Conserving sites on the Central Asian Silk Roads: the case of Otrar Tobe,Kazakhstan

Abstract

Conservation activities have been carried out during the four years of the UNESCO project for the Preservation and Restoration of the Ancient City of Otrar, an archaeological site located in a loess clay area in southwest Kazakhstan at the confluence of Syr Darya and Arys rivers. The paper focuses on certain conservation activities carried out at the site, including documentation of observed deterioration phenomena, authentication of surviving mudbrick and fired brick structures, and the repair of structures using an earth-based repair mortar specially developed for the site. The paper summarises the main achievements of the project in terms of conservation, documentation, training, promotional activities and master plan preparation.     

Preserving Archaeological Remains In Situ: Three Case Studies in Trentino,Italy

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the restoration and conservation work which has been carried out in three archaeological areas in the Autonomous Province of Trento. The areas, which have been opened to the public for more than ten years, are the open-air archaeological site of Monte S. Martino, Roman Tridentum (an underground site under the historical city centre of Trento), and Fiavé (a pile dwelling site in a peat bog). These areas present very different environmental characteristics and have therefore required different interventions according to their speci?c situation.

In order to reduce maintenance and extraordinary costs, appropriate conservation of the archaeological remains is required. This consists of methodologies of conservation according to the characteristics of the environment; continuous monitoring systems and indirect preventive intervention; and annual maintenance planning.     

In Situ Preservation of Ancient Floor Mosaics in Turkey

Abstract

As stated in the Burra Charter (1979) ‘A building or work should remain in its historical location. The moving of all or part of a building or work is unacceptable unless it is the sole means of ensuring its survival’. This statement has been neglected many times during rescue excavations in Turkey (e.g. Zeugma), whereas the destruction of ancient floor mosaics caused by lifting, especially when carried out by incompetent or inexperienced personnel at systematic archaeological excavations, has steered the authorities desire to preserve them in situ. However, due to the lack of conservation professionals and insufficient resources for conservation, it becomes a difficult issue to provide an effective preservation scheme for archaeological excavations. This paper aims to discuss this important issue in terms of the national legislation, preventative and interventive conservation approaches at various sites, exhibition and maintenance of mosaics, as well as the training of conservation technicians in Turkey.     

The conservation and management of mudbrick buildings at Tell Qasile,Israel

Abstract

Tell Qasile, in the area of the Eretz Israel Museum in north Tel Aviv, is the location of a small town founded in the twelfth century BCE. The site has significant importance for the study of various aspects of the Iron Age period in Israel. The buildings at the site were constructed of mudbricks on stone foundations. Conservation of buildings at the site was carried out using three methods: 1) building roofs (in roofed areas no other conservation was needed); 2) conserving mudbrick walls by plastering them in modern plaster made up in imitation of ancient building material; 3) full restoration of buildings up to roof level (carried out in one case). These methods were successful, and, due to the location of the site within a large museum compound, it is utilized for archaeological education, mainly of schoolchildren.     

Detecting Cultural Remains in Boreal Forests in Sweden Using Airborne Laser Scanning Data of Different Resolutions

ABSTRACT

Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is increasingly being used to detect cultural remains in forest landscapes. Boreal forests are challenging, however, since most ancient land use was carried out without major permanent ground disturbances. If this challenge can be met, there is a large potential for surveys through existing nation-wide laser-scanning programs, although their resolutions tend to be low. In this study, we compare the performance of low-resolution (LR) and high-resolution (HR) ALS data in the Krycklan catchment in northern Sweden, an area where ancient land use was small-scale and diverse. About three times as many cultural remains were detected in the HR data set, but the LR set was satisfactory for distinct structures. We analyze how LR data sets can be enhanced at ground-point classification and terrain-model generation and conclude that ALS data have a large potential for the detection and protection of cultural remains in the boreal forest.     

Unexpected Wind Power ‘Potentials’: The Art of Planning with Inherited Socio-Geographical Configurations (France)

Abstract

The deployment of wind power induces deep changes in landscapes and territories. The politicization of wind power generates new ad hoc collectives. In the French case, because of the institutional framing resulting from landscape and wind power policies (centralization, feed-in tariffs, private developers), collectives of emerging wind power landscapes are regularly set apart from wind power planning processes. This paper explores the extent to which these recompositions and new collectives could be part of emerging wind power potentials. The empirical evidence stemming from our case studies shows that wind power technology, like any other technology, is not endowed with a potential per se. Wind power potentials differ – ‘capitalistic’, ‘controversial’, ‘negotiated’, ‘conditional’ – depending on planning processes and inherited configurations. The notions of striated space and smooth space enable us to adopt a relational perspective on these emerging collectives and to account for the role of inherited socio-geographical configurations and planning processes.     

Eco-Archaeometry: Interdisciplinary Applications in Egypt

Abstract

One of the problems currently faced by modern society is the worldwide catastrophic deterioration of archaeological and cultural sites directly exposed to the action of the environment. Frequently, it has proved difficult to identify the processes responsible for these deteriorations, which are often the result of an abrupt change in site specific environmental conditions. To understand them a broad interdisciplinary approach is needed, and consequently, a substantial input from several disciplines, such as archaeology and archaeometric, environmental and conservation sciences, is necessary. Such interaction is particularly necessary on a basic research level, and can best be achieved if the relevant disciplines are drawn together a priori on equal footing into a complementary effort in eco-archaeometry. The primary goal of eco-archaeometry is to identify and quantify physicochemical processes which cause the deterioration of ancient cultural patrimony. Its findings are essential prerequisites for the development of optimum, safe methods for conservation and preservation of ancient monuments. Some examples of the eco-archaeometric approach in Egypt are summarised and it is demonstrated that without an interdisciplinary approach such studies would not have been successful.     

Ancient agriculture and domestic activities: a contextual approach studying silica phytoliths and other microfossils in soils

Abstract

Based on microfossil and soil data, we discuss a different methodological approach to agricultural and domestic archaeological studies, taking two Formative sites in the north-west Argentinian high valleys (province of Catamarca) as case studies, independently of traditional datasets and historical analogies. As a result of our investigations we not only recognised the vegetal species cultivated in ancient fields (dated to c. AD 800) but also distinguished some of the agricultural practices, such as crop rotation and alternation, use of animal fertilisers and irrigation resources, as well as the abandonment of the site. From this perspective, corral episodes could also be distinguished. In residential enclosures, we obtained results concerning activity areas, the definition of floors and the identification of reoccupations.     

The Iron Age landscape of Alcoi Valley,eastern Iberia: Agricultural intensification and sociopolitical dynamics

Abstract

New archaeological survey data are combined with previous evidence to examine the rural landscape during the Iberian Iron Age in the Valencia region of eastern Spain. One goal was to understand the settlement pattern and agricultural intensification through manuring. The second objective was to address the socioeconomic aspects of changes in the landscape. It is possible to trace the emergence of a hierarchical settlement pattern in the Iberian Iron Age in which large fortified settlements carried out the most important functions of control and exploitation of the territory, extending their authority over small rural villages and farmsteads. This pattern is associated with the complex socioeconomic structures and political organization of early Iberian states.     

Protecting a Cemetery in Saqqara: Site Works 1975–2009

Abstract

This article considers the varied threats to Ancient Egyptian architectural remains that have been exposed by modern excavation. A number of possible measures that counter such threats are outlined, together with the practical difficulties facing the architectural conservator working in this context. The approach taken at the New Kingdom Necropolis in Saqqara — a group of elite tombs constructed c. 1350–1250 BC — during the post-excavation phase is detailed, with an emphasis on the works carried out by the author from 2004 to 2009. This encompasses the conservation of surviving limestone relief decoration in situ, the reconstruction of missing masonry elements, and the final presentation of the site to visitors.     

The Conservation Programme of the Côa Valley Archaeological Park: Philosophy,Objectives and Action

Abstract

This paper outlines the methodology for the conservation of Côa Valley rock art, as carried out by the Côa Valley Archaeological Park Conservation Programme. It examines the overall conservation environment that has determined this approach, which aims at an understanding of all the factors affecting the survival of the Côa Valley heritage. We stress that although the Programme sets precise guidelines for the examination and testing of conservation work to mitigate the effects of complex weathering dynamics in action, there are no miraculous solutions to ensure the complete longterm in situ preservation of this World Heritage Site. Despite this geological impossibility, we also emphasize that in a human time scale it makes sense to try to conserve significant heritage (such as the Côa Valley rock art) that expounds and explains our history and ourselves.     

Conservation of Mining Sites in the Gwydyr Forest Area of the Snowdonia National Park

Abstract

The Gwydyr Forest near Llanrwst in the Snowdonia National Park contains a significant number of mining remains in an area of some eight square kilometres. These structures provide examples of a whole range of mining and dressing processes from the use of simple hand dressing techniques to the foundations of an early flotation mill. In the recent past, buildings have been needlessly demolished but this process has been partially arrested in the last five years, helped by the introduction of a land reclamation scheme which, in addition to public safety, takes account of the industrial archaeology of the area. Up to 1989, conservation work had been carried out on only one site, but schemes have also been proposed for two others. The purpose of this paper is to indicate the approaches taken and the factors to be considered before conservation work can be carried out on mining sites.     

Resources for Teachers from the Educational Department of Fine Arts of Seville for Archaeological Sites

Abstract

The province of Seville, situated in the south-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, contains a large number of archaeological sites. Some of them are of great significance: for example, the ancient Roman cities of Itálica and Munigua, the megaliths in Valencina de la Concepción, or the Roman necropolis in Carmona. These four mentioned above receive a considerable number of educational visits by students between the ages of twelve and sixteen, and a number of educational projects have been carried out there. This article outlines the types of resource material provided at these four sites.     

The ISCR Project ‘Restoring Underwater’: An Evaluation of the Results After Ten Years

Abstract

The project ‘Restoring Underwater’ launched and conducted by the Underwater Archaeology Operations Unit of the Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro (ISCR, Rome, Italy) is aimed at the study and the experimentation of instruments, materials, methodologies, and techniques for the restoration, conservation, and in situ display of ancient submerged artefacts. The project commenced in 2001 with the restoration of the vivaria of the Roman villa of Torre Astura (Nettuno, Rome), since 2003 the main subject of researches has been the submerged archaeological site of Baiae (Naples, Italy), where, over the years, the restoration of sectors of certain buildings in the protected marine area has been carried out: the Villa con ingresso a Protiro, the Villa dei Pisoni, the Via Herculanea, and the Building with porticoed courtyard near Portus Iulius. In 2007, in 2009, and in 2010 three new archaeological targets have been added to the research: a group of nine cast iron cannons discovered offshore the coast of the Marettimo Island (Sicily, Italy), the Roman wreck carrying a load of sarcophagi discovered off the coast of San Pietro in Bevagna (Taranto, Italy), and the traditional fishing boat recently discovered off the cost of Martana Island (Bolsena Lake, Italy).

The purpose of this paper is to sum up the work in progress and the results of these ten years of the project. The paper will shows as the conservation and museum display in situ of underwater heritage must not just be considered an opportune choice but may in itself provide a strong stimulus for experimenting new materials and technologies as well as representing a factor in the socio-economic development of the communities concerned, as shown by the example of Baiae.     

‘I Felt Connected to a Past World’: A Survey of Visitors to Colonial Archaeological Sites Conserved In Situ in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

While there is extensive international literature on the technology and techniques of archaeological conservation and preservation in situ, there has been only limited discussion of the meanings of the places created and the responses they evoke in visitors. Experience in Australia and New Zealand over the past decade suggests that the conservation of colonial archaeological remains is today seen as a far more desirable option, whereas previously many would have suggested that this kind of conservation was only appropriate in ‘old world’ places like Greece and Italy; and that the archaeology of the colonial period was not old enough to be of value. This paper discusses a recent survey of visitors to colonial archaeological sites which reveals some of the ways in which these archaeological remains are experienced, valued, and understood, and gives some clues as to why conservation in situ is an expanding genre of heritage in this region. The visitors surveyed value colonial archaeological sites conserved in situ for the link they provide to place, locality, and memory; for the feeling of connection with the past they evoke; and for the experience they provide of intimacy with material relics from the past. This emphasis on the affective qualities of archaeological remains raises some issues in the post-colonial context, as it tends to reinforce received narratives of identity and history, and relies on the ‘European’ antiquarian appreciation of ruins — making the urban environment more like Europe by creating evidence of similar historical layering.     

Partial Solutions to Partially Understood Problems — The Experience of In Situ Monitoring and Preservation in Somerset’s Peatlands

Abstract

The peat moors of lowland Somerset contain a wealth of waterlogged archaeological sites, including some of the most significant prehistoric monuments in the country. There has been a long history of attempts to preserve archaeological sites in situ and monitoring of the burial environment began in 1982. The monitoring has become more complex over time, but the results suggest the same continuing problem of a drop in the water table over the summer months across the whole landscape. With the sole exception of the portion of the Neolithic Sweet Track that benefits from an irrigation system, all the other known sites remain at risk of gradual destruction. The solutions must be found on a landscape scale using agri-environment payments to secure sustainable management of the peat resource. Unfortunately, short-term changes to these payments and long-term changes to the climate are likely to worsen the situation and eventually to require a more drastic solution to the problem. Evidence has been generated to support an ecosystems approach to sustainable peatland management.     

Portrayals and Perceptions: Greek Curved Blades in Black- and Red-Figure Iconography

Abstract

This article examines the portrayal of the curved blade in black- and red-figure painted pottery. The curved sword in ancient Greece has most often been assigned two names: ‘kopis’ and ‘machaira’. These are transliterations of the ancient Greek terms κοπ?? and μ?χαιρα. It will be pointed out here that this nomenclature is unhelpful as there are, in fact, more than two morphological types of curved sword from ancient Greece and the ancient Greeks did not definitively differentiate between what they termed κοπ?? (kopis) and μ?χαιρα (machaira). The curved knife was also included under these two terms. Here, I will discuss my own typology of the five different morphologies present in black- and red-figure art. The foundation of this article is the survey of black- and red-figure representations of the curved blades. This survey permits the examination of the morphologies of the curved sword, as well as the techniques used, and the professions and nationalities of the bearers in ancient black- and red-figure iconography.     

Conservation of archaeological mosaic pavements by means of reburial

Abstract

In a burial environment ancient mosaic pavements are subject to a variety of mechanisms of deterioration, both physical and chemical. However, many pavements have survived, sometimes in exceptional condition. Additionally, some mosaics that have been discovered in recent times and reburied as a means of protection have also been well preserved. This indicates that reburial can be an effective means of preventive conservation and a viable response to the need for conservation of exposed mosaics on many archaeological sites. For reburial to be successful, risks to the mosaic must be accurately appraised and the design of the reburial must be well specified, following a rigorous conservation methodology.     

Traditional Burnt-Lime Production at Mayapán,Mexico

Abstract

Lime was widely utilized throughout ancient Mesoamerica. Drawing on the expertise of traditional Maya lime producers from a small local community, we address the energetics, material inputs, and archaeological signature of burnt-lime production in the Northern Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. When compared with the estimated lime usage at the Maya site of Mayapan, the data collected from experimental lime burning suggest that traditional lime production was reasonably labor intensive and used large, albeit sustainable, quantities of raw materials, especially wood. Lime manufacture was an important component of ancient Mesoamerican economic life, especially in urban settings where it may have been a full time occupation for some, at least during certain parts of the year. This analysis allows us to predict what the remains of lime burning sites should look like and where they are most likely to be encountered archaeologically.