An inquiry into “The Copper Artifact Master Database (CAMD)”

Abstract

Author and Historian Monette Bebow-Reinhard has been working with copper ancient rarities since 2000, when she started her work with the Oconto County (Wisconsin) Historical Society, home of the most established copper entombment site in the country. She has been incorporating a database of copper ancient rarities all through the country with an end goal to track an exchange system. She is also writing articles about what this database shows, and hopes to put out a series of resources manuals to make the data available and show its use. The Copper Artifact Master Database (CAMD) is a compilation of copper artifacts derived from more than 300 museums and collectors who shared their material with her. Monette gathers the data about their collections—where each piece was found, what the piece looks like, how many of each piece was found in that location, and who initially found it (See the sample at the end).  “Donor information is important because it can keep her from recording duplicates, because artifacts change hands all the time,” she says.

Monette has a master’s in history, but started research on the Aztecs, Mayas and Incas as part of her undergrad work in anthropology. Monette retained this interest in trade networks and timelines and sees them very sharply coming into focus with this database. Distinction in the Major was called “Aztec Origins.” Since she is neither a private collector nor an excavator, her emphasis is on being an arbiter between collectors and archaeologists and in offering her compilation to researchers, students, archaeologists and museums—any interested in learning more about these ancient populations in the Americas.  Monette addressed a couple of our inquiries concerning her work in copper examination.