITA), received the Raven of the Roof Hat and basketry Whale Hat on behalf of L’ooknax.adi (Coho) Clan leader, Mr. Herman Davis, of Sitka. In a brief presentation, Jacobs noted the diligence with which Louis Shotridge, the early 20th century Tlingit collector and Penn Museum Assistant Curator, recorded the names of the previous owners and stories (or histories) of the hats. Jacobs and Tlingit clan representatives Gilbert Fred, Daniel Brown, Mike Kinville, Hans Chester, and Joe Valley studied the Shotridge collection in storage during their brief visit. They sang songs that “breathed life back into” the old objects. In thanking the Museum, Jacobs underscored the need for accuracy in recording clan histories, and praised the Museum’s role in cultural preservation. He stated that his people have a strong interest in maintaining an ongoing relationship with the Penn Museum. The hats were claimed under NAGPRA as sacred objects of cultural patrimony.