Curation is the long-term, professional management and care of all objects, materials, and records recovered and generated during a federal or nonfederal archaeological undertaking. As part of the federal government’s effort to protect and preserve the Nation’s cultural and archaeological resources, regulatory mandates (particularly Title 36, Part 79 of the Code of Federal Regulations) require the federal agency to provide curatorial services that manage and preserve collections according to professional museum and archival practice. MCX-CMAC is a central source for specialized cultural resources services and recommendations, which includes curation. As such, MCX-CMAC has developed an extensive team of curatorial and archival specialists, as well as an archaeological collections processing and storage facility, at its St. Louis location.
Multiple individuals and organizations, ranging from installation cultural resource managers to Corps of Engineers archaeologists, have contacted MCX-CMAC curatorial staff for advice, recommendations, or with the intent of tasking MCX-CMAC with rehousing a specific archaeological collection. If MCX-CMAC is asked to rehouse a collection, several steps will be followed in accordance with the Center’s curation process.
