Here at 3D Rapid Print, one of the fastest growing 3D Printing companies in the Thames Valley, we like to keep abreast of the latest innovations in 3D printing.
In May 2022, news broke of a project at the University of Maine (UMaine) to return culturally sensitive artefacts to the Tlingit tribe of southern Alaska. This started after the tribe’s central council filed a request for repatriation of 8 objects UMaine’s Hudson Museum had in its possession, including a 19th-century Frog Clan Helmet that would have been displayed by the clan leader. (Under a 1990 federal law, Native American communities can request certain artefacts taken from their ancestral lands or owners be returned.) Along with other artefacts, the helmet was donated to UMaine in 1982 by the estate of William P. Palmer III, who had collected the objects.
Two research engineers at UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Centre named Alexander Cole and Jonathan Roy were tasked with figuring out how to use 3D printing to create the replica helmet. They had previously made other cultural objects, including a replica of UMaine’s Presidential Medallion and a bicentennial time capsule for the Maine State Library. The replica helmet was refined by graduate students from UMaine’s Intermedia Program, which entailed smoothing and painting it to make it as identical as possible to the original, which was carved in yellow cedar, painted in green and red pigments and decorated with abalone shell discs. In addition, a different student from the program documented the other students’ work through photos and videos.
By the end of July, the museum intended to have a temporary exhibit showing how the replica helmet was created. The museum now plans to return the original helmet while having the replica on display for educational purposes, as well as start creating replicas of the other 7 artefacts.
3D printing is an amazing tool. It can grow your small business or start a mini revolution in an industry. Explore what it can do for you when you contact us today.
Disclaimer: Featured image of “Two Tlingit girls, Tsacotna and Natsanitna, wearing noserings, near Copper River, Alaska, 1903 – NARA – 524404” is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.
Recent Comments