Two decades ago, a federal sting operation discovered more than 100,000 Indigenous artifacts stolen from public and tribal lands across the Four Corners region of the West.
The various artifacts came in all shapes and sizes. Many were unique and amazingly well-preserved.
Among the biggest mysteries beside their remarkable condition: Who did these artifacts belong to? How could they be displayed for appreciation by a greater audience?
And finally, could some of them safely and securely be returned home?
Today, archeologists at the Natural History Museum of Utah and Utah Bureau of Land Management are working together to curate and preserve these indigenous artifacts as part of the largest illegal collection ever recovered by the federal government: the Cerberus Collection.
The undercover operation that started it all
The collection began with an undercover operation known as Operation Cerberus Action.
Starting in 2006, federal agents enlisted the help of an informant and gave him more than $300,000 to buy illicit artifacts. Over the course of 2½ years, the informant recorded 100 hours of videotape interacting with sellers and collectors while wearing a miniature camera hidden in the button of his shirt.
In 2009, search warrants were served in several Four Corners communities and individuals were arrested for illegally obtaining and selling Indigenous artifacts.
These arrests were part of “the nation’s largest investigation of archaeological and cultural artifact thefts”, and involved the collaboration of the BLM, FBI, U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement, according to the Department of the Interior.
More than 250 artifacts were recovered by federal agents as part of the seizures. The Cerberus Collection contains more than 100,000 objects assumed to come from several different Western states. Most of the objects currently in the Cerberus collection were forfeited under plea agreements to the government.
Anne T. Lawlor, anthropology collections manager at NHMU, started working on the Cerberus Collection in 2020. She said the objects in the collection are unlike anything she has ever seen.
“These are remarkably unusual sometimes, and very, very special,” Lawlor said. “There’s a quality to them and a beauty to them that is different from what I’ve seen before.”
There’s two clouds of mystery surrounding many of these recovered items: Where exactly did they come from, and how are they so well-preserved?
Some objects have maintained remarkable integrity to their original form.
“I can look at some of them, and I can clearly recognize what they are. ‘Oh, these are pendants’ or ‘oh, this is a beautiful black and white ceramic,’” Lawlor said.
Discussing the preservation of a shoe made of leather and yucca leaves, Lawlor remarked, “I think this actually would totally fit my foot.”
As these anomalous items were gathered up, it became clear that something had to be done with them, which inspired the Cerberus Collection.
What is the Cerberus Collection?
The collection includes more than 100,000 items found across multiple states. Artifacts in the collection include ceramic objects, personal adornment pieces like beads and pendants and lithic tools.
The items provides historical insight into the culture of the people they once belonged to. Many are remarkably well-preserved.
Since most of the objects were recovered on Utah land, the collection efforts have been centered in Utah. BLM Utah and Utah’s Natural History Museum began working in partnership in 2020, cataloging and returning items to tribal nations where possible.
Together, they determine which items should and can be returned to their original land, and which items should be curated for public benefit. The process for both is lengthy and intricate, and BLM and the museum have each played unique roles.
Step 1: Finding a home
The recovered objects start in the care of Utah BLM, where they are identified, catalogued and prepared for curation. BLM partners with repositories and museums across the nation, and communicates with institutions within the Four Corners states to arrange for artifacts to find place near their original home.
Diana Barg, Utah Bureau of Land Management curator and Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act coordinator, has been overseeing this effort for the last 10 years.
Barg makes decisions about which objects are most appropriate for each repository that partners with BLM and works with those institutions to get items delivered.
“On my side, it’s a lot of paperwork, organization, looking through records, making sure we have all of our information together,” Barg said.
Once the items are catalogued and assigned a repository or museum, it’s time to prep them for their journey.
Step 2: Spreadsheets, spreadsheets and more spreadsheets
“Each museum has its own standards for what they require,” Barg said. “We need to make sure everything is curated to that standard so it’ll be accepted for long-term curation and accession at the facilities.”
Prepping items for curation is a joint effort between BLM agents and museum staff.
Once Lawlor receives spreadsheets from Barg, she prepares artifacts for long-term curation at the museums or repositories near the artifacts original home. Her work includes organizing the items within the museum’s collections storage and reaching out to each repository to verify artifacts are properly labeled, photographed and tagged according to the institutions specific standards.
“It ends up being quite an elaborate storage system‚” Lawlor said. “We have to create a very quick kind of mini library. ... Everything has its catalog number, its location, and it’s just, it’s a lot to keep track of.”
How does she keep track of it all? “Spreadsheets. Highly organized spreadsheets,” Lawlor said.
After the museum has prepared the objects according to the specific standards of their destined repository or museum, the items are carefully packed for travel in a trailer and taken to their destination.
“Everything is hand-delivered,” said Barg. “From one doorstep to the next, we’re making sure they’re transported carefully.”
Step 3: Preservation
Once objects are safely housed in a repository, they can be kept in proper conditions for preservation and used for research purposes.
The Natural History Museum of Utah is one of the partner repositories for the Cerberus Collection, meaning it houses some of the collections for long-term curation itself.
Within the museum’s collections, the items are separated by perishable items (those made of vegetable materials) and nonperishable items (those made of harder materials like stone). All items are stored in clean, dark drawers and non-acidic containers to keep them in their best condition.
Step 4: Education
Preservation makes the objects available for examination and research. The museum often hosts cultural experts to examine the objects and provide insight on the objects origination or significance.
Student researchers come in to observe the items as well, with many groups including undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Utah.
Lawlor said this research contributes to the greater mission of the museum.
“The purpose of a museum like this is to make things available for research. This is a research institution,” Taylor said. “That’s what we do, and that’s what we’re supposed to do, is facilitate research and make it available to the public.”
Lawlor said working with the objects has deepened her understanding of not just the items themselves, but the people and cultures they represent.
“There are those moments where, you know, you can look at the beauty of these objects and the quality of their construction ... and as an archeologist it speaks to the complexity and the intelligence of ancient people,” Lawlor said.
Bonus step: The revival of traditional culture
In addition to curation and research, some institutions have returned objects to their original communities to be used in traditional practice.
Traditional pottery making tools, including grinder stones and pestles, were returned to the Pueblo of Santa Ana, Tamaya, in New Mexico, for hands-on use by Santa Ana potters. These tools are now used to teach new generations traditional pottery technique.
“Typically passed down generationally, grinding stones (one of the traditional tools) are hard to come by, but crucial to the process,” Thomas Armijo, the Pueblo of Santa Ana’s cultural resources technician, said in a press release. “For the community, it’s important to give life back to these objects whereas they were sitting on shelves for years and years and years.”
What’s next for the Cerberus Collection?
BLM and the museum are working to wrap up the Cerberus Collection within the next five years.
Their existing work recently caught national attention from the Society of American Archaeology, who honored the two organizations with the Award for Excellence in Curation and Collections Management in May, celebrating their ongoing work on the Cerberus Collection.
Lawlor said the impact of the project will be evident now that these artifacts can be preserved for years to come.
“I tell myself: It’s entirely possible if this building is here in 200 years, these objects will be here too.”
