Friday 2 August 2013

Check out Kaman-Kalehöyük's blog

Current MSc in Conservation for Archaeology and Museum student Davina Kuh Jakobi is doing a summer internship in archaeological conservation, on site at Kaman-Kalehöyük, located in the province of Kırşehir, Turkey (about 100 km south of Ankara) with the Japanese Institute for Anatolian Archaeology. The site is located on a mound with the ancient Silk Road passing adjacent to the south. It has been inhabited by many groups that have occupied central ancient Anatolia starting around the third millennium BCE, during the Early Bronze Age.

Image from the Kaman-Kalehöyük Archaeological Museum website, which discusses chronology of the site and results of excavation.

The conservation team there consists of the director of conservation, the field conservator, the preventative conservator, and two interns. Together, they are responsible for the conservation and preservation of the excavated finds, which primarily include many small copper alloy and iron objects, but also include lead, glass, stone, bone, obsidian, and ceramics. They also have the opportunity to collaborate with other researchers on site, such as archaeobotanists, zooarchaeologists, osteologists, and archaeological analytical scientists.

Field conservator, Kate Wight and Cheryl Anderson, a Ph.D. student in anthropology at the University of Nevada Los Vegas, examine a bone that has become green from associated copper alloy objects.

Occasionally, they are called out to the field to lift fragile finds; so far this season, they have lifted two fragile iron artefacts. Additionally, Davina is working on a research project to formulate a methodology for the cleaning and unrolling of lead scrolls.

Davina cleans one of the iron objects that has been lifted this season.

They've gotten their conservation blog up and running, which gives a bit of insight into some of the artefacts and projects that they are involved in, so definitely check it out!

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