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Casts
Over the years I have amassed a substantial number of casts, mostly of North American Paleoindian points. The majority were given to me, I bought a few and traded for others. The main donors were Marie Wormington (Denver Museum of Natural History casts), Geroge Frison and mainly Dennis Stanford (Smithsonian). I have now made an inventory and find that I have 505 unique (individual) casts and about 40 duplicates. I have put together an inventory on a spreadsheet with photos. These casts have been used a lot in teaching, during presentations, as exhibits in a local cultural center, in knapping workshops from South America to China, and as examples I consult during knapping. Here is an example of a spreadsheet entry:
Reproduction of Stone Artifacts by Casting
I am designing a project to get casting done in South America and have some enthusiastic colleagues who will assist in the process by getting access to items to cast, arranging logistics and possibly funding. There are several reasons to want to have this done. Here is a draft outline of the reasoning. Along with many other motivations, the preservation of selected pieces is critical for the future. This is not only the case for private collections but the tragic loss of collections in the National Museum of Brazil shows that even where objects are kept in ‘secure’ locations, there is no guarantee of their long-term preservation.
Introduction
History
Museums and art world
1890s-1950s
1950s-present
Advantages
Authentic
Long term
Durable
Flexible- Various casting options (eg. Color)
Availability
Multiple identical duplicates
Relatively easy to produce to conventional standards- portable production
Reasonable costs (self-sustaining options-commercial)
Replaceable
Multiple senses (sight AND touch)
Preservation
Collections held in institutions and privately
Molds/casts
Multiple copies/multiple locations
Research
Sharing
Domestic
International
Analyses
Standard methods replication
Specialized methods
Traceology
Teaching
Classroom
Workshops
Outreach
Museum displays/travelling exhibits
Public presentations
Collector collaborations
References:
Rohner, John R.
1970 Techniques of Making Plastic Casts of Artifacts from Permanent Molds Author(s),
American Antiquity, Vol. 35, No. 2: pp. 223-226. Society for American Archaeology.
Frazier, Frank
1973 Production of Artifact casts Using Epoxy Resin, Newsletter of Lithic Technology, Vol. 2, No. 1/2: pp. 15-21. Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Banks, William E, and Marvin Kay
High-Resolution Casts for Lithic Use-Wear Analysis, Lithic Technology, 28(1):27-34.
Web pages:
www.lithiccastinglab.com Pete Bostrom
www.occpaleo.com/ Mike Frank
nau.edu/anthropology/francissmiley/ Francis Smiley