c>6 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



It is also necessary for the Archeologist to instal new collections 

 and rearrange old ones. 



Condition of the collections. The archeologic material which 

 has been accumulating for the past 60 years has never been system- 

 atized nor properly arranged. This is due largely to the fact that 

 until now there has never been a permanent curator and, largely 

 also, to the fact that there has not been adequate space nor proper 

 cases for the arrangement and exhibition of the specimens. Prob- 

 ably two thirds of the material is in storage and has been packed 

 so long that we are unfamiliar with our own resources. 



The Archeologist has rearranged the ethnological collection in 

 the Capitol so as to present a systematic exhibition of specimens 

 illustrating costumes, weapons, ornaments, ceremonial objects, silver 

 work, games and articles used in the preparation of food. An 

 arbitrary arrangement of things by classes, such as wooden objects, 

 metallic objects, etc., is objectionable. Of greater human interest 

 and scientific value is the arrangement according to use. This 

 system we are following. 



Archeologic and modern ethnologic material should not be ex- 

 hibited in the same cases. We have, therefore, endeavored io 

 separate the two classes as far as crowded conditions would permit. 

 The rearrangement of the archeologic material is a work which has 

 just begun. The task of cataloguing the specimens is well under 

 way. No museum serial catalogue has ever been prepared and 

 nearly all of the specimens are without adequate data and means 

 of identification. This is a matter which is to be remedied at once. 



Publications. The value of the work of the archeological 

 section of the museum depends upon the facts and specimens which 

 it discovers in the field and upon the method by which knowledge of 

 these facts and artifacts are brought to public notice. Bearing this 

 in mind the Archeologist prepared a bulletin illustrating and de- 

 scribing the collection which he secured during the season of 19^6. 

 This work is entitled Excavations in an Erie Indian Village and 

 Burial Site at Ripley, Chautauqua Co., N. Y. As a work it has 

 had a very favorable reception among the recognized archeologists 

 of the country. 



Archeology as a science has often been regarded as having small 

 practical bearing upon the needs and requirements of practical life. 

 This is not entirely true and to awaken a wider interest in the work 

 the Archeologist has in preparation a publication which it is be- 

 lieved will appeal to a wide circle of interests. This work, Art 



