The Laboratory of Physical Anthropology (1976 - Present)
The opening of the laboratory of physical anthropology in December of 1976 continued the renaissance of the Hamann-Todd Collection. The Hadar fossil hominids brought from Ethiopia to Cleveland by Don Johanson became the center of focus in the lab. A casting lab was also set up in order to mold and cast the fossil material. A number of new and innovative casting techniques were devised and a mold rotating machine was built so that hollow casts could be produced.
The Hadar original fossil material was returned to the National Museum of Ethiopia in early 1979. The description and results of the analysis of the fossil hominids was published in 1982 in a special issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. The casting program switched to reproduction of skulls of endangered primates present in the Hamann-Todd Osteological Collection.
The human skeletal material was organized and inventoried. Dangerous nitrate x-ray films were removed from the documentation files and safely disposed in 1979. A listing of the basic information (Specimen number, stated age, sex, ethnic origin, stature and weight at death) for each human specimen was compiled from the documentation left by T.W. Todd.
By 1982, the count of publications based on the Hamann-Todd Collection passed 300.
Two new storage space compactors were installed in the lab in 1982. Completion of this work provided the shelf and storage space to gather together in one place all the Museum’s human and non-human primate material. Post cranial material was removed from the old wooden storage boxes, dusted off, and transferred to the drawers in the new storage unit.
During 1982-1983, human skulls were put into new boxes. The skulls were cleaned, and the old copper pins and clips which held the halves of the sectioned skulls together were replaced with brass pins and clips.
Between 1982 and 1985, archival material and documentation related to the collection came to light at Case Western Reserve and Indiana Universities. The Case material included T.W. Todd’s reprint collection and some glass plate slides. The material at Indiana University consisted of almost half a ton of archival glass plate negatives. The glass plates were brought back to the Museum for curation and analysis.
A Hewlett Packard Faxatron x-ray unit and x-ray film developing machine were purchased in 1985.
Funding was obtained for a three-year project to degrease the human skeletal material. At the end of this time (1986), 2979 skeletons had been degreased as needed. This greatly reduced the collections susceptibility to attack from molds, and insects.
Hamann-Todd Human Osteological Collection documentation was microfilmed for archival purposes in 1986.
A joint project was conceived with the department of archaeology at the Museum to put our collections records onto computer databases. Funding was obtained from the National Science Foundation in 1987 and the project was completed in 1988. Since that time, hardware and software have been upgraded several times, and new databases have been written including an inventory of the documentation for each human specimen.
By 2000, the number of publications based on the Hamann - Todd collection had passed 600. By 2005, it had passed 700.
Bibliography
1982. Pliocene Hominid Fossils from Hadar, Ethiopia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 57 number 4
Smith J and Latimer B. 1985. The joy of casting. Explorer 27[Winter 1985], 4-5. Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
Smith J and Latimer B. 1989. A method for making three-dimensional reproductions of bones and fossils. Kirtlandia 44:3-16.
Smith J and Latimer B. 1989. Casting with resins. In: Feldmann RM, editor. Paleotechniques. The Paleontological Society. p 326-329.
Smith J and Latimer B. 1989. Making a multiple -piece mold. In: Feldmann RM, editor. Paleotechniques. The Paleontological Society. p 305-317.
Smith J and Latimer B. 1989. Preparation of hollow casts. In: Feldmann RM, editor. Paleotechniques. The Paleontological Society. p 331-335.