Collection Continues to Reveal Treasures

KANA summer intern Carmen Ceron was quietly cataloging wood samples from the Karluk One site.  Plastic bags filled with sticks and wood chips collected in 1985 cluttered the lab table.  As she worked with each bag - weighing, assigning a number, and logging information - Carmen paused to examine its contents, checking for artifacts hidden among the wood fragments archaeologists collected for radiocarbon dating.  It’s not unusual to find a fragment of an arrow shaft or a fishhook hiding in such debris.   In one bag, however, Carmen glimpsed familiar shapes - the curve of a nose, the arc of a brow.  Covered with dirt, but unmistakable, she discovered a maskette.   With a little brushing, this hand-size carving of a human face came into view, 500 years old and amazingly preserved.

Carmen’s work is part of a larger project to care for the Karluk One assemblage – the museum’s largest and most diverse collection.  Excavated from a prehistoric village at the mouth of the Karluk River, the collection contains over 20,000 objects, many of them remarkably preserved. Objects not found in most Kodiak village sites were preserved at Karluk One due to the unusually wet conditions.  The site’s huge collection, however, pose special challenges.

With grant funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the Alutiiq Museum is addressing these challenges – from inventorying the massive collection to improving its care.   And as Carmen discovered, this year long project is helping to reveal the many treasures in the assemblage.

According to project director Marnie Leist, “Working systematically through the Karluk collection is helping us to better understand its contents.  We are photographing and organizing objects as well go, and creating the first comprehensive inventory.  The collection will be much more accessible when were are finished.”

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