Catalogue and Conservation Survey of the European Iron Age Mecklenburg Collection

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The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology cares for important anthropological collections. One of these is theMecklenburg collection of Iron Age materials (ca. 750 BC.AD 20). This collection consists of 18,900 objects, as well as human and horse skeletal remains from 894 grave lots. This materials is from several sites in Austria and Yugoslavia. The collection is enhanced by good documentation and provenience information. It represents the largest collection of Central European Iron Age artifacts in the United States. Unfortunately, the collection is presently inaccessible to researchers because it has never been properly catalogued and entered into the museum's catalogue system. Also the objects are deteriorating and cannot be safely handled. With this grant, the staff of the Peabody Museum will begin to upgrade the collection and make them accessible to researchers. The collections will be catalogued by individual object and the information integrated into the museum's computerized database system. A conservation needs survey will be undertaken by a highly trained conservator who will recommend treatment for the most unstable objects. This will allow researchers to then use this significant collection and increase our knowledge of early European societies and processes of social complexity.