Recovered artifacts from a site are sometimes all that remains for future researchers to investigate.  Care must be taken to carefully prepare these items for perpetual storage so that vital information is not lost due to faded or flaked off labels or damage resulting from mishandling.

After processing, the materials from each site are sorted into prehistoric or historic categories and then further rough sorted into various classes (e.g., glass, metal, historic ceramic, lithic, prehistoric ceramic, other, etc.) and distributed to the appropriate analysts.  Artifacts are bagged separately by material type and class (i.e. diagnostic items bagged separately from nondiagnostic items) within each provenience.  Nonorganic artifacts are bagged in two millimeters or thicker polyethylene (Ziploc TM) bags.  Bag size will be suitable for the quantity and size of artifacts and labeled with the site number, catalog number, provenience, archaeologist’s name and organization, and collection date.  Additionally, the same information will be printed on an acid-free card enclosed in a small, resealable polyethylene bag that is placed within the overall provenience bag.