Labeling Finds

[Havenhunter]

For the moment I have my points in individually labeled ziplock bags placed into partitioned craft boxes. Not exactly the best way to display or enjoy my collection.
I've seen some points with small numbers and/or letters scribed on them, presumably to ID them in some format.
Can ya'll share how you display and identify your finds?

[CMD]

Just a simple idea for now. I frame points, etc. by the site where they were found. There must be apps that help with cataloging these days; you can photograph them as part of a digital record. I have antique red-bordered labels for bigger pieces, like hardstone tools, but those are hard to find. It's a great question, pretty fundamental, and I'll let others weigh in.  For now, here's a piece on frames. You can always label the frame.

http://oldstoneslm.hubpages.com/hub/arrowheadsondisplay

Sorry, that page is an ad, but you get the idea. Google "Riker mounts" and go from there.

[CMD]

As an example, here's a frame from one field. We used to number our pieces and keep a catalog, but this is lazier :rolf:
And a lot easier! But, this is just a simplistic answer to your question. Just allows you to see them better....

[Hoss]

people tend to do it in many ways. If you decide to do this it would be best to attache GPS coordinates to it some how. I have seen old collections with the red bordered labels Charlie is talking about I was checking out an older collection once and the gentleman opened  a drawer the stones had tiny glue spots on them with a bunch of curled labels laying in the bottom of the drawer. You can write directly on artifacts with a fine point sharpie but the  indelible marker will sink into the porous stone and never come out. I have seen folks using clear nail polish. Apply it let it dry  then writing in black on the dried nail polish. then top coat the writing with more clear. In that way just a quick swab with a cotton ball and acetone could clean it off if desired or a sustained permanent mark on your artifact. With points pick the ugly side so it could be displayed with the best side up in a frame.
We had sites with names we made up   Cow Bone Alley, Pork Chop Hill,  and another called the 84 lot. A lot more too some named after farmers who have long since passed on and family has  sold the property.  No one but a few of my close relatives knew these names. So we have a book with the names and actual locations cross referenced within.

[Hoss]

I agree with Charlie the rikers display cases are nice and you can get colored felt from Walmart dirt cheap and add any color backing you like to your display.

[Havenhunter]

Yeah, I saw some wooden cases sold on Amazon. Beautiful but really pricey.
Thanks for the tip re. clear polish -and- a Sharpie. Works on all but black lithics.

[Hoss]

Sharpies come in other colors. You can get wood frames at Hobby Lobby They will have backing too. or Jo-Anne's some folks make thier own frames or there are custom frame makers out there and the sky is the limit on prices with some of those guys. Hobby Lobby runs a sale every other week on the frames. the current ad for a nice sized frame here.  http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/...y-case-294975/
Buyer beware it says walnut but that is just the finished color I believe these are pine. I have a few and bought them when they were 12.49 but it looks like they have gone up. They are OK for display but nothing like the quality on the oak ones.

[painshill]

There's a good article on marking and cataloguing artefacts available for download via our Information Centre here:

http://www.arrowheads.com/index.php/forum/storage-display-a-labelling/81798-marking-cataloguing-artefacts

Note: I will move this thread to the artefact questions section shortly. This section is for questions about how the forum works.

[tomclark]

I will not mark any of my artifacts but they all come from West Central Gulf Coastal FL, so don't think there is a need to.  But I do lump them together by site mostly, not by type.

[Hoss]

I did just get one of these for Christmas   http://www.staples.com/Brother-PT-D4...MCFeZj7AodN3sA
Your post has prompted me to give it a try on some of my purchased artifacts.
What I buy is usually for sale. People who buy tend to not want writing on the artifacts. I figure this could be a less permanent record. I have only used it on a few pieces and I am still on the fence?
It was a Christmas gift so only time will tell if the labels curl up and fall off.

[CMD]

These are the antique labels I mentioned. I don't think they make these anymore, which is too bad. I was lucky to buy out a stationary store of it's inventory of these years ago....

[painshill]

CMD wrote:

These are the antique labels I mentioned. I don't think they make these anymore, which is too bad. I was lucky to buy out a stationary store of it's inventory of these years ago....

  You could easily mock those up in PowerPoint and print your own on self-adhesive sheets Charlie or even just gum them on. If you created the borders as a grouped graphic you could also then scale the labels to any size you liked just by dragging.

[Torrey]

Hello, Deb -
I use a method taught me by a curator of the N.C. Museum of History, which is as follows:
1.  Spread a layer of clear nail polish on a selected part of the artifact.  [I use Sally Hanson brand nail polish.]  Allow it to dry for 24 hours.
2.  With a ultra fine point Sharpie, carefully write the county and state where the object was found (and any other desired information) on the dry layer of clear nail polish.  Allow the writing to dry 24 hours.
3.  Carefully daub more clear nail polish on the writing.  [It is important to daub rather than spread the nail polish, or the writing will smear.]  Allow the nail polish to dry.  You are done.
This method preserves the desired information very well and since the writing remains on the artifact itself, it ensures that the information is readily available.  If you wish to remove the writing, simply clean it off with nail polish remover.  I have used this method for more than 20 years and have yet to find fault with it. 
I hope that this information helps. 
Regards, Torrey

[chase]

All great Information GPS is good, Clear nail polish and numbering  A method on that is to do a number to the site dash and a number to the find. I find that a ink well pen works best for smaller numbers, and make a log. if you want to get specific then make a digital image, print it out put all information on that page and when a point gets put into a riker box frame just put it below the padding in the box of the frame. So when your collection grows and you move points just transfer the printed page.

[orari]

I can tell you how the professional archaeologists do it in the archaeology labs at universities and CRM companies.  Get an old-fashioned bottle of Liquid Paper at an office supply store, a bottle of clear nail polish, a stylus pen, and a bottle of Pelikan Touche black ink.  Choose the side of the artifact you wish to label.  Paint a small rectangle of Liquid Paper on the artifact, wait about a minute for it to dry, write your ID Number on the dried Liquid Paper.  Wait another minute for the ink to dry. Paint a small slash of nail polish across the white rectangle to seal in the writing and Liquid Paper.  Writing on the Liquid Paper keeps the indelible ink off your artifact.
Make yourself a Microsoft Word table.  This is your Artifact Catalog.  It can run on for 1000 pages if you like.  Make two columns.  Use the left column for your ID Numbers and label it ID Number in bold as the column heading.  Make a wide right hand column, say four or 5 inches wide.  Make the column heading Notes and bold it.  Enter the ID number for your first artifact in the left column.  In the corresponding right column, put the name of the site, where the site is located, what part of the site the artifact was found on, and any other salient thing you would like to say about the artifact.  Make an extra backup copy of your Artifact Catalog on a flash drive and back up each set of changes you make to the catalog on this flash drive just in case the hard drive on your computer ever goes bad or lightning fries it.
Make sure family members know about the existence of the Artifact Catalog, tell them it is valuable, and tell them you do not want it thrown away when you die.  They must keep it and pass it down within the family from one generation to the next as an heirloom, even if the artifacts are no longer with it.
W. E. Myer had a collection of 12,000+ artifacts.  When he died, his relatives sold the collection and most of the collection was never heard from again---no idea where the artifacts went or where they are now.  Archaeologists had wondered for years what artifacts were in that collection and where they came from.  A number of decades after Myer's death, his home had been converted into a funeral home.  Tucked away in a damp corner of the basement, they found a 160 page Artifact Catalog (Volume II) that documented about half of his collection.  Nobody knows what happened to Volume I. Myer had made detailed notes about each artifact in his catalog---sometimes a page and a story written about certain special artifacts.  It was a treasure trove of archaeological information that was, quite frankly, salivated over by archaeologists who needed it for their research---and it may be helpful in actually finding and studying some of the recorded artifacts.  Many times the small things that we think are so unimportant right now turn out to be a another person's Godsend in later years.  Be some future person's Godsend.