Animated Object: Bird Figurine from Costa Rica

by Bernard K. Means, Directory, Virtual Curation Laboratory

 

This bird figurine was 3D scanned at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH) on June 23, 2015.  It is part of CMNH’s Costa Rican study collection.

 

 

Animation of the Day: Smoking Pipe with Masonic Symbol from James Madison’s Montpelier

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory

Today’s animation is a clay smoking pipe with Masonic symbol that was recovered from James Madison’s Montpelier.This object was scanned in the archaeology laboratory at Montpelier on July 8, 2015.  As James Madison himself was not a Mason, Dr. Matthew Reeves, director of archaeology at Montpelier, notes there are two possibilities for the origin of this pipe: 1) it may have belonged to one of Madison’s guests, or 2) it may have to a member of the enslaved community at Montpelier, as suggested by descendants of this community that helped recover the smoking pipe.

Animated Object of Today: Theropod Claw from Maryland’s Dinosaur Park

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory (VCL)

Today ‘s animation is a theropod claw from Prince George’s County’s Dinosaur Park. Theropods are a type of dinosaur and those found at the Dinosaur Park include ornithomimids and dromaeosaurs

Animation of the Day: Daub with Finger Impression from Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory

Today’s animation is a fragment of daub with finger impressions recovered archaeologically at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest and was scanned in their archaeology laboratory. According to Jenn Ogborne, the Archaeology Laboratory Supervisor at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, “The daub is from the Tomahawk quarter farm at Poplar Forest, specifically in the plowzone above a two-room structure defined by postmolds, with a subfloor pit in both rooms. There are two other structures nearby. It was likely occupied about 1790 to 1812 (when Jefferson had the occupants moved to another location).” Jenn also provides these pictures of the daub alongside a 3D printed replica created in the Virtual Curation Laboratory.  The replica will be painted to resemble the original.

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