REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I917 69 



X 



REPORT OF THE ARCHEOLOGIST AND ETHNOLOGIST 



The most recent of the organized sections of the State Museum 

 is that of archeology and ethnology. The period before 1906 was 

 one of irregular and promiscuous acquisition though under the acts 

 of 1897 and 1899 funds had been provided by the Legislature for 

 the buying of small private collections. These were installed in 

 the corridor about the top of the western stairway in the Capitol, 

 and during the fire of 191 1 were destroyed. The type of cases and 

 location of the exhibit made any attempt at scientific arrangement 

 difficult and almost impossible. 



Not until the new quarters of the State Museum in the Education 

 Building were provided was a real opportunity opened for a method- 

 ical exhibit. Until that time (19 13) all the archeological research 

 done for the State Museum had been more or less irregular owing 

 to inadequate laboratory facilities, storage space and legislative 

 appropriation. This does not mean, however, that highly valuable 

 results were not obtained. To the contrary, the time before the 

 erection of the Education Building was one of acquisition. Methods 

 were studied, an exhibition plan devised, old collections examined 

 and valuable field researches made. The results were the publica- 

 tion of a series of pioneer monographs of the various types of aborig- 

 inal artifacts by Dr William M. Beauchamp, the collection of many 

 valuable specimens through the efforts of A. G. Richmond, Esq., 

 and of Mrs Harriet M. Converse, and after the creation of the office 

 of Archeologist in 1906, intensive field work and the publication of 

 three monographs on New York subjects. During this period also 

 the plans for the ethnological groups were drawn up by the Arche- 

 ologist and the field work necessary for their completion done. 



The period was one of the drawing together of potentialities; it 

 was a long season of preparation and preliminary research, during 

 which time the public saw only the promise of realization. 



To provide a standardized museum of New York aboriginal 

 archeology, several things were necessary, namely, ample space, 

 adequate collections, well-constructed cases and scientific arrange- 

 ment. Happily, with the exception of ample space, all the essen- 

 tials are now either provided or in the process of realization. The 

 section of archeology has outgrown its exhibit space, but the collec- 

 tions, though far from complete, afford a splendid delineation of 



