In 1940 the University of Pennsylvania Museum initiated archaeological excavations at the site of Sitio Conte, located about one hundred miles west of Panama City, Panama. This extremely important pre-Columbian site yielded about thirty burials and caches ranging from grave lots with a few vessels to burials of ten feet square containing hundreds of pottery vessels as well as objects of stone, carved bone, gold and other materials. In the most elaborate burial twenty three individuals were recovered. In sum, the materials afford an unprecedented look into the elite ruling class of this complex stratified society and in conjunction with the skeletons allow researchers to address a number of significant anthropological issues. For example it is possible to examine the relationships between social status, nutrition and gender. The documentation in the form of written records and photographs is excellent and forms an essential part of the research collection. However it is not well catalogued and is difficult to use. This award permits the University Museum to catalog the material and to enter it in digital form into an Argus storage system. Both photographs and written records will then be made available over the internet for research purposes. The project is important because it will make an anthropologically significant research collection widely available for research purposes. It also breaks new ground in museum storage and distribution of information and, if successful, will provide a model of potentially wide use.
