The Washington State Curation Summit addresses curation of historic and precontact archaeological collections. In September 2003, a group of interested individuals, representing tribal, federal, state, and city governmental agencies, museums, and cultural resource contract firms met to discuss the issue. The group identified 3 primary areas of concern: lack of curation guidelines, cost, and lack of location information for collections from systematic surveys and excavations.

The January 12, 2004, meeting resulted in two work groups to address two of the three concerns: creating voluntary curation guidelines and obtaining funding to secure a full-time position at the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation to research and locate all collections from past investigations. Cost of caring for collections in perpetuity will be addressed at later meetings.

This website provides information on group activities and provides intersted parties a means to comment on the process. Please take time to familiarize yourself with the group. For additional information on the group or to ask questions pertaining to information presented on this site, please contact Steve Denton.