CONSERVATION
Brigid Gallagher
Artefact and site conservation entered a new phase during the seven-week 2003 season with the introduction of new team leaders Liz Pye and Dean Sully from University College London. Students, Ina St George, Lucy Skinner and Steve Miller from the university conducted placements at the site during July, whilst Brigid Gallagher from Cardiff University, returned as conservator in July and stayed until the end of the season.
As well as object conservation, the work conducted over the season included environmental monitoring programmes of the site:
- excavation areas under cover and the on-site storage depots (Lucy Skinner);
- condition survey of material previously excavated and in storage (Steve Miller);
- materials research working with plasters and pigment on site to address best lifting methods, making and utilizing possible recipes in the experimental house, and sampling for analytical investigation on composition (Ina St George).
Ongoing conservation concerns continued with maintenance of currently exposed mud-brick architecture (Building 5, Ina St George) and their plasters (South Area, Building 17, Brigid Gallagher).
All objects or materials that came to the conservation laboratory were recorded in the project data base. Extended reports from individual projects were produced, and a copy will be filed on site for future reference. 96 objects or materials were recorded on the 2003 Object Conservation Log. This does not include large-scale, on-site, site conservation that was conducted, nor projects undertaken to aid other archaeologists, such as material analysis. During July, Liz Pye and Dean Sully visited the site to observe and review on-site conservation facilities and procedures. As part of this process, various specialists were visited to ascertain requirements of the conservation facility, and address problems that have previously arisen regarding the relationship between archaeologists and conservators. An assessment was made of the present roles that conservation plays at the site, and what future roles and procedures can be implemented
Another project of the conservation team concerned a display area in the South Area now that the shelter has been erected. Public access areas have been roped off at the highest point to the east, next to the South Summit Area. In conjunction with this Ina St George projected the ‘Volcano/City Plan’ image as recorded by Mellaart during the 1960s excavations from a wall painting in the South Area. The image was painted onto a wooden panel, with support struts, facing into the shelter from the north side of the area (see also p. 6). The same image was used in the experimental house during continued study of pigment and binder use in Neolithic wall paintings recorded on site (Fig. 29). During the 2002 season, casein (milk protein) was used to bind red iron oxide pigment. This pigment was used to paint a ‘bird and headless people’ scene onto dry plaster walls. It was evident, however, during the 2003 season that the pigment and binder had delaminated from the plaster owing to paint shrinkage and lack of bonding with the dry plaster. A mixture of iron oxide and water was made up and used by Ina St George during the 2003 season; utilizing the hygroscopic nature of the plaster, thereby creating an intrinsic bond between paint and plaster. The result of this will be recorded in the 2004 season.
Figure 29. Reconstruction in the experimental house of the ‘Volcano/City Plan’