Archaeology excavation

Common ancient ceramic materials often found in archaeological excavations, such as fired brick and pottery, were made mostly from a mixture of a secondary clay and fillers. The nature, composition, and properties of clay have been already discussed the nature of the fillers, the changes undergone by the clay as well as by the fillers during their conversion to ceramics, and the unique properties of ceramic materials, are reviewed in the following pages. Attention is drawn also to studies that provide information on the composition and characteristics of ancient ceramic materials. 

Most ancient wooden objects recovered in archaeological excavations are usually in a decayed, weak, and friable condition that requires stabilization before the objects can be safely handled and studied. Stabilization of wood and decayed wooden objects, generally includes the use of consolidants, liquid solutions of a resin that impregnates and fills gaps in the wood and on drying solidifies, strengthening its fragile, deteriorated structure (Thompson 1991 Rowell and Barbour 1990). 

Walton, P. and G. W. Taylor (1991), The characterization of dyes in textiles from archaeological excavations, Chromatogr. Anal. 17, 6-7. 

In this work, we have studied the change in collagen content, by elemental analyses, for buried ivory obtained from archaeological excavations. The sites mentioned in this study are given in Table I. The results of the analyses for excavated specimens are compared with those for ivories of unknown provenance. 

Because of the geologic and compositional complexity present in this part of Southern Maryland, many more samples (especially more transects of the St. Mary s Hill) would aid in better understanding the observed trace element distributions. Archaeological excavation in the St. Barbara s brickyard area will be important in determining if this might have been the site where the Chapel bricks were made. 

In archaeological excavations pots with small necks are often founds whose interiors are difficult to measure. The CT scanning can be of assistance here. It appears that the slices present a clear image of the structure of the pots. Numerous shades of grey can be seen on these slices and by linking each shade to a specific element scientists try to determine the composition of the clay. 

Specimen Selection. Specimens supplied by the American Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art were chosen for well documented archaeological excavations. Most of the specimens... 

Lead poisoning is still a problem today in some countries because lead and all of its compounds are toxic to humans. In certain parts of the world, lead compounds are still used as glazes and paints. It is believed that lead poisoning must have been a major problem for the Romans as the result of the widespread use of lead and lead-containing materials. Human remains from archaeological excavations in that region show a high concentration of lead. 

Long term burial of artifacts recovered in archaeological excavations often leads to friability, salt encrustation, physical damage, and severe corrosion. Field conservation is limited to such measures as are required to preserve the artifact until it may receive the attention of specialists in the museum laboratory. Typical conservation treatments for textiles, waterlogged wood, bone and ivory, cuneiform tablets, and cast and wrought marine iron are reviewed with particular emphasis on the effects such treatments may have on the subsequent technical examination of the artifact. 

Artifacts of unbaked clay recovered in archaeological excavations present a singular series of problems. If washed, they may turn to mud if left unfired, they may be damaged in transit. One particular class of material, cuneiform tablets, has received particularly severe treatment. Dowman describes accurately the general attitude (38). 

The sites in the New World from which these sherds have been excavated are among the earliest to be inhabited by the Spanish. In the Dominican Republic there are four Isabela, which was the first substantial settlement in the New World La Vega Vieja, which appears to have been founded as early as 1495 the Convento de San Francisco, the first of several religious houses to be constructed in the city of Santa Domingo (for which the church was completed in 1555 and the monastery in 1556) and Juandolio, which was an early 16th century site. In Venezuela the site of Nueva Cadiz was the earliest Spanish settlement. It was founded about 1515 and was abruptly destroyed by an earthquake in 1545 and subsequently deserted. The sherds from Mexico come from excavations within Mexico City. These include archaeological excavations at the Metropolitan Cathedral and commercial excavation for the Metro... 

Barnard looks closely at the lead compositions of bronzes and concludes that Shang bronze is for the most part a binary alloy (4). In Western Chou bronze was a ternary alloy with 2-7% lead, and in Eastern Chou the Chinese bronzes have higher lead. This, indeed, seems to go along with what we found. Barnard stresses, correctly, the problem of working with unprovenanced material—objects which have not come from archaeological excavations and which have no reliable data about their sources. In any case, the picture of ancient Chinese bronze alloying seems to be complicated and confused. No clear conclusions have been drawn, and no firm picture emerges. 

All of the above charts were made from analyses of Chinese bronzes which are unprovenanced or at least not archaeologically excavated. To see how they compare with excavated material we have included Figures 16 and 17, which show analyses of excavated material as published in the... 

Archaeological excavations revealing statues of great antiquity are illustrated here to show thee how deeply thou must delve beneath the Surface of thy Studies. Thus, a Greater World that is hid behind a fence of Iron shall be revealed to thee. Crush the Matter next with a stout hammer, or mallet,... 

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