contextual infotmation value and address questions in 

 archaeology, art history, and so on. Several of these research 

 programs are conducted in collaboration with other institu- 

 tions, notably the National Institute for Standards and Tech- 

 nology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and the Carnegie 

 Institution of Washington. 



In FY 1998, the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution 

 approved a formal name change for the unit. The new name, 

 Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education, is 

 reflective of the mission of SCMRE as its programs have 

 evolved since the 1980s, and recognizes its status as one of the 

 Smithsonian tesearch institutes. 



Research at SCMRE covers an interdisciplinary area that 

 connects the physical and natural sciences with the arts and 

 humanities. Chemical, physical, and biological research on 

 museum collection items and related materials serves to en- 

 rich our contextual understanding of objects in museum col- 

 lections, or to improve our knowledge on how to preserve and 

 conserve museum collections. 



Chemical characterization of archeological materials and 

 the raw materials from which they were made serves to iden- 

 tify objects with the source from which the raw material was 

 procured. Thus one may draw conclusions regarding trade and 

 exchange patterns and political and economical relationships. 

 For trace element characterization of ceramics, SCMRE re- 

 searchers applied neutron activation analysis at a special 

 facility maintained and operated in collaboration with NIST, 

 in studies involving archaeological ceramics from various 

 Maya and Southwest sites. SCMRE researchers continued the 

 coordination of an international collaborative research pro- 

 gram, sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency 

 (IAEA) on the applications of these techniques in Latin 

 American archaeology. Also in this year, SCMRE organized an 

 international symposium in honor of retired SCMRE staff 

 membet Dr. Edward V. Sayre, a scholar who is considered the 

 pioneer in archaeological ceramic provenance studies using 

 neutron activation analysis, as well as in numerous other 

 studies in archaeometry and conservation science. In studies of 

 historic and prehistoric technologies, researchers focused on 

 the technology of Far Eastern ceramic glazes. 



In the biogeochemistry program, SCMRE researchers study 

 archaeological and paleological organic materials to extract 

 and identify biomolecular information, including markers for 

 dietary habits, disease patterns and genetic relationship. Work 

 continued on a number of projects, including the study of 

 preservation of biomolecular information in archaeological 

 and paleological skeletal material. Of particular interest was 

 the positive identification, through sequencing of extracted 

 DNA, of venereal syphilis in a New World archaeological 

 skeletal remain. 



In the research on preservation of natural history 

 specimens, the study on the influence of the formalin fixing 

 process on the recovery of DNA from liquid-preserved fish 

 specimens came to a conclusion. While specimens preserved 

 only in alcohol offer a highly valuable resource for DNA 



baseline studies, those specimens fixed with formaldehyde 

 will only occasionally yield DNA fragments with any research 

 utility. Quick assay methods to distinguish alcohol -preserved 

 specimens from formalin-treated specimens have been 

 developed. A new project, concerned with the preservation of 

 light element isotopic information, essential in such studies as 

 ecological sttessed systems, in herbarium specimens, yielded 

 far more encouraging results: typically the information 

 retrieved from archival collection specimens fully reflects the 

 isotope ratios in the specimen at the time of collection. 



SCMRE research on the mechanical properties of collection 

 materials continued, with the observations on mechanical be- 

 havior being tied to the chemical changes that take place in 

 materials as a consequence of aging and other agents of 

 change 



SCMRE's education programs address the needs of a wide 

 variety of constituencies, ranging from professional training 

 for conservators and other museum professionals to outreach 

 and information programs for high school and college stu- 

 dents and the general public. The Furniture Conservation 

 Training Program (FCTP) continued the training of the class 

 of 2000. In the archaeological conservation training program, 

 two conservators recently graduated from one of the graduate 

 school training programs received practical training and field 

 experience at two different archaeological sites in the Near 

 East and Central America, as well as laboratory experience at 

 SCMRE. However, as a result of a shift in programmatic em- 

 phasis for this program, the primary goal now is the education 

 of archeologists to make them aware of the benefits of on-sire 

 conservation. This goal is pursued through demonstration 

 projects, combined with field school teaching. RELACT, the 

 training program for managers of paper-based archival research 

 collections, otganized several workshops/seminars for a large 

 audience of Smithsonian staff, and coordinated demonstration 

 projects within various Institutional research collections. 



By the end of this fiscal year, the newly developed SCMRE 

 program in oprical microscopy, which endeavors to combine 

 technique development and research application with training 

 activities for professional audiences, presented its first course 

 offering. Applied Optical Microscopy, an introductory course, 

 provided classroom and practical training to an audience of 

 conservators, archaeologists, and materials scientists on sub- 

 jects ranging from system specification to sample preparation, 

 photomicrography, and image analysis. It is the intention to 

 widen the range of course offerings in this specialty area to 

 meet the needs of a large and wide-ranging audience. 



After the highly successful workshop "Preservation of 

 Imageries: Hispanic American Religious Images on Wood" in 

 FY 1997, SCMRE staff, in collaboration with the Universidad 

 del Sacrado Corazon in San Juan, Puerto Rico, organized two 

 workshops in Puerto Rico that, like the previous one in 

 Washington, attracted large and wide-ranging audiences, 

 including curators, conservators, collectors, and artists. "La 

 Preservaci'on de Santos," a three-day workshop with laboratory 

 exercises, held on the campus of the university, attracted a 



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