About the Storage Facility | Features | Preparing the Collections

About the Storage Facility

The Alexandria Archaeology Storage Facility was created in 1990, with assistance from the City of Alexandria, the National Science Foundation, and the Institute of Museum Services. The facility was created to provide the environmental conditions necessary for long-term preservation of these important collections. Special care was taken to use stable materials for equipment and packaging which do not "off-gas," or give off harmful fumes, and to provide a very stable temperature and humidity. The storeroom is also equipped with smoke detectors, a sprinkler system, and a separate security alarm.

Between 1980 and 1990, the collections were stored in a number of different locations, including the old Torpedo Factory, the gym of the old Parker Grey school, and the basement of this building. Much of the collection was not easily accessible during this time. The poor environmental conditions, including high humidity and overcrowding, caused boxes to collapse and artifacts to deteriorate. To correct these conditions, staff spent five years in planning, grant writing, and building the new facility. The collections have been inventoried, conserved and rehoused in archival materials.

Some Features of the Storage Facility

Compactor Shelving: Compactor shelving moves on a track, allowing nearly twice as much storage capacity as regular shelving. One pound of pressure can move 900 pounds with this mechanical assist system. The store room holds a total of 3,564 boxes.

The shelves and carriages are made of steel with a baked enamel finish, on a platform of marine plywood covered with nylon carpeting with a jute backing. These materials were chosen to minimize off-gasing of harmful fumes from materials such as vinyl or from particle board or interior grade plywood, which give off formaldehyde.

HVAC System: Some archaeological materials are very sensitive to climatic changes. The HVAC system maintains a constant temperature and humidity, avoiding fluctuations which would hasten the artifacts' deterioration. The "computer room unit," which combines heating, air conditioning, humidification and dehumidification in one machine, is the most efficient way to closely control temperature and humidity in one room. An instrument called a recording hygrothermograph measures temperature and humidity, and records it on a chart over a period of one month. This allows us to monitor the HVAC system, and make corrections if needed. A Psychrometer, which also measures temperature and humidity, is used to calibrate the hygrothermograph.

Preparing the Collection for Storage

Computer Inventory: A computer is used to maintain a box inventory of all the collections, at the Storage Facility and at the Museum. The inventory is maintained in a Paradox database. Each box of artifacts is assigned a number in the database. Information recorded includes the site and provenience number, a description of the artifacts, storage conditions, conservation needs, and storage location. The box labels were printed from this system.

Conservation Survey: A conservation survey was conducted in 1989 before the collections were moved here to the new storage facility. A professional conservator conducted a general environmental assessment and made recommendations for renovation of the facility. With two assistants, she also looked at the contents of each box and made recommendations for repacking the collection and for treating specific artifacts. This information was included in the computerized box inventory, along with man-hour figures and priorities, enabling us to budget for conservation treatment. The conservation survey, repacking and treatment were funded through grants from the Institute of Museum Services.

Conservation Treatment: Artifacts which were actively deteriorating were conserved by a professional conservator in 1991. Some of the problems which resulted from poor conditions in the old, basement storeroom included corroding metal and salt deposits on ceramics. Ongoing conservation" is taking place with the assistance of the Museum's Adopt-an-Artifact program, in which donor's sponsor conservation of individual artifacts.

Archival Packaging: For long-term preservation of the artifacts, it is important to use stable, archival packing materials. Like many archaeological collections, many artifacts had been packed in paper bags used in the field, with paper labels, and were stored in liquor boxes. The paper and glue deteriorated over time, threatening the preservation of important site information as well as the artifacts themselves. As part of the conservation project, all of the artifacts were rehoused in archival materials. This project required the use of more than 16,000 polyethylene bags, 16,000 acid-free card stock labels, and 1,300 archival record storage boxes.

Creating micro-environments: Metal artifacts require a dryer environment than the rest of the artifacts, in order to prevent active corrosion. Inexpensive micro-environments were created using air-tight polyethylene boxes containing packets of silica gel. The silica gel absorbs and holds moisture. When the blue indicating crystals turn pink, the silica gel needs to be dried out in an oven for re-use.