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The Cobb institute of archaeology is a research base and exhibit platform of the Art and Science Faculty of Mississippi State University (MSU), this institute established in 1971, and it was established with the intent to promote archaeological research and education at Mississippi State University. The Lois Dowdle Cobb Museum of Archaeology and its artifact collections are included in this Institute's facilities, and the staff affiliated with the Institute is serve as teaching faculty while having formal cross-sectoral links with the anthropological and the Middle Eastern Culture. The Institute's archaeological research projects cover a wide range. Through collaboration with academic departments, the Institute offers a wide range of opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at Michigan State University to engage in archaeological-related research and learning activities.

Founder and Fund
The Cobb institute of archaeology was established in the early 1970s and serves as a research base for Mississippi State University, and Michigan State University alumnus Cully A. Cobb and his wife, Lois Dowdle Cobb, are the founders of the institute. The Cobb institute of archaeology's first endowment fund exceeded $1 million and was donated in June 1971, and because of the construction of a building, William L. Giles, the president of Mississippi State University, made a commitment to donate $500,000 to the Institute in July 1972. On April 14, 1973, the groundbreaking of the college building began, and the installation was established in 1974 and put into use in October 1975. Regrettably, Cully Cobb who is one of the founders of the institute could not participate in the construction of the whole process, but he donated his legacy to the institute.

Mission
“Research and promotion of Western civilization originating in the Middle East, while investigate and promotion Southern Indians especially the Indians in Mississippi, and the sponsorship and support of their instructional programs” are the role of this Institute of archaeology under Mississippi State University. “Achieve valuable archaeological research, excavate and explore, and promote the archaeological area on tourism projects, publications and reports." is the goal of the Cobb Institute’s efforts.

To this end, the archaeologists who worked to this Institute focused their energies on dig archaeological site where located at the Mideast and the southeast of the US, and they actively participated in archaeological research and field excavation in the above-mentioned areas and analyzed and compiled their results, as the same time they participated in the management of cultural resources and archaeological work in public archaeology. Most companies and government agencies have help this Institute comply with cultural regulations and cultural resources and environmental laws.

Research Activities
Over the past 25 years, the Cobb Institute of Mississippi State University has focused on providing funding and assistance for archaeological research in Middle Eastern and North American countries, while the Cobb Institute has given rise to a new angle of view of probe archaeological activities that through funding for the Middle East, the Institute's North American research continues, and strengthens existing programs, which was created and developed by anthropology teachers in the 60s of the 20th century.

Middle Eastern Archaeology
Joe D. Seger organized the “Lahav Research Project"(LRP) in 1974. There are four phases in this project. The first phase of the work was performed from 1976 to 1980, and the sponsorship of this phase was provided by the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the second and third phases were conducted by the Cobb Institute auspices during the period 1983-1989 and 1992-1999, respectively, the fourth phase began in 2007 with the sponsorship of Emory University. Throughout the process, the American Schools of Oriental Research has been working with the Institute. In all of phases, staff members, subscribers, and worker participants provide financial support to the consortium institutions.

The following are some of the mining results of this project:


 * A detailed excavation report on stratigraphic data was found in the eastern side of Tell Halif
 * Nine flint cores, including Canaan-style blade and sheet scraper (“fan scrapers")
 * About 800 ceramic figurines, majority of them belonged to the Persian era, and some of them belonged to the Iron second period of Judah
 * Many modified vessels and whole pottery were discovered in the fourth Field of Tell Halif
 * On behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Paul Jacobs directed a salvage work in 1985. A three-week excavation was carried out in an area at the foot of the Tell Halif, which later extended to the fields of Kibbutz Lahav. This salvation was established as a result of the planning to build a home in Kibbutz

North American Archaeology
Over the past four decades, researchers at Michigan State University have conducted several archaeological investigations at the Lyon cliff ruins site(22OK520), researchers at the Cobb Institute conducted an investigation into the Mount Pocahontas(22Hi500) in the northeast of Hinds County, MS, from June 7 to July 1, 2004. Since the ruins site of Pocahontas are a landmark in Mississippi and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, because the MDOT program is mainly planned to transform the Mount Pocahontas into a park located by the road, it is necessary to investigate this. The park was officially opened in spring 2008, and the park has interpretive trail and an education center to provide the public with historical information and the site's cultural knowledge, and the Freshwater Mussel Shell Database was discovered in the Mississippi archaeological site, which documents sites, collection and range maps of the 50 species that existed prior to the impact of modern humans on the state.

Curation
The Cobb Institute Curation Laboratory was funded and built in 1986 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Mississippi State University, and all the information and records of the Tennessee- Tombigbee waterway archaeological project in the part of Mississippi are currently kept in this laboratory. These archaeological projects were carried out during the 1970s and 1980s, while the Michigan State University Anthropology Program, were also kept in the laboratory, in addition, because this laboratory meets Federal curation standards, additional collections can be accepted by this laboratory. These collections were collected through formal agreements with the US Forest Service, the US Navy, the Land Administration, the US Prison Administration, the Vicksburg and Mobile, and the US Army Corps of Engineers. Researchers can access information of the collections of the Cobb Institute by visiting the Cobb Institute Research Collection Archive (CIRCA) webpage.

Curation Equipment
The design of the curation building of Cobb Institute consists of a standing seam metal roof, corrugated-metal exterior walls, a covered loading dock, and a poured concrete floor, its interior consists of a work space of laboratory, washroom, shower bathroom, a large storage area for collections and two front offices. The collection has two storage spaces. All shelves are made up of commercial grade adjustable steel. The lower floor is constructed of cast concrete and includes many early artifact collections and all archaeological records, the upper layer holds all atlas, negative plate, lantern slide, reports, and recent collections of artifact. The collection space has a total area of approximately 7,000 cubic feet and can accommodate approximately 6,500 TEUs, and space in some collections can also be used to store items in the process, photo filing cabinets and supplies. So far, approximately 5,000 boxes of artifacts and records have been stored in the repository houses. Two separate HVAC systems provide environmental control for curatorial laboratories and repositories: one for collections storage space and one for office and laboratory area. Annual temperature and humidity control is provided by a closed collections system. 68 degrees Fahrenheit is the standard temperature and 50% relative humidity is the standard humidity.

The campus, local police and the fire department are the main sources of security for this curation, and security measures are theft and fire alarm systems. The Intrusion Detection System consists of a motion detector, high frequency break detector, an infrared and door switches, the fire alarm system consists of detector of smoke and heat located strategically, and a flow monitor on a wet pipe sprinkler system used to ensure the safety all parts of the building. In addition, some of the laboratory and office areas are separated from the collections area by a two-hour firewall, and the campus police responded to the burglar alarms to alert collections staff who needed to enter the building. Access to the facility is limited to the director of the institute, the curator and the collection manager, who have the key and access code, except for the above persons, no one is allowed to enter the collections storage room unless they have written permission.

Activity
 Mock Excavation hold by the Cobb Institute of Archaeology 

The event is open to children of all ages. Children can participate in simulated archaeological excavations under the guidance of staff from Mississippi State's Cobb Institute of Archaeology. Children can learn archaeological knowledge in the process, including the tools, techniques and items found during the excavation process.

Cultural Resource Management Services (CRM services)


The Professional protection history personnel from this institute are in charge of perform this cultural resource management services, and the main purpose of the service is to help clients who want to develop projects, such as companies and developers, government agencies and citizens, to satisfy the law and provide assistance of the relationship between clients and local, state and federal agencies and tribes.

Projects
Some CRM projects that The Office of Public Archaeology engaged:


 * Seismic surveys
 * Mines
 * Linear pipeline surveys

Compliance services:


 * Historic and archival research
 * Geophysical/remote sensing survey
 * Cultural resource survey
 * Archaeological testing

Staff list of Cobb CRM and Curation

 * Jeffrey Alvey, M.A., RPA
 * Derek Anderson, M.A.
 * Keith Baca, M.A., RPA

External Advisory Committee
On February 27, 2006, the external advisory committee of the Cobb Institute of Archaeology was established, consisting of several outstanding scholars or managers from all over the country.

The conditions for joining the board of directors of the Cobb Institute are as follows: Each member of the board of directors shall not serve for more than three years. If the member has already served for a term of three years, a new member will be replaced. The board of directors was established to give guidance and suggestion to the internal management committee of the Cobb Institute, therefore assists the Institute's base and projects to supply opportunities and challenges for the community of university and the public.

So far, the list of members of the committee is as follows:


 * Dr. Jack Bennett
 * Dr. Jeffrey Clark
 * Dr. Bruce Smith
 * Dr. Lynne Sullivan
 * Dr. James Wiseman
 * Dr. Melinda Zeder