Archaeology

Archaeology Mini-Exhibit: Uncovering Pacific Pasts

Timothy Kenney — Thu, 05 Mar 2020 01:40:15 +0000

Archaeology Mini-Exhibit: Uncovering Pacific Pasts Timothy Kenney Wed, 03/04/2020 - 17:40

Launching the Coast Salish s.dəxʷìł canoe

Peter Lape — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 18:48:03 +0000

Launching the Coast Salish s.dəxʷìł canoe Peter Lape Mon, 10/28/2019 - 11:48

Indigenous Peoples' Day at the Burke Museum

Burke Museum — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 07:12:10 +0000

Indigenous Peoples' Day at the Burke Museum Burke Museum Wed, 10/16/2019 - 00:12

Our Material World

Cathy Morris — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 06:13:49 +0000

Our Material World

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Cathy Morris Mon, 09/16/2019 - 23:13

From the food we put in our bodies to the furniture we put in our homes, human life is shaped by “stuff” all around us—and our stuff reveals surprising truths about our lives.

There’s a story in all our stuff—even the garbage we leave behind. Archaeologists study this material culture, and use it to understand people and cultures of the past.

Find out what happens when we throw our stuff away, when archaeologists do (or don’t) dig, how Native peoples across Washington state are using the archaeological record to revitalize traditional food practices today, and more in the Our Material World gallery.

Floor 3, Archaeology

"Culture serves to differentiate us as unique, discrete societies with our own sets of beliefs and traditions, but it also brings us together under the shared sign of what it means to be human."

Co-Curator Dr. Marata Tamaira, Māori (Ngāti Tūwharetoa Tribe)

Photo: Andrew Waits

Human life is shaped by “stuff” all around us—and our stuff reveals surprising truths about our lives.

Photo: Cathy Morris/Burke Museum

Associated Collection Term

Archaeology

Culture

Salish Bounty

Cathy Morris — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 09:08:13 +0000

Salish Bounty Cathy Morris Tue, 07/30/2019 - 02:08

Traditional Native Foods of Puget Sound

Food is the essence of culture, from the collection, to the preparation, to the serving and then the eating of food; it is what makes us who we are. It binds us to our families, our community, our history, our identity, and our home.

While there have been enormous changes in Coast Salish Native diet and culture over the centuries, a core value of food has survived: food is a blessing, gratefully and respectfully gathered and prepared, given and received with just as much gratification and respect.

Salish Bounty was a temporary exhibit at the Burke Museum in 2012 then a traveling exhibit that went to museums and cultural centers across Washington state, inviting people to explore the deep history of Coast Salish diets and the reestablishment of more healthful and sustainable practices.

See more from Burke Museum Archaeology.

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Photo: Elise Krohn

Spring stinging nettles.

Photo: Elise Krohn

Thimbleberry.

Photo: Elise Krohn

Wild garlic and onions.

Photo: Elise Krohn

Associated Collection Term

Archaeology

Culture

The Waterlines Project

Cathy Morris — Mon, 29 Jul 2019 23:45:58 +0000

The Waterlines Project Cathy Morris Mon, 07/29/2019 - 16:45

Seattle's Past Landscapes

Founded on Indian ground by American settlers in 1851, Seattle is one of the most dramatically engineered cities in the United States. Its shorelines have been extended, lagoons filled, hills flattened and rivers re-routed. Built on an active geological fault near a large volcano, Seattle has also been jolted by huge earthquakes, washed by tsunamis, covered by volcanic mud and ash, carved by glaciers and changing sea levels. See how The Waterlines Project is bringing these ancient ghost landscapes back to life.

Visit Waterlines website

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The Waterlines Map

The Waterlines Project Map (PDF) is a rendering of the Seattle region in the mid-19th century, just prior to non-Indigenous settlement, created using photorealistic aerial views collaged with hand painting. The map content integrates research from the sciences, natural and cultural histories, and informed imaginings.

The place names on this map, written in the Southern Lushootseed language of the Coast Salish people in the Seattle area, are drawn from elders who worked with ethnographers in the early twentieth century, from the work of linguists and scholars such as the late Vi taqʷšəblu Hilbert, and the research of q́ʷat́ələmu (Nancy Jo Bob) and qəɬtəblu (Tami Hohn).

Place names are stories: proof of presence, archives of meaning, evidence of ancestry, and a reference for treaties and other legal connections to territory. They provide context to the ongoing presence and strong connections to the city for Indigenous people as co-managers of our shared resources.

The historical landscape conditions are based on mapping done by the Puget Sound River History Project for guiding regional issues of resource management, restoration, and environmental planning. These studies can inform urban design decisions related to green infrastructure, flood management, and other contemporary planning issues surrounding sustainability and resilience.

Download Map (PDF)

Find copies around Seattle:

Burke Museum (when open on October 12, 2019)
Elliot Bay Book Company
Museum of History and Industry
Olympic Sculpture Park
Seattle Public Central Library
Wing Luke Museum
and various other spots around Seattle

Credits:

Production and creative direction by Amir Sheikh in collaboration with Brian Collins, Don Fels, Peter Lape, Joyce LeCompte, Coll Thrush, Cynthia Updegrave, and David Williams. We also thank Brian Atwater, Brian Boram, B.J. Cummings, Steve Denton, Jolene Hass, Warren King George, Lorraine McConaghy, Jess Milhausen, Megon Noble, Laura Phillips, Aaron Raymond, and Ken Yocom. Southern Lushootseed research supported by Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. Southern Lushootseed Font: SL Lushootseed Style created by Tami Hohn (Puyallup Tribe). Map designed by Michael Lewis and Jordan Monez of About Nature. Waterlines is a project of the Burke Museum.

This project was supported, in part, by an award from 4Culture.

Photo: Burke Museum

Associated Collection Term

Archaeology

Cathy Morris — Mon, 06 May 2019 20:38:12 +0000

Archaeology Cathy Morris Mon, 05/06/2019 - 13:38

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Archaeology at the Burke Museum

Archaeology is the study of how people lived in the past—from thousands of years ago to recent times—through the objects they left behind.

The Archaeology Collection is part of the Burke Museum Heritage Department and includes over 1 million artifacts, soil samples, animal and plant remains, and their associated field records.

We care for objects from around the world, but our primary focus is the Pacific Northwest.

Photo: Rachel Ormiston/Burke Museum

Nooksack Tribal Member Elizabeth Swanaset King George (right) and her granddaughter bless a Green River Canoe before its maiden voyage. Elizabeth’s father, George Swanaset Sr., carved the canoe—a replica of an original artifact found in the Green River that is a part of the Burke’s Archaeology Collections.

Photo: Rachel Ormiston/Burke Museum

Archaeology staff unpacking artifacts after our move to the new building.

Photo: Andrew Waits

Visitors exploring how tools were used today and in the past.

Photo: Rachel Ormiston/Burke Museum

Ancient wooden artifacts recovered from buried wet environments require special care.

Photo: Rachel Ormiston/Burke Museum

Archaeology staff opening a cabinet of stone mortars.

Photo: Rachel Ormiston/Burke Museum

A visiting researcher studies early 20^th century shoes found in Mukilteo at the site of an old lumber mill where Japanese immigrants and their families lived in company housing.

Photo: Rachel Ormiston/Burke Museum

Curation is about taking special care of objects, such as this 600-year old basketry fragment, for future generations.

At a glance

Archaeology Collections

Million objects in the Archaeology Collection

40%

Of collections owned by other public agencies and Tribes

2,000

Linear feet of field documents, maps, photos and media

Database

Search the Collection

Many of the archaeology artifacts and records are available in the Burke Museum Collections Database. New data is added regularly, including non-diagnostic photos for inventory. In order to protect archaeological sites, no specific locations are available.

Archaeology Collection Database

Collection Highlights

The Archaeology Collection contains artifacts, soil samples, animal and plant remains, and their associated field records.

Wetsite artifacts, such as the basketry hat pictured below, are a unique cultural resource. Waterlogged areas, such as wetlands and riverbanks create an anaerobic environment that helps preserve organic objects made from plants, bone and leather.

The ancient hat was excavated in 1976, along with the remnants of a fish weir and fiber netting. Though it is crushed and damaged, this unusual hat retains enough of its original shape to allow contemporary weavers, such as Karen Reid-Peters, to study and recreate its ancient style. The blackened color is from the polyethylene glycol used to preserve it after removal from the wet site.

Photo: Burke Museum

Archaeological evidence shows that people have been living in the Seattle area for at least 13,000 years. The Burke Museum cares for several archaeological collections from Seattle and the wider Puget Sound area, which can provide information about early Native American life.

Burke archaeological collections also cover more recent history of non-Native settlement and the growth of Seattle after the 1850’s, as well as collections from Native American settlements such as the Sba'badil site, which help illustrate how Native Americans in the Seattle area lived alongside their new neighbors.

In addition, the Burke holds one of the largest collections of Japanese-American artifacts from archaeological excavations in the world, and these collections help us learn about the early history of Japanese-Americans in Washington, as well as the early lumber milling and coal mining communities in which these immigrants often lived and worked.

Photo: Rachel Ormiston/Burke Museum

Many public agencies and tribes in the Pacific Northwest request that the Burke Museum care for collections from their properties to ensure long-term preservation and access.

Burke Museum Archaeology curates collections for a number of government agencies, including the Washington State Department of Transportation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Puyallup Tribe of Indians and many others. Some of these collections are stored at the Burke only temporarily while others have been deposited for long-term care. These collections are not owned by the Burke Museum. Research access may be restricted.

Learn more about Curation Services.

Curation Services

Photo: Digging stick handle (for digging camas and/or clams), held in trust for National Park Service, San Juan Island NHP. Cat.#SAJH 139540.

A small comparative faunal collection is being created for archaeologists with a focus on domesticated animals and small mammals to help supplement the extensive skeletal collections already available at the Burke Museum.

Photo: Domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) bones. Burke Museum cat. no. #BMA.003.

Curation Services

Preserving cultural resources at the
Burke Museum.

Learn More

Archaeology Scholarships

Spending time in the collections to better understand heritage.

Learn More

Repatriation

Returning the ancestors home.

Learn More

Photo: Courtesy Peter Lape/Burke Museum

Our Research

Burke archaeology collections are used by researchers from around the world to answer questions about human history, lifeways and health, past ecosystems and climate, and to reconnect to traditional knowledge.

Recent projects in our workrooms include studying the materials and weaving patterns of ancient baskets, diet of Seattle’s immigrant communities, sea mammal hunting in the Kuril Islands, river canoe construction in the Green River valley, and histories of prohibition era alcohol consumption in Seattle.

Curator of Archaeology Dr. Peter Lape focuses primarily on understanding how people lived on small tropical islands in Island Southeast Asia. He studies pottery, food residues and marine sediments to answer questions about trade, diet history and past climates.
Archaeology Collections Manager Laura Phillips is interested in topics that pertain to alternative and collaborative methods for researching and curating archaeological materials in light of the wealth of community knowledge about object care and preservation.

University of Washington Courses

Students can also take classes in the Burke Museum Archaeology Collections, engaging in archaeology, museology, curation, interpretation and independent research.

UW Anthropology

UW Museology

Photo: Peter Lape/Burke Museum

Questions & Answers

We’ve compiled answers to some of the most common questions we receive. Have another question that you need help with? Contact us.

The Burke Museum actively encourages research on all of its collections. Interested researchers should contact us to obtain information on available collections, the research process and to schedule an appointment to discuss an individual research plan.

Archaeology regularly offers scholarships to support students, cultural experts and other researchers Archaeology has some research equipment available to borrow. Learn more about Archaeology Collections Scholarships.

All researchers will be required to complete a Research Request Form (webform) detailing their project and agree to all listed conditions of access. A one-page description of the proposed research must also be submitted along with the form.

Resources:

Requests for borrowing objects for museum exhibits are considered on a case-by-case basis. We cannot lend objects to individuals.

For more information, please refer to our Culture Collections Loan Policy (PDF) and contact us.

Our staff is able to answer questions and provide information on a time-available basis. For more details about identification and how to prepare to have something identified, see the Burke Museum Object Identification Request page.

We are actively growing both our object and archival collections. If you wish to make a donation, please contact us.

Yes, the Burke Museum works closely with tribes throughout the U.S., meeting the letter and spirit of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation act (NAGPRA). The Burke also works with other communities and countries to repatriate ancestors and sensitive artifacts. Learn more about Burke Museum Repatriation.

Please review the information on the Copyright & Images page, which includes relevant forms and additional instructions then contact us to request an image.

We couldn’t do what we do without volunteers! Visit our Volunteer page for more information about Burke Museum volunteer opportunities and to view current openings.

Culture Team

Meet the people within the Burke Museum Culture team.

Our Team

Have a question?

Contact Archaeology

Photo: Rachel Ormiston/Burke Museum

Additional Resources

We've compiled several online resources from outside of the Burke Museum that may also be of interest.

Association for Washington Archaeology

Department of Anthropology

University of Washington

Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation

Washington State Curation Summit Group

Washington State Tribal Directory (PDF)

Land Acknowledgement

The Burke Museum stands on the lands of the Coast Salish Peoples, whose ancestors have resided here since time immemorial. Many Indigenous peoples thrive in this place — alive and strong.

Support Archaeology

Your gift makes it possible! We couldn't do what we do without generous donor support for collections care, research and public outreach.

Donate Today

Photo: Rachel Ormiston/Burke Museum

Photo: Cathy Morris/Burke Museum

3,500-year-old pumpkin spice?

Burke PR — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 16:56:52 +0000

3,500-year-old pumpkin spice? Burke PR Mon, 10/08/2018 - 09:56

The soles of the Japanese Gulch

Ashley Pickard — Fri, 13 Apr 2018 16:45:14 +0000

The soles of the Japanese Gulch Ashley Pickard Fri, 04/13/2018 - 09:45

Connecting with Japanese Gulch Artifacts

Burke Museum — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 21:45:06 +0000

Connecting with Japanese Gulch Artifacts Burke Museum Wed, 12/20/2017 - 13:45

Archaeology

Archaeology Mini-Exhibit: Uncovering Pacific Pasts

Launching the Coast Salish s.dəxʷìł canoe

Indigenous Peoples' Day at the Burke Museum

Our Material World

From the food we put in our bodies to the furniture we put in our homes, human life is shaped by “stuff” all around us—and our stuff reveals surprising truths about our lives.

Floor 3, Archaeology

Co-Curator Dr. Marata Tamaira, Māori (Ngāti Tūwharetoa Tribe)

Salish Bounty

Traditional Native Foods of Puget Sound

The Waterlines Project

Seattle's Past Landscapes

The Waterlines Map

Find copies around Seattle:

News & Stories

Credits:

Archaeology

Archaeology at the Burke Museum

At a glance

Archaeology Collections

Database

Search the Collection

Collection Highlights

Wetsite Artifacts

History of Seattle

Held-in-Trust Collections

Comparative Faunal Collections

Curation Services

Archaeology Scholarships

Repatriation

Our Research

University of Washington Courses

Questions & Answers

I’m a researcher. Can I visit the collection?

Can I borrow an object for my research?

Can I have an object identified?

I’d like to donate something. How do I go about doing that?

Does the Burke repatriate collections?

Can I request a photo of an object?

Can I become a volunteer?

Culture Team

Have a question?

Additional Resources

University of Washington

Land Acknowledgement

Support Archaeology

3,500-year-old pumpkin spice?

The soles of the Japanese Gulch

Connecting with Japanese Gulch Artifacts