Microbiological Monitoring of Ethnographic Ornamental Collections in the Museu do Índio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Aims: To investigate fungal contamination in ethnographic objects from the Museu do Índio (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), from a particular indian community named Urubu-Kaapor. Results were compared to the same investigation on objects from other indian tribes, to determine possible cross-contamination between objects, if stored in the same repository in the museum.
Study Design: Selection and materials characterization of the objects from distinct ethnographic collections, followed by an investigation of the fungal contamination through the use of swab techniques and specific culture medium.
Place and Duration of Study: Museu do Índio, located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between April and December 2012.
Methodology: Samples: We included 5 ethnographic objects from Urubu-Kaapor indian community, probably non-contaminated due to its chemical constitution and state of conservation and 5 ethnographic objects from Xavante, Nambikwáras and Kamayurá tribes, probably contaminated with fungal colonies due to its chemical constitution and visual observations.
Results: Results clearly indicated that Urubu-Kaapor objects presented, after growth in proper culture medium, small colonies of fungus collected from their surfaces. The same observations were obtained from the Xavante, Nambikwáras and Kamayurá objects. However, the main difference between the levels of contamination was observed in the type of growth observed. Differently from Urubu-Kaapor objects, fungal colonies grown on other objects presented a higher diameter, associated to a high level of spores and filamentous forms. This could be explained based on the nature of the materials.
Conclusion: Ethnographic objects from Urubu-Kaapor collections should not be put together with the remaining ones from other indian tribes, due to the distinct level of contamination. If not controlled, fungal cross-contamination can take place, with the transfer of fungal spores from one piece to another. In a near future, the whole ethnographic collections would face the same level of microbial contamination.