Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology Collection

The Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology Collection, known as the Ella Riegel Memorial Museum or the Ella Riegel Study Collection, includes over 6,000 objects from the ancient Mediterranean world, primarilyGreece and Italy, but also the Near East, Egypt, Cyprus, and the Bronze Age Aegean area. The focus of this collection is on Greek and Roman minor arts, especially vases. The collection was formed from private donations such as the Densmore Curtis Collection presented by Clarissa Compton Dryden, ’32, MA ’35, the Elisabeth Washburn King ’17, MA ’37 Collection of classical Greek coins, and the Aline Abaecherli Boyce (MA ’28, Ph.D ’32) Collection of Roman Republican silver coins. In addition, the late Professor Hetty Goldman gave an extensive series of pottery samples from the excavation at Tarsus in Cilicia.

World Archaeology

Dr. Frederica de Laguna, founder of the Anthropology Department, played a major role in the development of this collection. The William S. Vaux Collection, a gift of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, provides the basis of this collection. The Vaux Collection consists of archaeological objects from North, Central and South America, as well as Old World Europe. The Vaux Collection is complimented by the Ward and Mariam Coffin Canaday '06 Collection of Pre-Columbian Ceramics and Textiles from Peru. These main collections have been augmented by important gifts from faculty, alumna and friends of the College such as Frederica de Laguna '27, Conway Zirkle and Helen E. Kingsbury '20, M.A. ’21, and Hobson Pittman.