REX GARNIEWICZ
Director of Collections
Curators of Prehistoric Archaeology
Collection highlights
The prehistoric archaeology collection at the Indiana State Museum consists of approximately 30,000 individual specimens from the State of Indiana and surrounding areas. This collection contains specimens that were acquired by the State of Indiana from the 1870s up to today. Most of the archaeological materials that we curate were surface collected by interested individuals, amateur and professional archaeologists. We also hold some excavated materials and have an active fieldwork program to investigate prehistoric habitation sites.
Our earliest cataloged material consists of several artifacts published by E.T. Cox in the 1874 Geological Survey of Indiana. The strengths of our early collections are materials collected by Jack Householder from Hamilton and surrounding counties and materials excavated from Anderson Mounds. We also hold a large number of chipped and ground stone tools that form part of the “old collection.” There are some fine examples of various types of tools; however, these specimens tend to have more limited provenance because of when they were collected.
The Indiana State Museum also curates artifacts for a number of cultural resource management firms that specialize in “rescue archaeology” in advance of construction or earth-moving activities. This is a growing part of our collection where material is very well documented. Individuals who are interested in preserving our past also donate materials to the museum so that these artifacts can be preserved for future generations to see and study. We encourage people to donate artifacts that they know some locality information about, for example, materials that were collected from the family farm.
Although it was never the policy of the Indiana State Museum to collect human skeletal remains, over the years a small number of specimens made it into the museum’s collection. As a result of concern expressed by Native American groups and legislation passed by the Federal government, the Museum has repatriated all the human skeletal materials for which cultural affiliation could be determined. It is the policy of the Indiana State Museum to fully comply with both the letter and intent of federal NAGPRA law and to be sensitive to the concerns of Native Americans for the ethical and respectful treatment of the dead.