Jean S. Gardner The Conservation of Fragile Specimens from the Spiro Mound, Le Flore County, Oklahoma

The following report is divided into sections based on the materials used to fabricate the Spiro specimens: wood, bone, basketry, textiles, stone, mica, shell, copper, and leather. A small report on repair of casts (of specimens in the Spiro collection) is also included. Each of these sections discusses treatments utilized in the study and re-storage methods adopted. The treatments are explained in nontechnical language and are accompanied by photographs that illustrate the conditions discussed in storage or in treatment. It does not seem to be generally understood that storage is an important par.t of conservation, but great emphasis is placed on storage in the various sections of this report. It is of much concern to this researcher that the Spiro collection is housed in a building that has no fire protection and in a room with no climate control (not even air conditioning in the summer or heat in winter). The keen interest and concern of the North American archeology curator, Dr. Robert Bell, has been a major factor in the survival and publication of the collection. I should add that the museum administration is concerned about the storage problem at the North Lab, but no source of funding has been located.