Series 05 - Laboratory of Archaeology

Includes records related to the Laboratory of Archaeology (LOA) stream of the Renewal Project. LOA is not a part of MOA. Rather, it is a teaching and research unit within UBC’s Department of Anthropology in the Faculty of Arts. Since 1977 the Laboratory has occupied space in both the Anthropology & Sociology Building (ANSO) and MOA. Since 2010, the newly renovated LOA facilities, located in the MOA building, accommodate a state-of-the-art Collections Repository, the Borden Research Lab, the Lithic Analysis Lab, the Faunal/Botanical Lab (with research bays for faculty, graduate student, and visiting researcher projects), the Archaeochemistry Lab, the Ceramic Analysis lab, and the Scanning Electron Microscope Lab. Our research facility also houses the Archaeology Archives and a “Transition Lab”– an area for processing artifacts, flotation, and receiving.

The purpose of the LOA stream of the LOA stream of the Renewal project was to “create, in conjunction with the MOA facilities, one of the most advanced and comprehensive research facilities in Canada,” with the following specific objectives:
• To create an operational database of LOA’s 500,000 artifacts in a format compatible with the RRN
• To digitize a portion of LOA’s collections for use through the RRN
• To build a storage system that facilitates access to LOA’s collections, and that also allows respectful and appropriate storage of the collections, with special attention to culturally sensitive objects and wet site materials
• To encourage and facilitate interdisciplinary, collaborative research on LOA’s collections
• To mitigate insect and pest infestations in LOA’s collections
• To create an archaeology exhibit at the Museum
• To create (in conjunction with the Building stream) state-of-the-art archaeological laboratories and associated research areas
• To satisfy First Nations communities, program participants, and researchers by providing appropriate access to archaeologically recovered information including artifacts
• To respond to First Nations communities’ concerns with regards to the repatriation and relocation of ancestral remains contained within LOA’s collections
• To provide enhanced support for archaeological teaching and training at UBC
• To increase students’ ability to be engaged in research involving LOA’s collections
(purpose and objectives of the LOA stream taken from the MRP Program Scope Definition, 1.2.)

Sue Rowley was the LOA stream lead.