We have experimented with rare-earth magnets, well-covered in archival padding of course.  If you can't get a Mylar strap or fishing line around it, or if doing so causes undue stress, a well located magnet can save the day.

You can attach a piece of steel to the wall with screws into studs or drywall anchors, cover it with a barrier such as Mylar, and then attach the artifact with the magnets.  Experiment with non-artifacts to get a sense of how strong a magnet you will need, and remember that the magnet's strength decreases as the distance between it and the steel increases.  Figure in artifact thickness, all your padding, and then the padding on the magnet itself, and you'll need a stronger magnet that you might think.  Lastly, don't get your rare-earth magnets too close to each other, they've been known to shatter as they leap together.  Just a thought.

Hi all,

I'm the curator of a small archaeological museum. We're trying to figure out an archivally responsible, relatively inexpensive, DIY way to hang some difficult objects. These include cradle boards, bows and arrows, spears, and a shield cover. Ideally, we would like to hang these directly onto the wall, as we are going for a complete coverage look in our new space. (We've been renovating for a year.) However, we haven't yet figured out how to do this without 1. damaging the object, or 2. spending more money than we can afford on our extremely limited move budget. 

Another consideration is that we are trying not to do anything in our new space that would keep us from moving towards accreditation in the next 5-7 years.

Anyone dealt with these types of objects/problems/considerations before? We would appreciate any help or advice we can get!

Thanks,

​

Jenna Domeischel

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