Research

The museum’s collections consist of: historic and prehistoric Native American baskets; historic and prehistoric Native American ceramic vessels; and various prehistoric bone and shell archaeological objects. The collection also includes: historic Euro-American and Native American leather objects; historic Euro-American and Native American textiles; historic glass and wooden Euro-American objects; prehistoric stone objects; turquoise and lithic materials; as well as minerals and fossils.

Researchers interested in studying items in the Lost City collections and archives should contact Curator/Archaeologist Virginia Lucas for more information.

Lost City Museum Collection Project Highlight

A new three dimensional (3D) digitization project is on-going at Lost City Museum. Benjamin Van Alstyne is producing models of select bowls, canteens, jars and cooking pots. These are prehistoric items that were recovered from archaeological excavations in Moapa Valley. The 3D models are hosted on SketchFab.com, where they can be viewed using smartphones, tablets and desktop computers in virtual reality. The objects are labeled with interesting facts such as how they were made, decorated and the time period when they were used. A user can click the numbered annotations and read the description below the 3D model to learn more about the artifact.

Curious and want to know more? The Lost City Museum has prehistoric and historic items interpreted in its three exhibition halls. Come see them in person!

This project is part of a partnership between the Department of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the Lost City Museum. The goals of the digitization effort are to increase public engagement and promote visibility of Lost City Museum collections.

Benjamin Van Alstyne is currently pursuing his Ph.D. degree in Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His Master’s research focused on using digital 3D architectural reconstructions of the Virgin Branch Puebloan culture to study their social organization and habitation patterns on the Colorado Plateau. Benjamin also uses his digital skills to create 3D models of artifacts and architectural reconstructions to help the public learn about the past.

References

Colton, Harold Sellers and Lyndon Lane Hargrave

1937 Handbook of northern Arizona pottery wares. Museum of Northern Arizona bulletin. Northern Arizona society of science and art, Flagstaff,.

Hally, David J.

1986 The Identification of Vessel Function: A Case Study from Northwest Georgia. American Antiquity 51(02):267-295.

Lyneis, Margaret M.

1992 The Main Ridge community at Lost City : Virgin Anasazi architecure, ceramics, and burials. University of Utah anthropological papers. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

McCormick, Helen Jill

2010 An evaluation of the Lowland Patayan Ceramics Typology. Master’s Thesis, Archaeology, Prescott College.

Rice, Prudence M.

2015 Pottery analysis : a sourcebook. Second edition. ed. University of Chicago Press, Chicago ; London.

Seymour, Gregory R and Laureen Perry

1998 A Guide to the Ceramic Type Collection at the Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The Bureau of Reclamation. Copies available from HRC Report No. 1-3-31.

Shepard, Anna Osler

1961 Ceramics for the archaeologist. Carnegie Institution of Washington publication. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC.

Sinopoli, Carla M.

1991 Approaches to archaeological ceramics. Plenum Press, New York.