The Andy Kyle Archeological Collection (HAS Report, Band 29) - Softcover

Inhaltsangabe

The Andy Kyle Archeological Collection was an important public outreach project undertaken by the Houston Archeological Society (HAS) at the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center in Liberty, Texas, from February 2017 through August 2017. In the process of renovating its entire museum display, the Sam Houston Regional Library decided to create a new interactive exhibit highlighting the prehistory of the ten county region of Southeast Texas that it serves. At the center of new display is the extensive Andy Kyle Archeological Collection which had been given to the Library by the late Mr. Kyle, a long-time resident of Liberty County, avid avocational archeologist, and supporter of the Center. The HAS was called in to assess the magnitude and importance of the Kyle Collection, at the request of the Texas Historical Commission. Members of the HAS spent three months going through over 40 large framed boards of mounted projectile points and dozens of boxes containing other lithic artifacts, debitage and ceramic sherds. Every artifact in this monumental collection was viewed and assessed regarding its quality and importance to be included in the new exhibit. Diagnostic artifacts of each archeological period represented in the collection were assembled, identified and catalogued for use in the new exhibit. Artifacts from the Kyle Collection range in age from early Paleo-Indian (Clovis) to Late Prehistoric, with a few Historic artifacts from the 19th Century as well. In discussing the project with Ms. Inman and the outside consultants hired to construct the exhibits, their desire was to set up glass display cases containing diagnostic artifacts from each of the chronological periods represented in the Kyle Collection. The exhibits would contain a series of explanatory descriptions to aid visitors in understanding the types of artifacts present and their various functions. In addition to these readily visible displays, the Center wanted to create a secondary system of cabinet drawers which could be accessed by visitors in order to see more examples of the various artifacts. Thus our work not only selected and identified key artifacts for the glass displays but also a number of like artifacts which will then populate the additional cabinet drawers. While the majority of the lithic artifacts Mr. Kyle collected were projectile points, we made sure that other utilitarian tools such as cutting and scraping tools, drills, grinding stones and pottery were also present in the display. The Kyle Collection is notable for the large percentage of artifacts constructed from local petrified wood, especially from the Middle Archaic period on. Due to the inherent low quality of petrified wood as a toolstone, many of the artifacts in the collection have undergone extensive heat-treating and thus are characterized by a dull luster and bright yellow, orange and reddish colors.

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