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The Hunt is On….
Do Missing Artifacts Have a Home?
by Wesley Stinson
The Sargent Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is looking for a large quantity of Indian archaeological artifacts which we believe may be missing from the former collection of Howard R. Sargent (1922-1993) of Georges Mills, NH. We seek only to discover where these artifacts are, record important information about them for our research purposes and, in some instances, track their future movements or purchase them for inclusion in the Sargent Museum collections.
The Sargent Museum is a six-year-old not for profit organization developing an important regional museum based upon the work of Professor Sargent. In 1997 a collection of artifacts assembled by Professor Sargent was donated to the Sargent Museum. This collection consisted of informally collected artifacts (the museum collection) and professionally excavated artifacts (the scientific collection). An inventory of the donated collection by Museum staff and volunteers suggests that a significant portion of the collection originally held by Professor Sargent is not included in the Sargent Museum collection.
The Sargent Museum wishes to preserve the information contained in these artifacts for future generations. We have established an excellent working relationship with one individual who now holds a significant number of artifacts from Professor Sargent’s original collection. We thank that individual for their understanding, patience and cooperation. We look forward to developing similar working relationships with other individuals who are able to help us fulfill our role in the preservation of these ancient pieces of our history
The artifacts in question are primarily Indian stone implements and arrowheads. The "museum collection" is marked usually with a three or four digit catalog number. Occasionally these pieces have "HSC" before or above the number. These markings are written directly on the object as seen in the photographs. There is an inventory of these artifacts which allows us to identify artifacts privately collected by Professor Sargent.
The most critical artifacts we seek to relocate are a few with "scientific collection" markings. These will have a site identification number. This is always a combination of letters and numbers such as NH 28-3 or NH 4-1. These marks identify an exact location in New Hampshire. A second number on these objects is the site catalog number and this tells the archaeologist exactly where in the site the object was found, how deeply buried it was and what other artifacts were found in association. In short, the whole story of this object and hundreds or even thousands of years of history are recorded under this number. If the information and the artifact are no longer connected the story is meaningless and the artifact is just another old broken thing.
If you are able to help in this effort or simply want more information
about the Sargent Museum contact Sargent Museum Director Wesley Stinson
at the Concord, NH office and lab (603) 229-4966 or at the Newport, NH
Sargent Museum Center for Connecticut River Archaeology (603) 863-1944.
The Newport Center is currently located at 17 Main Street across from the
Newport Opera House. In July our permanent building will open at 30 Central
Street in
Newport. We look forward to seeing many Gavel readers there in the
years to come.
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