econservation

the online magazine No. 21, September 2011

Contemporary Art Wall Clock by PaulaArt

E DITORIAL NEWS & VIEWS

4 On continual learning
By Rui Bordalo

5 Restoration, Reality, and Life Behind the Velvet Rope

By Daniel Cull

8 Business Management Education in the Conservation Community

By Sarah Lowengard

11 New Approaches on Book and Paper ConservationRestoration

Review by Penelope Banou

17 NESAT XI Conference of the Northern European Symposium

of Ancient Textiles
Review by Annette Paetz gen. Schieck and Sylvia Mitschke

21 Outdoor Wall Paintings, Material and Techniques

Review by Mirjam Jullien and Johanna Nessow

24 Preservation of Archaeological Remains in Situ (PARIS 4)

Review by Mike Corfield and Jim Williams

31 University Training of Restoration within the European

Educational Context
Review by Lubo Machako

ARTICLES

38 Characterization of Natural and Synthetic Dyes Employed in the

Manufacture of Chinese Garment Pieces by LCDAD and LCDADQTOF
By Estrella Sanz Rodrguez, Angela Arteaga Rodrguez, Mara Antonia Garca and Rodrguez Carmen Cmara

56 An Innovative Stretcher for Canvas Paintings

By Osama M. ElFeky

66 Deterioration and Rates of Weathering of the Monumental Rock

Inscriptions at Wadi Hammamat, Egypt
By Hesham Abbas Kmally

EDUCATION

80 Sustainability in the Preservation of Cultural Heritage through

Education Training in Wood Conservation and Restoration in Malta
By Ninette Sammut

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editorial

On continual learning

I have recently noticed a tendency in young conservators who, after working in the field for several years, are going back to study. And this, not necessarily to get a more advanced course in their area, which they already master, but to get a second degree in a related field to help expand their area of professional expertise. Studying chemistry, for example, will help conservators not only to understand the intricacies of deterioration of works of art but will also allow them conservators to do research and to get involved in the scientific sphere of the field. These are by no means isolated cases. More and more people are going back to school at some stage of their lives to pursue a second degree or some other type of advanced training. Many people stop studying after they leave college, however they may find that the skills that they originally learned may not be valid for the rest of their lives. The need to update skills or acquire new ones is now more forceful than ever. Like doctors, conservators become specialists by keeping uptodate with the latest innovations, materials and technologies. After all, conservation is an everevolving field. We learn everyday, from our work, which generates instructive experience which then accumulates over the years; we learn by attending conferences, by going to professional meetings; we learn by simply reading an article. But that is not systematic training and is hardly enough to acquire new skills. Here is where lifelong learning comes into the picture. Lifelong learning is a comprehensive concept of continual learning throughout a lifetime. Its quite straightforward yet has been promoted differently from country to country. While in AngloSaxon countries this is a widespread concept, in south European countries it may be seen as a weakness. Indeed, after practicing for many years we become specialists in our field. So, one may think, if I am already a specialist, why do I need to do more courses? Won't that actually be a sign that I doubt myself? When in fact, its quite the opposite. No wonder that in countries where there are accreditation schemes in conservation, lifelong learning is considered as an important criterion to be accepted and recognized as specialists. Proper learning demands an experienced tutor who can deliver the knowledge that you seek in the best way. Depending on your particular case and your objectives, you may have a wide range of possibilities, from simply attending a short course to going back to college to get a postgraduate or masters degree. Nowadays, you can even do this online. Its wonderful to hunger for more knowledge or skills, but sometimes we simply get trapped in our daily routines, concerned by meeting deadlines or overly focused on our work. We may think that taking a course is just too much of a hassle; indeed, it is hard work and requires strong motivation. Going back to school at a mid career stage is not the same as in our youth; the main difference being that we must probably work while we study. Its rather like taking on a second job. Despite this, the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages. These are temporary circumstances that will change you for the better: from performing your job under a completely different perspective up to landing a new job, theres a whole range of possibilities. At the end of the day it will inevitably enrich us.

Rui Bordalo EditorinChief

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RESTORATION, REALITY, AND LIFE BEHIND THE VELVET ROPE

By Daniel Cull "No scripts, no cue cards. It isn't always Shakespeare, but it's genuine. It's a life." Christof in 'The Truman Show' [1]

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be a contestant on a reality television show? What does it feel like being stared at as you live out your daytoday life? I dont have to wonder about such things as I am one of a growing number of conservators who work in a conservation studio that is visible to museum goers. In recent years there has been a steady growth in the number of museums, and other cultural institutions, that have incorporated ways of seeing behind the scenes in their buildings. The conservation pro fession has, by and large, been supportive of this development, as it hoped that by welcoming the 'public gaze' into the conservation studio this will help demystify conservation and raise public awareness about the profession. To be honest, I wasnt sure about the concept at first, I felt sure that I couldnt possibly do tricky tech nical work with an audience watching, but quite to the contrary Ive found that the opacity of glass is very much a function of the mind. One argument that has been raised against view able studios is the extent to which they straddle a strange line between a working studio and a performance space. Much like popular reality television what the audience sees is only a certain aspect of reality, there remains other aspects unseen. This argument, quite rightly, points out that although a greater number of people get to observe conservation through such spaces, they only get to see a limited interpretation of con servation; that of interventive treatments and the use of scientific looking equipment, which
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Fishbowl conservation is generally observed to be a technically skilled, somewhat scientific, profession that is focused purely on fixing things.
of course stands in stark contrast to the prevailing importance of the approach of preventive conserva tion both in contemporary theory and practice. Fishbowl conserva tion is generally observed to be a technically skilled, somewhat sci entific, profession that is focused purely on fixing things. For me this critique became more interest ing when considered in light of my own interactions with the viewing public. In my experience these interactions fall into one of three categories. 1) What are you doing? 2) What is my object worth? 3) Do you need any help? The first category could be considered to be the most inten ded by conservation outreach, as it is these sort of interactions in which

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Conservation behind the glass. Photo by DebMomOf3 (Some rights reserved).

conservation itself is directly discussed and it is through such interactions that the massive bene fit of viewable studios is made abundantly clear. The second category visitors have presumed, in correctly but quite understandably, that conser vators do appraisals. The third category is, to me, the most intriguing. It seems that psychologic ally the visibility of the studio, coupled with the impossibility of accessing the space due to the glass wall, acts in much the same way as a velvet rope at a bar or club; giving an air of exclusivity to the inside, and creating a desire to be a part of whatever it is thats going on in there. In line with the work of the Demos think tank who discussed the importance of, and necessity for, volunteerism within the heritage sector, I would argue that conservation outreach should aim to facilitate people's active relationships [2] with their cultural heritage. I wonder whether the conservation that the audience gets a glimpse into, in which access is limited to the visual, is actually encouraging such an active relationship? Or is it, as I suspect, encouraging a desire to be
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a part of an exclusive group behind the metapho rical velvet rope? As those of us who work in such visible studios continue to develop our outreach approaches I wonder if we could incorporate some of the lessons of the groundbreaking publication Saving Stuff: How to Care for and Preserve Your Col lectibles, Heirlooms, and Other Prized Possessions [3]. The main lesson that I took from the book being the usefulness and applicability of conservation ideas and methods for members of the public to interact with their own material culture; an idea that runs counter to the somewhat absurd as sumption that it would be dangerous for people to do conservation on their own stuff. As cultural conservation becomes increasingly wellknown to the general public, one aspect of our outreach could be to mirror approaches taken within envir onmental conservation to find ways to empower people to care for their own cultural heritage as they do their natural heritage. This would truly be to begin to break down the barriers between the public, our heritage(s), and professional conservation(s).
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Notes: 1. The Truman Show, Paramount Pictures/ Scott Rudin Productions, 1998 2. S. Jones and J. Holden, It's a Material World: Caring For the Public Realm, Demos, London, 2008 3. D. Williams and L. Jaggar, Saving Stuff: How to Care for and Preserve Your Collectibles, Heirlooms, and Other Prized Possessions, Fireside, New York, 2005 The News section is bringing uptodate information on cultural heritage topics such as onsite conservation projects reports, reviews of conferences, lectures or workshops and any other kind of appropriate announcements. If you are involved in interesting projects and you want to share your experience with everybody else, please send us your news or announcements. For more details, such as deadlines and publication guidelines, please visit www.econservationline.com

DANIEL CULL
Conservator The Musical Instrument Museum Daniel Cull is from the West Country of the British Isles. He trained at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, where he received a BSc in Archaeology, MA in Principles of conser vation, and an MSc in Conservation for Archae ology and Museums. He was later awarded an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship at the National Museum of the American Indian/Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. He currently works as a conservator at the Musical Instrument Mu seum and as a collaborator with econservation magazine.

Website: http://dancull.wordpress.com Contact: daniel.cull@themim.org

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BUSINESS MANAGEMENT EDUCATION IN THE CONSERVATION COMMUNITY

By Sarah Lowengard

All working conservators need to understand the basics of business management. At first glance, this statement seems to address predictions for the future of the conservation discipline. As the ratio of conservation program graduates to institutional job openings grows, and downsizing initiatives (including salary freezes) within those same institutions take effect, we will see significant increases in the proportion of in dependentlyemployed conservation and preser vation professionals1. Faced with the likelihood of future selfemployment in an independent practice or moonlighting from an institutional job, it seems reasonable to call for new or emerg ing conservators to learn business basics. This prediction may or may not come true but its assumption that business management skills are critical only to conservators who own or plan to own an independent practice is false. My experi ence as a course leader in the FAIC Online Educa tion business management program and as a busi ness adviser have proved to me that familiarity with the language and norms of modern business are important to all practicing conservators, wherever they are employed. Opportunities to learn these skills within the community are few and those that exist are usually undersubscribed. The result is an ignorance that prevents the dis ciplines of conservation from full integration as a professional practice within the educational cultural institutions of which they are a part. When conservators do seek business training, they tend to focus on actionable advice the re
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gistrations to file, the insurance to purchase, the taxes to collect and pay rather than underlying theories or transferable skills. For owners of micro businesses, especially the one or two person op erations with no discrete business goals, taking time to learn about good business management seems arcane, irrelevant or more appropriate to larger firms. In my teaching and consulting ex perience, discussions of such issues as defining a business model, analyzing financial data and communications planning always end quickly and prematurely. Instead, personal experience deadbeat clients, the breakdown of a business partnership, lack of work drives advanced training. Independent conservators who recognize no problems seldom seek information. Faced with a crisis, conserva tors again seek a quick fix rather than context or analysis. The extent of this piecemeal attitude toward the business of running a business was brought home to me early in February 2009, when I organized an online meeting for independent conservators to discuss responses to the then new financial crisis. The meeting was well attended,

These projections, although widely accepted, are almost entirely anecdotal. The paucity of adequate statistical, economic or even sociological studies of the art conservation community makes it difficult to describe the state of the discipline or predict its future with certainty. The absence of studies is, in itself, a function of the lack of understanding of business management skills I discuss here. I should also note that the basis of my own anecdotal experience is almost exclusively Anglophone and largely U.S.based.
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and many participants voiced concerns. Should they lower fees or offer discounts? Should they look for supplemental work outside of conserva tion or plan to live on reserves? Then a few parti cipants remembered that that the postholiday period is always slow. Perhaps a new action plan was not necessary. The tenor of the meeting changed and it adjourned with general agreement that more time was needed to study the questions. Despite my entreaties, participants were not in terested in analysis or planning. I scheduled two followup meetings. There was no interest. As Christabel Blackman recently noted in this magazine2, conservation training emphasizes the cultural value of objects over any economic value they might have. As a means to that end, conser vators are taught to perform the assessment and treatment of objects, but not the businessbased issues surrounding the acquisition of work. Yet if conservators individual or institutional could clarify the structures supporting the work they do, they would increase control over both the performance and the work path. The result would have a positive effect on the quality of work in the short and long terms; in essence, the cultural and economic bottom line. The perception of business education as actionable advice rather skills that define and simplify a path of action, means institutionallybased conserva tors see no relevance to this knowledge for their careers. Yet changes within institutions make this stance increasingly less tenable.

In the past thirty years, cultural institutions have moved away from the special place they once inhabited, where a lack of interest on prin ciple in administrative theories and techniques was expected. The institutions for which conser vators work, either as employees or as indepen dent contractors, now judge themselves and are judged by the public using the same terms as businesses outside of the cultural sector. They look to short and long range goals, marketing plans and measurable outcomes to establish in stitutional quality and success3. Participants or principals in an institutional department operate within a microcosm of the larger business struc ture of that organization. Understanding the way

An individual or group may reject those norms, but that should be a decision based on information and not an outcome of ignorance.
cultural sector directors perceive the value of their organization may establish more clearly the position of the conservation or preservation de partment, and skills and talents of its individu als, within the institutional community. Is the organization driven by services to members, so that a collection is most important when it en hances that service? Was the preservation de partment established because accreditation depended on it but the administration does not understand how the department adds value to the institution as a whole? What does a real marriage of science and art mean to a marketing department? Awareness of business approaches
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2 C. Blackman, "Cleaning the Dirt off Money in Conserva

tion: Ethics and Economics", econservation magazine 20, 2011, pp. 711, URL 3 See, e.g., Mark Walheimer, What is the Business of Mu seums? post to LinkedIn American Association of Museums discussion group, http://lnkd.in/uQFYB9 (accessed 25 August 2011).
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permits conservators to better advocate on their own behalf within an institution and to the public at large. A welldesigned program to teach business man agement skills to those who do the specialized work of the cultural sector would translate and explain the basic concepts under which 21st cen tury businesses operate. It would indicate how a business derives value from its products or servi ces and show conservators how to participate in a wellorganized and wellrun business, both relevant to any working environment. Understanding the parameters of business mana gement, its standards and expectations, permits both independent and institutional practitioners to make choices about their own professional life based on a broader and more accurate context for the work they do. An individual or group may reject those norms, but that should be a decision based on information and not an outcome of ignorance.

SARAH LOWENGARD
Educator and Writer Contact: info@researchandwriting.net Website: www.researchandwriting.net Sarah Lowengard has created and lead business courses for the FAIC Online Education Business Management for Art Conservation program since 2004. An adviser to independent practitioners for more than for more 20 years, she currently manages three distinct business ventures, includ ing an independent art conservation practice founded in 1978.
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NEW APPROACHES ON BOOK AND PAPER CONSERVATIONRESTORATION

Review by Penelope Banou

911 May 2011 Horn, Austria Organised by: European Research Centre for Book and Paper ConservationRestoration

The conference "New Approaches in Book and Paper ConservationRestoration in Europe" took place in Austria, Horn, from 9th to 11th of May 2011. It was the first conference of the newly founded European Research Centre for Book and Paper ConservationRestoration (Horn), organ ised under the supervision of Dr. Patricia Engel, aiming to bring together conservators, librarians and archivists, collection managers and many more professionals in the field of book and paper conservationrestoration who are engaged with the care, safeguarding and preservation of our book and paperbased cultural heritage. Recognised professionals of the conservation community, such as Joseph Schir (Heritage Malta, Malta), Ren Larsen, (Konservatorskolen, Copenhagen, Denmark), Elissveta Moussakova (St. Cyril and Methodius National Library, Sofia, Bulgaria) and Istvn Kecskemti (National Archives, Helsinki, Finland) participated in the conference board. Around 50 speakers from 25 different countries (18 European and 7 other countries) participated to the conference, which was developed in three tight scheduled days. The topics of the conference
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presented a diversity of approaching the conser vation and preservation issues of cultural material in libraries and archives, involving ethical and aesthetical considerations, introducing new equipment, materials and ideas. In the morning session of the first day, the matters of the fundamental principles and ethics in con servationrestoration, the reflection of aesthetics in art restoration and the theoretical and practical content in the training programs for conservators were discussed. The presentations started with Ursula Schdler Saub (Germany) arguing about the Theoretical Fundaments in the Conservation and Restoration of Books: How Helpful are the Theories of Alois Riegl and Cesare Brandi for the Practice?, followed by Weronika Liszewska (Po land) with Aesthetics and Standards in Paper and Book ConservationRestoration and Maria Casanova (Portugal) with What Do We Need?

Information about the European Research Centre for Book and Paper ConservationRestoration, the aims and scopes, tasks, vision and strategy for research, educational programmes, cooperations and publications can be found in the official website of the Centre.

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Panel of speakers during the discussion at the end of a session.

Education, Ethics, New Values or a Different Per ception for the Profession! Revisiting Book Con servation Theory and Practices in the First Portu guese Paper Conservation Laboratory. After the coffeebreak, the presentation of Inge borg Ullrich (Germany) Expiry Date: Unknown The Experimental Use of Material in the Artists Book and Installation Art (presentation in Ger man with simultaneous English translation) provi ded a purely creative and aesthetic perspective. Manfred Mayer and Erich Renhart (Austria) fol lowed with Searching for Traces, presenting the use of Novec Fire Protection Fluid in reading faded or indistinct text, providing its technical details and properties and advantages of its use. The session ended with Nicholas Pickwoad (United Kingdom) setting the question Library or Mu seum? The Future of Rare Book Collections and its Consequences for Conservation and Access in a critical perspective.
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The afternoon session included topics on the study of types of 19th century paper concerning quality and provenance and the investigation of the effect of light and conservation treatments on paper. These topics were covered by the presenta tions of Penelope Banou (Greece) with Archival Records of the New Independent Greek State (mid 19th c.). Where History, Paper Technology and Preservation Meet, Petra Vvrov (Czech Repu blic) discussing about the Damage of Paper Due to Visible Light Sources Irradiation and PostRa diation Effects after 2 Years of Storage in Dark ness and Spiros Zervos (Greece) arguing on the results of his research with Investigating the Causes of Paper Strength Loss after Aqueous Treatments. Salvador MuozVias (Spain), in his presentation A New Approach to Flattening and Lining Paper: the Pleural System, discussed the applications and benefits of his invention (a vacuum table
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A view of the conference hall.

The presentations of Zsuzsa Tth (Hungary), Res toration of a Unique Hungarian Medieval Codex based on Results of Recent International Research and on a New Restoration Technique, and Gayane Eliazyan (Armenia), Preservation and Restoration of the Matenadaran Manuscripts, responded to practical conservation topics. In accordance, the case study of a splendidly illuminated manuscript and its conservation and preservation issues invol ved was discussed by Theresa Zammit Lupi (Malta) in The Grand Master LIsle Adam Manuscript, Volume 8: a Particular Example of Degradation and Pretreatment Testing, where the removal of historical extended additions was in question. The majority of the second days presentations were oriented to the approaches of conservation restoration of collections, in respect of the original structure (forms), materials, date, origin, histor ical context, art and aesthetics, such as those of Karin Scheper (Netherlands), who presented Is lamic Manuscript Structures. A Refinement of Knowledge about Islamic Book Constructions and the Implications for Preservation or Conservation Treatments, Rumyana Decheva (Bulgaria) with Preserving the Original Structure of the Medieval Codex During Conservation, Jedert Vodopivec (Slovenia) with Census and Analysis of Slovene Medieval Codices and Magorzata PronobisGa jdzis and Jolanta Czuczko (Poland) with The 19th Century Book Underestimated Beauty. The concern for developing the conservation dis cipline and framework through systems and prin ciples was discussed in the presentations The Romanian National Library National Centre for Pathology and Restoration of Documents (NCPRD) Perspectives and Development Needs by Mari ana Lucia Nesfantu (Romania), For a New Policy for the Preservation of Documents by Eduard Zaloshnja (Albania), and Results of the National Program a Complex System of Conservation in
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that provides controlled, uniform drying of large objects), while Manfred Schreiner (Austria) intro duced the audience to Documentation of Water marks in Paper by Xray Radiography in compari son with other methods used for the same purpo se. The presentations Copying presses discuss ing the different types and variations by Josepf Schiro (Malta), and Wax Tablets in Polish Collec tion the State of Preservation and Restoration Issues by Elzbieta Jablonska (Poland) concluded the first day. A variety of topics characterized the second day of the conference. The first presentation was given by Ren Larsen (Denmark) who stressed the neces sity of the Scientific Approach in Conservation and Restoration of Leather and Parchment Objects in Archives and Libraries in order to determine the proper treatment arrangements. The next presentation was made by Myriam Krutzsch (Ger many) who discussed the conservation of ancient leather fragments in Is there a Chance to Rescue Egyptian Texts on Leather?. Later, Igor Kozjak (Croatia) argued on The Influence of Hydrolytic and UV Treatment on Properties of Leather Used in Book Conservation.
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Siberia by Irina Guzner (Russia). The needs of each collection and the benefits of the recom mended approach were argued respectively. The necessity for research, evaluation and assess ment for the conservation and preservation para meters was also emphasised in the presentations of Reni MarchevaKanova (Bulgaria), Need of research in the Everyday work of the Librarian and the Archivist Preservation of the Library and Archive Collections Care by Different Specialists, Maja Krtali (Croatia), Possibilities, Perspectives and Obstacles in Book and Paper Conservation Restoration Research: Example of Croatia and Ekaterina Andreyeva (Russia), Safe Keeping As sessment of Ancient Slave Manuscripts. Alternative solutions were recommended by Ab dur Rasheed (India) in his presentation about Recent Trends in Book and Paper Conservation suggesting, e.g., the use of natural products such as plants and seeds for insect control, while Rodica Mariana Ion (Romania) discussed the use of Nanomaterials for Chemical and Biological Restoration of Old Books. Finally, Istvn Kecs kemti (Finland) discussed about Managing Archival Collections for Digitisation: Experience from Two Projects of 1.55 and 2.07 Million a matter that concerns the archival collections community. The morning session of the third day started with Jrg Krger (Germany) presentation on the res ults of the experimental work on Cleaning of Soiled Paper Model Samples Using Short and Ul trashort Laser Pulses, while Florian Kleber (Aus tria) proceeded with Technical Approaches to Manuscript Analysis and Reconstruction report ing a project involving interdisciplinary collabor ation for the documentation, investigation and edition of unique importance medieval Slavonic manuscripts.
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The investigation of the crucial problem of mould activity and treatment were the topics of the fol lowing presentations by Flavia Pinzari (Italy), The Contribution of Microbiological Research in the Field of Book and Paper Conservation and John Havermans (Netherlands), New Insights on Disinfection of Archival and Library Materials Using Gamma Radiation proposing lower intens ity in its application. The presentations by Erna Pilch Karrer (Austria) and Dirk Andreas Lichtblau (Germany) discussed the need and use of Surve NIR in Needs for Paper Research: Now We All Need to Buy SurveNIRs and SurveNIR the NonDe structive Evaluation of Material Conditions in Conservation, the Actual and the Potential Use respectively. The paper of Marina Bicchieri, Michaela Monti, Giovanna Piantanida and Armida Sodo (Italy), Applied Research and Critical Approach: the Proper Way to Deal with Real Library Heritage was kindly announced by Flavia Pinzari. The discussion over the application of new or al ternative materials, combinations or variations in form and properties to serve the needs and purposes of conservation and preservation out line the topics of the final session with the con tributions of Halina Rosa (Poland) on Study on the Adaptation of Biocellulose Nano Fibres to Restoration of Historical Paper, Parchment and Textiles, Samantha Sheesley (USA), Practical Applications of Lascaux Acrylic Dispersions in Paper Conservation, Iza Zajac (Poland), Seal ant & Adhesive Remover, agent by WEICON. Dur ing the Conservation Process of Lindleys Plans, Mehmet Konuklar (Turkey), A New Method for Conservation of Paper Works of Art: Triple Mix ture of Methyl Cellulose, Carboxymethyl Cellu lose and NanoMicro Calcium Hydroxide Particles and Yuri I. Aristov (Russia) with ARTIC A New Family of Humidity Buffers for Libraries and Archives.
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The lobby of the conference hall.

All the aforementioned presentations contributed to a very successful conference that gave the op portunity to the speakers to present their research and approaches to conservation and preservation today, as well as the needs, the problems, the agony, the troubling issues and the various as pects that influence or determine their efforts. The contributions in the conference were already available during the meeting in a publication en titled New Approaches to Book and Paper Conser vation Restoration, edited by Patricia Engel, Joseph Schir, Ren Larsen, Elissaveta Moussa kova and Istvan Kecskemti, and published by Verlag Berger. Further information on the book and the list of authors, articles and respective abstracts can be found in the Center web address. In the conference closure, experts on European funding programmes presented and recommen ded eligible ways of application and possibilities for cooperations within the upcoming EUs 7th framework program for research. The discussion over the limited funding opportunities (packages)
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related to conservation research projects, resulted in the decision for the formulation of a common statement to respond to the EU Green Paper on the Common Strategic Research Framework for Research and Innovation. In the following days, this document was delivered to the EU Commis sion (see on the official web site of the European Research Centre). The sessions were completed with the discussion over the conclusions and results of the conference, focusing on the research topics that the partici pants of the book and paper conservation com munity were mostly interested in. The decision on the urgent topics of research leaded to the arran gement of several subject discussion groups and sessions respectively. The conference was conclu ded with the wish of putting forward an accredit ation of material for conservation which would be gradually implemented by the Research Centre. The successful outcome of this conference is not only due to the excellent organisation, the inter esting topics, the professional presentations, in
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the majority, and the proper publication, but also to the benefits of witnessing an interdisciplinary approach of conservation, varying in concept, perception, and principles where scientific, cul tural and financial parameters stood on a differ ent basis. This also highlighted the need for the creation of a solid platform for a common lan guage, ethics, attitude and approach, consolid ating research and education. Finally, the hospitality of the organisers, the vivid atmosphere during the breaks of the con ference and the evening events delighted the participants. This already started to show from the organised welcome meeting, over a warm soup, the first evening. The heavy schedule of the conference was decompressed with a ban quet with speeches from local politicians and a representative of Net Heritage, Barbara Swiat kowska, and a light dinner in the Vereinhaus the first evening, the special piano and song recital in the library of the Kunsthaus with the valuable books and editions, the conducted tour in the fa cilities of the European Research centre, followed by wine and light snacks, in the second evening. Everything was nicely organised, without exag gerations, under the sharp eye and guidance of Patricia Engel, who seemed to have everything running like a clock. Horn, as the location of the event provided a special character to the confer ence and supplemented to its success. It was a delightful, tranquil town in lower Austria, where everything was in a walking distance in the quite streets of Horn, green and blossomed with the smell of lilac trees on the air. Most of the participants were pleased with the concept and outcome of the conference, really supportive to the efforts and tasks of the Research centre and agreed to the idea of repeating this meeting in two years time.

Photos by Spyros Zervos, Patricia Engel and Maria Giannikou. PENELOPE BANOU Conservator Contact: pbanou@yahoo.gr Penelope Banou graduated from the Department of Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art in the TEI of Athens (1996) and specialized in the conservation of works of art on paper after her postgraduate studies, Master of Arts in Conserva tion of Fine Art at the Northumbria University in UK (1998). Ever since, her professional activities include participation in preservation and conser vation projects of works of art on paper and archi val material collections belonging to public and private collections, while she is involved in edu cation (lecturer in the Department of Conserva tion, T.E.I of Athens) and research programs with several publications. She belongs to the perman ent staff of the Conservation Department of the General State Archives in Athens since 2008.
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NESAT XI CONFERENCE OF THE NORTHERN EUROPEAN SYMPOSIUM OF ANCIENT TEXTILES

Review by Annette Paetz gen. Schieck and Sylvia Mitschke 913 May 2011, Esslingen, Germany Organised by: Landesamt fr Denkmalpflege, Esslingen Archologische Denkmalpflege, Textilarchologie
Nordeuropisches Symposium fr archologische Textilien North European Symposium for Archaeological Textiles

Starting off in 1981 as a meeting of a handful of textile archaeologists, historians, natural scien tists, conservators, craftsmen and autodidacts NESAT became one of the major textile research forums worldwide, meeting every three years at varying places. The eleventh meeting was held in Esslingen, Germany, at the Landesamt fr Denk malpflege, on May 9 to 13, 2011, under the aegis of Dr. Johanna BanckBurgess. Due to several large programmes, textile research has entered a phase of great attention. In order to manage the increasing number of interested scholars, the coordinators decided to limit the number of attendants to 140 in order to maintain the traditional NESAT working atmosphere. The group of participants was truly international, origi nating from 26 nations from all over the world. Representatives came from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Ger many, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Slo vakia, and beyond Europe from Iceland, Israel, New Zealand and the USA. The records of the conference are striking: within four days, 37 papers were given (for abstracts
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see www.nesat.org), a poster presentation was held and two excursions have been arranged in parallel. For the first time in NESAT history the organising committee initiated a special theme day, being the first day of the conference. This day was dedi cated to methodology in textile archaeology today introducing specific approaches on histor ical sources of various kinds. The first lectures dealt with classical archaeological and philologi cal sources as representatives of the humanities, followed by principles of documenting archaeo logical finds and contexts, by methods of fibre and dye analyses, and isotopic investigations as representative techniques in natural sciences.

Audience during lectures. Photo by Lisa Masen, LAD.

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Poster presentation. Photo by Annette Schieck, CES/REM.

Participants in conversation. Photo by Carla Nuebold, LAD.

The final section of the first day dealt with a se lection of four current research projects in textile archaeology, dealing with Bronze Age textiles (HERA), the reconstruction of garments of a 17th century bog body (Gunnister Man Project), the PopradMatejovce grave chamber, and Roman textiles in Austria (both DressID). From the second day on, the papers were present ed grouped after three sessions starting with a section of six presentations introducing individual projects that combine archaeological research and methods of natural sciences, virtualisation and experiment. Virtual documentations served as media in a better understanding of Neolithic textiles, dyeing experiments provided deeper insights into 3000 years old Hallstatttextiles, fibre investigations will in future be employed on PreRoman textiles from Italy, archaeological wool was investigated in terms of proteomics, the ma terial of Danish textiles has been analysed accord ing to its strontium isotopic composition in order to trace its provenance, and comparison of light stable isotopic compositions of textiles deriving from an experimental burial in comparison to me dieval archaeological textiles have been introduced. The second and largest chapter included twelve papers on latest textile finds focusing on Bronze
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Age, medieval times to the 18th century. The find contexts revealed great variety of cloth materials and preservation conditions, and they allowed great insights into burial customs, and habits of dressing. Certain types of textile accessories were introduced such as headgears and undergarments that so far have been considered as an invention of modern times. The sites presented geographi cally range from Spain to Norway, including Ger many, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Topics and materials presented were ranging widely but the scientific analytical methods remained an impor tant focus even in this section. The first lecture dealt with archaeobotanic studies in a Bronze Age cave in Spain, followed by pollen analyses of a medieval Catalan burial, investigations and visu alisation of early medieval graves of Unterhach ing (Germany), new investigations on samites from the Oseberg ship, male clothing of a 9th cen tury bog burial from Latvia, and remains of tex tile production as well as baptising garments in the Czech Republic. Furthermore figural embroi deries of a Polish church collection have been in troduced, as well as the investigations of the im perial burial garments of Speyer (Germany), embroidered silk headcovers from polish churches, the invention of the bra in 15th century, as well as precious silk textiles from the latrina of a wealthy 16th to 18th century house in Poland.
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The lectures of the third chapter then dealt with investigations on textile production such as the Talmud exegesis of 11th century Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, the treatment of sheep and sheep wool textiles in early medieval East Friesia, approaches to Pompeian dying industry, interpretation of loom weights and spindle whorls as ritual objects in ancient Etruria, and finally considerations on textile tools and textile production in Roman Pannonia. The editing works of the conference pa pers have already been started, the proceedings will be published by 2012 by VML Marie Leidorf GmbH. Following the lecture session on Wednesday, the poster session was started at the headquarters of the Landesamt fr Denkmalpflege at Esslingen. An innovative and highly professional concept of presentation has been chosen by the NESAT team: all of the posters had to be handed in to the committee and were then arranged in a common layout, grouped after topics such as textile or experimental archaeology, certain colourcodes were assigned. Again, the number of posters had to be limited to 24. The posters will be accessible on the NESAT XI website. The posters can also be lended as an exhibition afterwards via the Lande samt fr Denkmalpflege in Esslingen.

Beyond the papers and posters, a choice out of two excursions was offered to the participants, one heading to Schloss Ludwigsburg to visit the costume collection, and the second to the Keltenmuseum EberdingenHochdorf to visit the place where the famous chief of the Celts had been buried. We would like to congratulate Dr. Johanna BanckBurgess, her team, and the Landesamt fr Denkmalpflege for preparing such an inter esting, wide ranging, and inspiring conference. The high quality of the given papers perfectly underlined the eminent and noteworthy outcome in modern textile archaeology. Especially the newly introduced special theme day was a great success, which hopefully leads to a new NESAT tradition. We highly appreciated the atmos phere that enabled the participants to listen, gain knowledge, and to find the time of gather ing and discussing along with the main pro gramme. We are now looking forward to the publication of the NESAT XI conference proceed ings, and we are also looking forward to NESAT XII which will be hosted by the Naturhistorisches Museum Vienna at Hallstatt, conducted by Dr. Karina Grmer.

Participants of NESAT XI. Photo by Karl Fisch, LAD.

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FREE CONSERVATION RESOURCES

Participants in conversation. Photo by Lisa Masen, LAD.

ANNETTE PAETZ GEN. SCHIECK Classical Archaeologist Contact: annette.schieck@cezarchaeometrie.de Annette Schieck obtained a PhD in Classical Ar chaeology on Late Roman Textiles in German Col lections at Cologne University in 2002. In 2003 and 2005 she curated the exhibitions on Coptic Textiles at the Deutsches Textilmuseum Krefeld and Kolumba, Cologne. Since 2007 she is the pro ject manager of the textile research and exhibi tion project DressID at the CurtEngelhornStif tung fr die ReissEngelhornMuseen, Mannheim. SYLVIA MITSCHKE Conservationscientist Contact: sylvia.mitschke@cezarchaeometrie.de Sylvia Mitschke finished her studies at the Insti tute of Conservation Sciences, Cologne University of Applied Sciences in 2000. Since then she worked as textile conservator and Scientist at ReissEngel hornMuseums, Mannheim. Since 2007 she is a PhD candidate at the University of Tbingen.
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Art Conservation Research

conservationresearch.blogspot.com

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OUTDOOR WALL PAINTINGS, MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUES

Review by Mirjam Jullien and Johanna Nessow 16 May 2011, Finspng, Sweden Organised by: Working Group for Wall Paintings of ICOMOS Sweden

This warm and sunny spring hosted the seminar on Outdoor wall paintings, materials and tech niques, organised by the Working Group for Wall Paintings of ICOMOS Sweden. The seminar took place on the 16th of May 2011 at the Orangery of Finspng castle near Norrkping in eastern Sweden. It was at the Finspng castle where three years ago the paintings on the exterior walls of the building revealed their unexpected technique. Not executed in fresco technique, as it was previ ously supposed, they are in fact oil paintings on plaster. This unusual technique for Sweden lead to

further investigations concerning outdoor expo sed oil paintings. It seemed to be a unique case. Therefore, the surprise was big when a painting with a similar technique was discovered nearly 1700 km. This lead to an interesting exchange and finally to this seminar about wall paintings, with a special focus on oil paintings. As a consequence of an uncommon conservation problem and fruitful exchange, the event was ani mated by spontaneity and curiosity. This good energy brought together conservators from dif ferent parts of Sweden, travelling up to five hours to join the half day seminar.

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Anna Henningsson, representing the ICOMOS Working Group for Wall Paintings, opened the conference. She presented the speakers and the topics of the afternoon. In her introduction she also explained the challenge of the conservation of the outdoor wall paintings at the Finnspng castle and the background which lead to this seminar. Hln Svahn Garreau, an architectural conser vator, presented "Art on the walls, from mediev al painted stone portals and enhancements of architectural forms to the late 1900s graffiti art. Taking the participants from medieval to contem porary murals, she reminded us how different artistic expressions and materials can be. Bengt Hger, building curator and former head of the National Heritage Board, talked about the long and difficult conservation history of the out door murals at Finnspng castle. He highlighted the conservation efforts, which over several years

reached the goal of preserving the exterior mu rals at the Orangery and at the Aurora Temple of the park. He showed examples of how the paint ings were technically secured. Their exposed lo cation on a small stream and the strong Swedish weather left severe damage. The presentation and readability of the paintings were also an impor tant aspect during the conservation campaign. In the coffee break that followed, there was the possibility to visit the paintings outside the Or angery and at the Aurora Temple in the castles park. The seminar ended with the presentation of Mir jam Jullien, "Mural paintings and the special case of outdoor exposed oil paintings in Switzer land", on which wall paintings executed in oil technique around Basel, Switzerland were dis cussed. For the seminar, she presented an over view about the outdoor Swiss oil paintings as well as results from Dr. Christian Heydrichs

Visiting the oudtoor oil paintings of Finspng Castle during the coffe break.

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(Basel, Switzerland) research projects in 1960 1970. Certainly far more common than expec ted, they decorated various buildings in Switzer land. Some few examples resisted time, history and human intervention. Some paintings from Basel, Schaffhausen and Berne have been fur ther investigated, leaving us the testimony of tumultuous conservations histories. They give testimony of early maintenance efforts, but also of destruction, over painting, repainting and re construction. Mirjam Jullien emphasised the problem that there remain more questions than answers in this domain and that it will be important to learn more about the techniques and conservation possibilities. But she also underlined the impor tant research work performed by Dr. Christian Heydrich on the Town Hall of Basel. This probably unique work in its completeness about oil wall paintings was published in 1987. Since then it seems that not much has been published. Hope fully, talking about these paintings will also help to discover other examples not known or, for the moment, not identified as being painted in such a technique. It shall also lead to protect them more and give them more chances to persist into the future. With this last overview, the seminar came to an end and many had a long way back home. The coffee break had offered the possibility for the visitors to observe the outdoor paintings and ex change their conservation experiences. In this way, the seminar also participated in the spread of knowledge in general and particularly on a very little discussed subject. Hopefully, it will be the beginning of a more often discussed topic leading to more research and development of conservation methods adapted to the particular situation of outdoor exposed oil paintings.
Facade paintings of the Town Hall of Basel, Switzerland

JOHANNA NESSOW Conservatorrestorer Contact: info@disent.se Johanna Nessow has a BA in Conservation from Gotheborg University, Sweden. Currently she works for the conservation science company DIS ENT AB in Stockholm.

MIRJAM JULLIEN Conservatorrestorer Contact: info@artcons.ch Website: www.artcons.ch Mirjam Jullien got here first experiences as con servator for canvas at the C.I.R.T Chteaurenard, France. In 2005 she graduated from the Univer sity of Applied Sciences and Arts in Bern, Switzer land. Specialized in architectural surfaces, she worked in various national and international con servation projects. Currently she realises projects in Switzerland with her own company and is wor king on the preparation of a research project fo cused on outdoor exposed oil paintings.

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PRESERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS IN SITU (PARIS)

Review by Mike Corfield and Jim Williams

2327 May 2011 Copenhagen, Denmark Organised by: Department of Conservation, National Museum of Denmark

The fourth of the conferences on the Preservation of Archaeological Remains In Situ (PARIS) was held in Copenhagen from 23rd to 27th May. Previ ous conferences have been held in London (1996 and 2001) and Amsterdam (2006). The conferenc es are particularly focussed on the survival of ar chaeological evidence (artefacts, environmental evidence, stratigraphic and contextual informa tion as well as structural remains) when the envi ronment of sites are affected by anthropogenic or natural changes. Past conferences have focussed on the nature of the ground environment, how archaeological evidence changes through time and what the impact is of short and long term changes. Much of the earlier discussion was fo cussed on wetland environments and saturated urban deposits, partly because that was where a great deal of the observations of change had been undertaken and also because the impacts of change were most readily seen in desiccated wetland soils. There was also a predominantly northern European bias in the papers presented. The fourth conference showed a marked broad ening of contributions, both geographically and in the subject matter. The bias towards Europe remained, with strong representation from Den mark, the Netherlands, Norway and the United
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Kingdom and lesser contingents from Eire, Swe den, Finland, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Croatia and Azerbaijan. Single parti cipants were from Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and the USA, while the southern hemisphere was rep resented by Australia and New Zealand. PARIS has become global! The programme covered a wide range of topics and was split between four themes: Degradation of archaeological remains Monitoring and mitigation case studies Protocols standards and legislation Preserving archaeological remains in situ can we document it works? Theme 1, Degradation of archaeological remains included twelve papers. Because of the difficul ties involved in evaluating the results from in vivo experiments, microcosms in which the range of variables can be controlled are invaluable and we were given presentations using this method to assess the decay rates for wood and to evaluate impacts on the physicochemical and microbio logy of wetlands caused by leaching from wood treated with copperarsenicchromium preservative. These were described and included follow up work in the field to validate the study.
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Roundtable participants, from left to right: Jane Sidell, Mark Pollard, Hans Huisman, Jens Rytter, Vicky Richards, Mike Corfield, Henk Kars, Jim Williams, and standing at and by the podium, Henning Matthiesen and David Gregory, the conference coorganisers.

Experimental work in the marine or fresh water environment is challenging and this was evident in papers discussing the impact of erosion and protection of sites in Lake Constance and Zurich, a poster presentation on the problems of protec tion on the Gulf coast of Iran, and a major study of the effects of reburial of metal objects under seawater as a means of ensuring the survival of many thousands of artefacts recovered from shipwrecks at the island of Marstrand, Sweden. The bioerosion of stone underwater is also an is sue and we were shown how rapidly it can be de graded by biological growth eroding the surface and creating cavities to the extent that surface detail is lost. Evaluating the changes to burial conditions by reference to the stratigraphic layers of corrosion has been something that one of the reviewers (MC) has long sought to see tested, so a paper on this examining corrosion of ferrous artefacts from
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an ironworking site in Normandy, France was very welcome despite the risk of rapid change of cor rosion species following excavation. Unsaturated soils are notoriously varied and characterising potential preservation without excavation is often speculative so a paper reporting work to develop methodologies for evaluating unsaturated soils in Oslo was very welcome. On a broader scale we heard a paper on the carbon release arising from desiccation of wetlands and the risk that archaeological excavations in wet lands might be contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. The impact of building over archae ological sites was discussed and moves towards the development of a risk assessment system for archaeological sites were highlighted. Finally the question was asked whether preservation can be predicted from monitoring results, the question we would all like to see the answer to.

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Overall, the papers in this first theme were excep tionally broad in their subject matter and scope, from small scale laboratory work to the large scale analysis of an entire urban area. All provided dif ferent methods of quantifying degradation rates at these different scales, demonstrating that we have now, collectively, developed a range of tools suitable for assessing the state of preservation of most common material. What is less clear, for the most part, and was not tackled in many of the papers in this session, are the rates at which de gradation processes are taking place. Theme 2, Monitoring and mitigation case studies comprised seventeen papers and again we were offered a rich mix of papers covering marine and coastal sites, wetlands and unsaturated sites, broad scale urban evaluation, and, breaking new ground (perhaps an unfortunate metaphor for this conference), studies of the preservation of sites in the Greenland permafrost and at the other extreme, in Abu Dhabi, and in addition to our usual span of materials, mudbrick in China. It is impossible to cover the details of each of the papers, but suffice to say that there appeared to be the recognition that monitoring had to answer questions, and that only in exceptional circum stances could monitoring be justified over very long timescales. A report of the important work at Bryggen, Bergen, Norway demonstrated how postconstruction monitoring of the impact of the uncontrolled construction of a hotel at the World Heritage Site of the medieval waterfront of Bergen enabled the implementation of post development mitigation of the damages caused to organic structural remains. Two papers (one from session 4) showed how monitoring could be used to devise strategies that would enable historic towns such as Trondheim, Norway and Nantwich, England to continue to
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evolve to meet the needs of modern life. Interest ingly, on many of the terrestrial sites presented under this theme, monitoring was aimed at un derstanding unsaturated, rather than fully water logged deposits. Techniques ranged from the use of TDR, in situ redox and oxygen probes, to soil and water analysis. Although there was no one common approach used, the detailed analysis of soil and water chemistry (anion and cation con centrations for example), before and throughout monitoring seems to be one of the more reliable ways of characterising these very challenging burial environments. Taking to the water again, we were shown the sad destruction of the Stirling Castle, one of Englands finest seventeenth century shipwrecks as it be came increasingly exposed by the movement of the great sandbank that had hitherto protected it. It was a graphic example of the challenges in volved in trying to protect entire ships and their contents in the dynamic marine environment. One of the other elements of the maritime envir onment is wood borers and we were provided with summary of work in the Baltic Sea, which is increasing in salinity through the impact of cli mate change as part of the EU project WreckPro tect to develop protection strategies against marine borers for underwater cultural heritage. On the opposite side of the globe experimental work to evaluate the options for protecting a 19th century wooden hulled ship south of Free mantle, Western Australia were described. In an other departure for PARIS we were shown how efforts were being made to conserve the extens ive submerged upstanding remains of Roman vil las at Baia, Naples, Italy, and to make them accessible to scuba divers. Theme 3, Protocols standards and legislation at tracted fewer papers with eight contributors. There was a tendency in this session to drift rather
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Per Kristian Madsen, Director of the National Museum of Denmark welcoming the delegates and opening the Symposium.

Conference breaks provided ample opportunity to share experiences and exchange ideas.

too far into straightforward cultural resource management and this would be a danger for the PARIS brand which has always tried to focus on the importance of a sound scientific understand ing to underpin the management of archaeolo gical heritage. Nonetheless, the session did bring in some new faces who will hopefully have bene fited from the wider programme and who we hope will return with examples of scientific studies of the problems inherent in trying to preserve still buried archaeological sites. Some of the papers in this session reported on efforts to establish sound management princi pals to underpin their archaeological heritage. The first paper described how the Norwegian Dir ectorate for Cultural Heritage was using the work it had funded at Bergen to develop a toolbox that would enable it to apply the same standards so that the right decisions can be made in future cases, whilst another outlined the development of a new governmental body to oversee the ar chaeological heritage of the Flanders region of Belgium. One paper was concerned with the po tential for soils to be used as indicators of the preservation potential of sites, using both the soil itself and its inclusions of, for example, calcareous shells to indicate the pH of the soil. The paper
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argued for more prior assessment of the soils themselves to influence the design of monitor ing schemes, and perhaps this paper would have been better placed with the previous theme on monitoring. Two projects were concerned with the conserva tion of exposed sites, one a Roman settlement at Ludbreg in Croatia, and the other a mosaic floor in Turkey. A more seriously misplaced contribution concerned the need for more coherent strategies to ensure the proper curation and storage of the many thousands of dendrochronological cores. Interesting as these papers were, they were not really in the spirit of the PARIS conferences and would have perhaps have generated wider interest at other venues. Theme 4, Preserving archaeological remains in situ can we document it works? was perhaps the most challenging of all the sessions. It was pointed out that one of the first attempts to scientifically monitor an archaeological site was only twenty one years ago, and this site, the Rose Theatre in London, has been continuously monitored since then. This timescale is short by comparison with the lifetime of most structures built over archae ological remains and it is often hard to tell what
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changes might take place before they can be re examined. We were given a tour through sites in London that had been first excavated up to 150 years previously, and when reexcavated in recent times were shown to be still in good condition. However many of these were stone structures or timber revetments close to the River Thames where wood preservation has been shown to be excellent. The Rose Theatre itself is due to be reexcavated and there will be much interest in how effective the reburial system has been, particularly as it has become the benchmark for reburial at many other sites. This was discussed in a paper which also presented the preferred method for sealing the site entirely so that the natural hydrology alone maintains the sites integrity. Equally in teresting was the research into the impact of a change in soil moisture content (SMC) that was presented. It was suggested that a reduction in SMC from 50% to 40% would to be likely to lead to a 13% shrinkage in the important deposits of the Rose Theatre. This is noteworthy as although other projects have collected moisture data in the past, few if any have used the data to any great effect. The continuing information from the research at Nydam Mse in Denmark was presented, and on a shorter timescale, there were more results from the reburial research at Marstrand (the RAAR pro ject also discussed in session 1). The history of monitoring peat extraction in Englands Somer set Levels coupled with the peat wastage result ing from land drainage was given together with the hope that nature and archaeological conser vation together with an aging farming community may enable practical steps to be taken to begin the long process of regenerating the peat, perhaps driven also by the beneficial effect this would have on carbon capture. Farming and drainage were also critical elements in the management of the land
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scape around the former island of Schokland. Re sults of the monitoring that has been taking place for 15 years since 1999 were presented and the efficacy of the various tools used was discussed. Finally, the evolution of monitoring over 30 years in England was presented and an assessment of the types of sites monitored, reasons from moni toring and tools used was given. Recommenda tions to help improve future monitoring projects were presented. These included the need for more assessment of the state of preservation of a site before monitoring is considered; the need for a proper project design to be developed at the out set of the work; and finally that there should be clarity about why monitoring is needed for a given site and what can be done when monitoring data suggest optimum conditions for survival are no longer being maintained. The conference finished with a round table discus sion of the four themes lead by the session chairs. It is hoped that a summary of the main discussion points raised by the panel and audience will be collated for the conference proceedings (from audio recordings). Some of the points discussed included the extent to which we can quantify de gradation states and rates (states, yes, rates, in some cases); the need for more groundtruthing of model and microcosm research to take place on actual archaeological sites; the need for more thought to go into designing monitoring schemes, and for more assessment prior to monitoring; and finally, a recognition that standards and protocols can be useful in providing guidance to those working in the discipline, but often need to be reproduced separately for each country due to different legislation and burial environments. Just before the discussion started, the session was interrupted in order for a presentation to be made to David Gregory and Henning Matthiesen,
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MIKE CORFIELD Conservator Contact: mike1corfield@btinternet.com Mike Corfield has been a conservator and conser vation manager in Wiltshire, Wales and with Eng lish Heritage. In 1991 he became responsible for the hydrological monitoring programme at the site of the Rose Theatre. Later, he carried out projects to study the hydrology of sites to increase understanding of hydrology and the preservation of organic remains. With their support and like minded colleagues the first Preservation of Ar chaeological Remains in Situ conference was held in 1996, and in 1998 recognising that archaeolo gical resource managers recommending mitiga tion strategies needed to be supported by sound scientific advice and accordingly a team of nine regional scientific advisers were appointed. Mike was appointed English Heritage Chief Scientist in 1999, and since his retirement in 2002 he has re tained his interest in site preservation as a con sultant, carrying out projects for UNESCO in India and Iran, and supporting academic research. JIM WILLIAMS Archaeological scientist Contact: jim.williams@englishheritage.org.uk Jim Williams is an archaeological scientist, inter ested in preservation in situ issues, specifically groundwater monitoring and construction impacts. Jim is a coauthor of the English Heritage docu ment Piling and Archaeology, and has contributed papers on preservation in situ to a number of European conferences, and been involved with an EC project on pile reuse (RUFUS). During 2009 Jim took a secondment to coordinate the devel opment of a UKwide National Heritage Science Strategy. He is currently the English Heritage Science Advisor for the East Midlands, a role that he has undertaken on and off for the last 9 years.
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Excursion to Roskilde in Viking ships.

the conference chairs. They were presented with an award from the Sofie Elizabeth and Aage Rothen bergs Scholarship in recognition of their research in natural science at the National Museum. We should also mention the other members of the organising committee, Karen Brynjolf Pedersen and Mads Chr. Christensen, who along with Hen ning and David organised an extremely successful and well run conference. On the social side, there was an opening reception in the entrance of the National Museum (the ven ue for the conference) on the evening before the conference began, a visit to ongoing excavations in the city centre or a trip to see the ruins under Christiansborg on the first evening, and the con ference dinner in the Tivoli Gardens at the end of the second day. The day after the conference itself was over there was an excursion to Roskilde that included a fleet of Viking ships filled with deleg ates sailing in the bay, and a conducted tour of the cathedral, and finally, on the fifth (or sixth) day (depending when you had arrived), an infor mal, guided tour of the National Museums con servation department at Mlledalen near Brede. The conference proceedings will be published in a special issue of Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites in late 2011 or early 2012.
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UNIVERSITY TRAINING OF RESTORATION WITHIN THE EUROPEAN EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT

Review by Lubo Machako 13 June 2011 Litomyl, Czech Republic Organised by: Faculty of Restoration, University of Pardubice

Between 1st and 3rd June 2011 the international colloquium University training of restoration within the European educational context took place at the Litomyl castle, listed as UNESCO World Heritage site. The colloquium was held at the historical building of the former castles brew ery, recently reconstructed and restored accord ing to the project of wellknown Czech designer Josef Pleskot for the organisation of meetings. This special event was organised by the Faculty of Restoration of Pardubice University in connection with the results of a project developed to gather more information concerning the means and con tent of conservationrestoration study programmes at important European educational institutions.

This research was organised within the Project Restorers for European Practice (CZ.1.07/2.2.00/ 070140) with funds from the operation programme ESF Education for Competitiveness. The main aim of the project is to improve the competitive ness of the BA graduates from the Faculty of Res toration on the job market. Innovation of Bache lor study programmes at the Faculty helps to achieve this goal. Members of 12 European educational institutes interested in conservation and restoration of works of art, historical buildings and objects of cultural heritage importance took part at the colloquium to discuss recent trends in this field or to deepen the cooperation within the European educational system. Representatives of the inter national organisations ENCoRE (European Network for ConservationRestoration Education) and E.C.C.O. (European Confederation of Conservator restorers' Organisations) also took part in the conference in order to inform participants about the recent activities in the field of conservation restoration programmes and about access to the profession within the international scope. A total of 20 lecturers from 7 European countries participated in the colloquium. The main topics of each seminar were: recent trends in university restoration education, goals of education and

Jan blo, from the Faculty of Restoration of University of Pardubice.

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A view of the conference auditorium.

way of their achievement at each educational institute, general qualification demands required for restoration practice, and qualification demands required from official institutes of care for histori cal monuments. The colloquium was started by the dean of the Faculty of Restoration, Ing. Karol Bayer, followed by the rector of University of Pardubice, Prof. Ing. Miroslav Ludwig, CSc., who welcomed the participants. The morning of the first day was especially focused on the results of the Project Restorers for the European Practice, aimed to the innovation of the Bachelor study plans at the Faculty of Restoration. During the last school year, the Faculty managed to organise specialised workshops within this pro ject supervised by recognized external experts qualified in conservationrestoration theory and practice. Then the academic staff of the Faculty of Restoration presented their experience from visits to selected European institutions. Several
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renowened educational institutes interested in conservationrestoration were visited by members of academic staff of the Faculty to compare their study plans and to define possible fields of inno vation within the Bachelor study plan of the Fac ulty of Restoration. The first presentation, BA, MA quo vadis?, was given by Tatjana Bayerov from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. In her presentation, she first summarised the history and the system of conservationrestoration education at the Uni versity and later she focused on the recent state of the Bologna system in the universities from German speaking countries. The second present ation was made by Karina Zajadacz, who informed the participants about the educational system of conservationrestoration at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. The afternoon session started with the presenta tion Education in conservation in Malta chal lenges and opportunities by Prof. JoAnn Cassar
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from the University of Malta. In her lecture, she considered appeals and possibilities of conserva tionrestoration education in Malta. She introduced their education system to the participants, MSc courses in Conservation Technology for Masonry Buildings, handson courses offered by the Depart ment of the Built Heritage, Faculty for the Built Environment and warrant system for access the profession. Sandra Smith, Head of the Conservation Depart ment of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, introduced the special educational course of conservationrestoration organised by the V&A in Filling the skill gap between training and professional accreditation in the UK; work based learning at the V&A. The training programme which is endorsed through the UKs Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) de velops conservators with high competence in a specialist area of conservation (Upholstery, Tex tiles, Furniture, Preventive, Metals; Ceramics, Glass, Enamel or Sculpture conservation). Octaviana Marincas, from the University of Arts Geroge Enescu in Iai, Romania presented In tegrated Scientific Research into Romanian Edu cational and Training Conservation Programmes where she spoke about the beginnings of conser vation and care for historical monuments in Ro mania. She briefly also explained the university education system in this field and explained the basic types of study programmes at University of Iai to the participants. After the coffeebreak, Prof. Christoph Herm from the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts presented Edu cation in natural science in the Course in Art Tech nology and Conservation of Works of Art at Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. In his lecture, he spoke about the role of natural science in the conserva tionrestoration education at the Academy, he de
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Prof. Ulrich Schiel (19482011), from the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts.

scribed topics of education in natural science and briefly presented the University laboratory. Prof. Ulrich Schiel, who unfortunately passed away recently, developed the former topic by presenting Interdisciplinary Research on the History of Architecture and Construction, the Deco ration and Conservation of the West Choir of the Naumburg Cathedral as an example of the inte gration of PhD studies within a special project of restoration practice. Next, in Which Practice? Prof. Wolfgang Baatz from the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna and recent president of ENCoRE, stressed in his lecture the basic principles of the education system in the field of conservationrestoration as defined in the international documents E.C.C.O., ENCoRE and ICOM. Afterwards, Prof. Baatz concluded the first day of lectures by presenting Barbara David sons lecture on Competences for access to the conservationrestoration profession. During the presentation, he started by introducing briefly the international organisation E.C.C.O. and conti nued explaining the problems of the qualification demands for access to the conservationrestora tion profession from the point of view of recent and future legislative of the European Union.
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Wolfgang Baatz. The discussion was intended to cover five main themes: 1. Structure of study at universities 2. Strategy, organisation terms, courses, modules 3. Financial support of education system 4. Accreditation for restoration practice 5. Postgraduate programmes During the discussion, most attention was given to the study structure of the integration of the Bologna system, the status quo at each institu tion, the possibilities and limits of the system and possible future development in the European context. Another discussion theme of wide in terest was how to ensure quality standards of conservationrestoration practice and ways of accreditation the profession in each country. The discussion resulted in a document signed by the participants expressing their support to activi ties concerning the international recognition of the conservationrestoration professional status as it is developed in the EU by ENCoRE and E.C.C.O.: The participants of the international colloquium in Litomyl fully support the principles of the Conser vationRestoration education and access to the ConservationRestoration profession as declared in the ENCoRE Clarification paper from 2001 and in E.C.C.O. Professional Guidelines II (Education and Training, 2002) and E.C.C.O. Professional Guidelines III (2004). The participants further declare that their institu tions ConservationRestoration training programs aim to achieve the goals declared in the above men tioned documents and that the Learning Outcomes for these programs are informed by the competences for professional practice as published in Compe tences for Access to the ConservationRestoration Profession (E.C.C.O. 2011).
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Prof. Wolfgang Baatz, from the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna.

The second day of the colloquium was opened by Alena Seluck from the Technical Museum of Brno, Czech Republic. In her presentation entitled The Methodical Conservation Centre of the Technical Museum in Brno its role in training of conser vatorsrestorers, she introduced the activity of the Methodical Conservation Centre, which has offered since 2003 the possibility of education in the field of conservationrestoration apart from other various services for museums and galleries. The following lecturer, Prof. Pavel Novk from the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) in Prague, Czech Republic introduced the education program in conservationrestoration at the ICT. In the se cond part of his lecture he compared the study programmes of universities and institutes which offer education in conservationrestoration in the Czech Republic. The presentations were concluded by Vt Jesensk from the National Heritage Institute, Regional department for Central Bohemia, Prague, who discussed the specific factors influencing conservationrestoration and also about the edu cation system of this field in the Czech Republic. The discussion among the participants took place in the afternoon and was supervised by Prof.
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REVIEWS

A summary of the conclusions reached during the discussion is as follows: 1. Exists similarity among the represented educa tion institutions concerning the goals, purpose, way of achievement, problems, etc., which is in fluenced by various regional and social conditions and traditions which cause different attitudes and solutions. 2. All the institutions have implemented the Bo logna system. 3. The Bologna System was adopted in Germany and Austria although there is no BA/MA division. 4. All the study programs are based on the same three basic elements natural science, humane science and art skills. Only their rate differs be tween the institutions. 5. Knowledge and art skills are examined during an entrance examination at majority of schools. 6. Former conservationrestoration practice is not necessary, except for German schools where one year of practice is required before the first term.

7. Almost all the BA graduates continue to study for MA at their alma mater. 8. With rare exceptions all students graduate from the institutions. 9. All the institutions declared a very good em ployment rate of their graduates. 10. All the institutions reported an increasing lower number of applicants. 11. The teaching material of specific subjects is competence of the respective lecturers. All the representatives declared their support concerning the education systems and care for historical and cultural monuments and expressed the necessity to discuss this problem at interna tional level in Europe. During the third day of colloquium the participants visited the historical town of Kutn Hora, having the opportunity to know more about the town history and its monuments as well as the restored historical town centre with its most important conserved and reconstructed sites: the Church of the Virgin Mary and Ossuary in Sedlec near Kutn Hora, and the Gothic Cathedral of St. Barbara, which is listed as UNESCO World Heritage site. The colloquium has met with wide interest of quali fied public and its organisers believe that this event is just one of the first steps towards dialogue about recent education trends in the field of conserva tionrestoration and connected to the needs of cultural heritage care at European scale. LUBO MACHAKO Conservatorrestorer Contact: machacko@seznam.cz Lubo Machako is a private conservatorrestorer specialised in paintings conservation. Currently he works at the Department of Chemical Technology at the Faculty of Restoration, University of Pardubice.

Visit to St. Barbara Cathedral in Kutn Hora.

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35

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article

CHARACTERIZATION OF NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC DYES EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHINESE GARMENT PIECES BY LCDAD AND LCDADQTOF
By Estrella Sanz Rodrguez, Angela Arteaga Rodrguez, Mara Antonia Garca Rodrguez, Carmen Cmara

CHARACTERIZATION OF DYES IN CHINESE GARMENTS

In this work we present the results obtained for the characterization of dyes found in seven Chinese garment pieces, which came from the Museum of Arts and Design in Madrid to Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute (IPCE) for their restoration. They were dated to the times of the Qing Dynasty, between 1700 and 1900 AD. The samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled to a diode array detector (LCDAD) and liquid chromatography tandem diode array quadrupole timeofflight mass spectrometry (LCDADQTOF). Dyes identified in the pieces under study were clearly correlated with two important features, their oriental origin and the date of manufacture, making them a particularly complex matrix. Thus, on one hand, the natural dyes found, such as indigo, brazilwood, curcuma, Asian berberis yellow dye, pagoda tree and safflower, are characteristic for Asia and the Middle East. On the other hand, these pieces date from the transition period between the exclusive use of natural dyes and the widespread introduction of synthetic ones during the late 19th century. Therefore, some early synthetic dyes such as Prussian blue, picric acid, basic fuchsine and Victoria blue B were also detected.

Introduction In all parts of the world, natural dyes have been used since the oldest times until the end of the 19th century, when synthetic dyes became avail able. The organic compounds responsible for the colour in ancient dyestuffs were obtained from plants, insects, shellfish and lichens [1] and in cluded hundreds of dyes like cochineal, brazil wood, madder, kermes, weld, young fustic, saffron, indigo, orchil, Tyrian purple, etc. In 1740, indigo carmine appeared as the first semisynthetic dye, followed by picric acid in 1771. Aniline Purple (or Perkins Mauve), considered to be the first really synthetic dye, was accidentally discovered by William H. Perkin in 1856 in an attempt to produce artificial quinine. Since 1897, when 404 new dye stuffs had been developed, the synthetic dyes soon replaced most of the natural ones [2]. Due to the fact that the particular dyes employed in each culture were related to locally available dyeing technology, the identification of dyestuffs present in historical textiles can contribute to answer different questions linked with dyeing techniques, time of manufacture and geographical origin of a particular textile [1], offering impor
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tant information for the establishment of their historicalartistic profile. Moreover, these ana lyses can evidence past restoration processes and provide keys for the application of an appropriate treatment in modern interventions of restoration or conservation. Since each dye can be a mixture of various organic compounds and a fibre can be dyed with several of them, chromatographic techniques that are able to separate very complex mixtures are the most appropriate tools for this type of analysis. In between all of them, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is by far the most com monly used, because it enables the separation of nonvolatile compounds such as the components of dyestuffs [3]. A HPLC system can be coupled to different detectors. Evidently, most of the dye components are strong chromophores, therefore UVVis absorbance detectors, most commonly with a diode array configuration (DAD) are suitable for the demands of their analysis from plant extracts or animal sources [48]. The same applies for analysis from other matrices such as modern dyed materials [2,9] or archaeological textiles [1018]. Employing DAD, detection can be carried out over the whole range of the UV and visible spectrum,
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ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ et al.

hence the complete spectrum of all the compounds subsequently eluting from the liquid chromato graphy (LC) column can be obtained, which are then characterised by their retention time on one hand and by their corresponding UVVis spectrum on the other. Even though, this technique is not very specific and different chemical compounds may have rather similar spectra. This is the reason for that the actual trend within the field of iden tification of complex mixtures of dyestuffs goes towards the use of higher discriminating techni ques such as hyphenation of liquid chromato graphy to detection by mass spectrometry (MS). In fact, over the last years, most research tends towards uniting and complementing all the infor mation obtained by online coupling of DAD and different mass spectrometer configurations, such as ion trap (IT), single quadrupole (Q) or time of flight (TOF) [10, 12,1928]. The use of a hybrid LCQTOF, a quadrupoletime of flight instrument such as the one employed in this study has, to best of the authors knowledge, not yet been em ployed for the analysis of natural organic dye stuff. This system allows the separation of the compounds present in each sample and their subsequent characterisation due to its powerful analytical capabilities for detection and identi fication. The TOF detector delivers the high mass accuracy (12 ppm MS) needed for positive iden tifications with absolute confidence. This instru ment also performs MSMS using a quadrupole, a hexapole (collision cell) and a TOF portion to produce spectra (24 ppm MSMS). The MSMS spectra combined with accurate mass can be used to confirm ion identity and structure. With respect to commonly used mass detectors, such as single quadrupole, the high mass accur acy that a QTOF provides reduces drastically the possible formulas for a given compound. This information allows confirming the presence of a compound, helping to identify unknowns and to
40

reduce risk of spending effort on the wrong mole cule. The MS MS spectrum yields a fragmentation pattern which is exclusive and unique for each compound and it is used helping to identify and to confirm unknowns via elucidation of their chemical structure. Summarising, the QTOF detector is an ex tremely powerful tool for compound identification. The collection studied in this work consists of seven Chinese garment pieces provided by the Museum of Arts and Design of Madrid for conser vation purposes to IPCE. There is not much histo rical information available; all pieces were dated between 1700 and 1900, corresponding to the Qing Dynasty period and, most probably, came to Spain from Manila when the Philippines was a Spanish colony [29]. All pieces were produced using the typical traditional Chinese techniques and decoration patterns. Their state of preserva tion is acceptable, except the backside of a pair of trousers, which is heavily damaged. Mainly silk, but also other types of fibres such as cotton, flax, hemp or jute, were employed in their manufacture [30]. The objective of the present study was the iden tification of the dyestuffs employed in the manu facture of fragments from this collection using LCDAD and LCDADQTOF. This identification can contribute to obtain relevant information for their historical documentation and to extend the knowledge of the dyeing technology used in their production.

Experimental Reagents and reference fibres Highpurity deionised water (MilliQ Element system, Millipore, USA), formic acid (HCOOH) from Fluka (SigmaAldrich, Steinheim, Germany) and acetonitrile (ACN), from J.T. Baker (Deventer, Netherlands) were used for preparation of the
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CHARACTERIZATION OF DYES IN CHINESE GARMENTS

mobile phase. Gradient grade methanol (MeOH) from J.T. Baker (Deventer, Netherlands), formic acid and dimethylformamide (DMF) from Panreac (Barcelona, Spain) were employed for sample preparation. Extraction methods, chromatographic conditions and instrumental parameters of the detectors were previously optimised using reference fibres dyed with several natural dyes, such as American cochineal (Dactylopius coccus Costa), brazilwood (Caesalpinia sp), madder (Rubia tinctorum L.), weld (Reseda luteola L.), old fustic (Chlorophora tinctoria), saffron (Crocus sativus L.), indigo (In digofera sp.), Tyrian purple (Plicopurpura pansa L.), alder bark (Alnus sp.) or sumac (Rhus spp.), in between others. Samples Figures 17 show photos of each piece under study: a theatre costume, a nuptial tunic, a chifu, a belt, a jacket, a pair of trousers and child shoes. The first step in the identification of a dyestuff present in an historical textile is the sampling procedure. This was carried out taking as few amount of sample possible, but always keeping the sample representative. To cover the different colours discovered over every piece, a total amount of 52 samples were taken. Subsequently, these were examined under an optical microscope to determine the macroscopic sample composition and to detect impurities and fading phenomena. Instrumentation The samples were chemically analyzed employing two rather different liquid chromatography sys tems. First, a commonly used liquid chromato graphy system coupled to diode array detector (LCDAD) and, after, a liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detector and mass spectro
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meter with a quadrupoletimeofflight analyzers (LCDADQTOF). System I (LCDAD) The chromatographic system used consisted of a model 600E Multisolvent delivery system (Waters Chromatography, USA) equipped with a Luna C18(2) HPLC column (150 x 2.1 mm id, 5 m particle size) and a guard cartridge system (Phenomenex, USA). Samples were injected by a 717 auto sampler (Waters Chromatography, USA). Separated compo nents of dyestuffs were detected with a 996 DAD detector, scanning from 200 nm to 600 nm at a rate of 1 scan/second and with a resolution of 1.2 nm (Waters Chromatography, USA). The mobile phase, delivered at 0.5 ml/min, consisted of 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in water (A) and aceto
Figure 1. Nuptial tunic from the Oriental garment collection of the Museum of Arts and Design (Madrid). Photo by Eduardo Seco.

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ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ et al.

Figure 2. Theatre costume from the Oriental garment collection of the Museum of Arts and Design (Madrid). Photo by Teresa Garca.

42

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CHARACTERIZATION OF DYES IN CHINESE GARMENTS

Figure 3. Chifu from the Oriental garment collection of the Museum of Arts and Design (Madrid). Photo by Esther Galiana.

Figure 4. Jacket from the the Oriental garment collection of the Museum of Arts and Design (Madrid). Photo by Esther Galiana.

Figure 5. Belt from the Oriental garment collection of the Museum of Arts and Design (Madrid). Photo by Esther Galiana.

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ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ et al.

Figure 6. Pair of trousers from the Oriental garment collection of the Museum of Arts and Design (Madrid). Photo by Eduardo Seco.

44

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CHARACTERIZATION OF DYES IN CHINESE GARMENTS

Mass spectrometry Mass spectrometry was performed on a 6530 Ac curateMass QTOF operating in ESI positive and negative modes. The ionisation source was a Jet Stream Thermal Focusing technology which uses superheated nitrogen (N2) to improve ion gene ration and desolvation for greater signal and re duced noise. The acquisition mode was Auto MS MS to obtain the MSMS spectrum for each single dye component. The precursor selection was sor ting by abundance, being three the maximum number of precursors per cycle. The mass spectro meter operating conditions are summarised in Table I. Data acquisition and processing were per formed using MassHunter Workstation software.

Figure 7. Child shoes from the Oriental garment collection of the Museum of Arts and Design (Madrid). Photos by Eduardo Seco.

nitrile (B). The gradient applied was the follow ing: 10% B isocratic to 1 min, to 30% B (linear) at 30 min, to 100% B (linear) at 50 min. The column temperature was maintained constant at 35 C. System II (LCDADQTOF) All the modules of LCDADQTOF instrument (auto matic injector, pump, column oven, diode array detector and mass spectrometer) were from Agi lent Technologies (USA). Chromatography The liquid chromatography system used consisted of a model 1200 Series equipped with a ZORBAX ExtendC18 Rapid Resolution High Throughput (RRHT) column (50 x 2.1 mm i.d.; 1.8 m particle size). The mobile phase, pumped at 0.8 ml/min, consisted of 0.1% formic acid in water (A) and acetonitrile (B). The gradient applied was the following: 10% B isocratic to 0.4 min, to 35% B (linear) at 12 min, to 95% B (linear) at 18 min, 95% B isocratic to 21 min and to 10% B (linear) at 25 min. The column temperature was maintained at 35 C by a model 1200 Series thermostatic column compartment. Separated components were detected with a 1200 Series diode array de tector, scanning from 200 nm to 800 nm and the chromatograms were recorded at 275 and 550 nm.
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Table I. Mass spectrometer operation conditions.

Source Parameters Polarity Gas temp Gas flow Nebulizer Sheath gas temp Sheath gas flow Vcap Nozzle voltage Fragmentor Skimmer1 Octopole RF peak QTOF Parameters Acquisition Mode MS Range MSMS Range MS and MSMS scan rate Isolation Width MSMS Fixed Collision Energy
Auto MSMS

Positive, Negative 300 C 8 L/min 55 psi 400 C 12 L/min 3500 V 1000 V 185 V 65 V 750 V

1001700 m/z 501700 m/z 3 spectra/s Medium (~4 m/z) 35 V

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ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ et al.

Extraction procedure In a first study, working with the LCDAD system, we employed a previously optimised and published extraction method [31], which can be resumed as follows: Extraction procedure I Bulk samples were added to a conic glass vial containing a (95:5, v/v) mixture of MeOH:HCOOH and then heated for 30 minutes to 4550 C. Sub sequently the solvent was evaporated under a N2 current. To the dry residue, a (1:1, v/v) mixture of MeOH:DMF was added and the solution again heated to about 100 C during 5 minutes, then transferred to 0.2 m SpinX nylon micro centri fuge filters and centrifuged at 6000 rpm for 10 min. After evaporation of the filtrate to dryness with N2, the residue was again dissolved in 50 L of a (1:1, v/v) MeOH:DMF mixture and shaked in vortex for 1 minute. This extract was injected onto the LCDAD system. Later on, the method was further optimised [32], basically regarding the first extraction medium, and was employed with the second chromatogra phic system, LCDADQTOF. Extraction procedure II Samples were placed in a conic vial and treated with 250 L of a mixture of HCOOH:MeOH:H2O (15:25:60, v/v/v) for 10 minutes at 5055 C. The solvent was then evaporated under a N2 current. A volume of 250 L of the mixture MeOH:DMF (1:1, v/v) was added to the dry residue and the mixture was heated for 5 minutes at around 90 C. Then, the solution was transferred to 0.2 m nylon filters SpinX (micro centrifuge filter) and centrifuged at 6000 rpm for 10 min. The filtrate was evaporated to dryness under a N2 current and the residue was
46

dissolved in 510 L of MeOH:DMF (1:1, v/v) solu tion. After shaking it in vortex for 1 min, the ex tract was injected onto the LCDADQTOF system. Results and discussion From observation under optical microscope it was concluded that none of the samples were consti tuted by a mixture of differently coloured fibres, except for one orangered sample from a child shoe, where the fibres were first yellow dyed and afterwards superficially in redorange. It is worth mentioning that an important decolouration process was observed in this particular sample. Results of the analysed samples using the system I (LCDAD), are summarised in Table II. The com pounds were identified based on matching their retention time and UVVis spectra. In the brown samples, gallic acid, ellagic acid and traces of flavonoids were detected, indicating the use of tannins as dye (probably obtained from galls and/or bark of oak species). Indigotin, as main component, and indirubin were detected in the blue samples and those col ours deriving from blue, such as green or purple (Figure 8(c)). The percentage of each component was in concordance with the composition of in digo (Indigofera sp.) or woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) but due to the origin of these textiles, the dye was most probably indigo obtained from some Indigofera species. Another type of indigo in dark blue, green and purple samples containing indirubin, either pre sent as a main component or at very high concen tration, was found (Figure 8(d)). When the ratio indigotin to indirubin in 17 sam ples of different shades of blue, green and purple
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CHARACTERIZATION OF DYES IN CHINESE GARMENTS

Table II. Summary of the dyestuffs found in the seven Chinese pieces of garment studied.

Colour

Detected compounds indigotin, indirubin

Identified dyestuff (analyzed by) Indigo (Indigofera sp.) (LCDAD)

Blue

[4[[4Anilino1naphthyl][4(dimethylamino) Victoria blue B (Basic blue 26; C.I. 44045) (LCDAD and LCDADQTOF) phenyl]methylene]cyclohexa2,5dien 1ylidene]

iron (Fe), cyanide group (CN)1 unknown blue compound (max= 220 and > 600 nm) Dark blue indirubin, indigotin carminic acid, dcII, dcVII brasilin, Type C component Red carthamin fuchsine, magenta II, new fuchsine unknown red compounds (max.= 279, 368, 482 nm) curcumins I,II and III berberin, palmatin Yellow rutin (quercetin3Oglucoside), quercetin 2,4,6trinitrophenol Brown gallic acid, ellagic acid, flavonoids (trace level)

Prussian blue2 Unknown blue dye (LCDAD and LCDADQTOF) Dark Indigo (Asian species ?) (LCDAD) Cochineal, probably American cochineal (Dactylopius coccus Costa) (LCDAD) Brazilwood, probably Caesalpinia sappan L.) (LCDAD) Safflower (Carthamos tinctorius L.) (LCDAD and LCDADQTOF) Basic Fuchsine (Basic violet 14; C.I. 42510) (LCDAD and LCDADQTOF) Unknown red dye (LCDAD and LCDADQTOF) Curcuma (Curcuma longa L.) (LCDAD) Asian berberies (Berberis sp. Mahonia sp. Phellodendron amurense) (LCDAD) Chinese yellow berries (Sophora japonica L.) (LCDAD and LCDADQTOF) Picric acid (LCDAD) Tannins (LCDAD)

1 The identification was carried out by XRF (detection of iron) and FTIR (detection of cyanide group)[29] 2 The pigment (Fe 4 [Fe(CN)6]3) was applied as paint layer to create a decoration in the chifu

is represented (Figure 8(e)), it is clearly shown that two different types of indigo dyes were present. Available literature refers in only two occasions to an indirubin content of blue dye stuff different from Indigofera or Isatis tinctoria. Wouters and RosarioChirinos [14] reported that in the early Peruvian samples, indirubin was of ten more abundant than indigotin [...] and con cluded that more studies will be needed to inter pret the high indirubin amounts that were often encountered [...]. Equally, Cardon [33] reported,
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about the dye composition of a plant from Asia, Rum or Assam Indigo (Strobilanthes cusia): Re cently, the Japanese chemist Satoshi Ushida con cluded that the rather high pH of Strobilanthes juice may explain the production of high propor tions of indirubin when dyeing with fresh leaves at elevated temperatures. About the dyeing and colours obtained with this dye, Cardon reported that intensive blueblack or dark blue colour was obtained with this dye by repeated immersions in a vat of osak indigo (Strobilanthes sp.)[].
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ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ et al.

Figure 8. (a) UVVis spectrum of indigotin; (b) UVVis spectrum of indirubin; (c) DAD chromatogram at 275 nm of blue sample from theatre costume where indigotin (majority) and indirubin were detected; (d) DAD chromatogram at 275 nm of dark blue sample from a pair of trousers where indirubin (majority) and indigotin were detected; (e) relation of indigotin and indirubin in blue, green and purple samples with different shades (n= 17).

Figure 9. (a) DAD chromatogram obtained for a red sample from theatre costume and UVVis spectra of the three main red com ponents detected; (b) Extract compound MS chromatograms; (c), (d) and (e) the accurate mass and the massmass spectrum for the fuchsine, magenta II and new fuchsine, respectively. Note: the ion precursor is marked with a little red rhomb over it and has been fragmented in the collision cell to give the corresponding massmass spectra.

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CHARACTERIZATION OF DYES IN CHINESE GARMENTS

The only chromatographic pattern where we found amounts of indirubin very close or higher than indigotin has been in the analysis of a product called ChingDai (Indigo Naturalis) or in Chinese qing dai [3436]. Indigo naturalis is a dark blue power used to treat several health problems in Chinese and Taiwanese medicine and it is prepared from leaves of plants such as Baphicacavthus cusia, Polygonum tinctorium, Isatis indigotica, Indigofera tinctoria and/or Strobilanthes cusia. Thus, we think that the dark blue colour in the samples from the Chinese garments was obtained from a dye pre pared from such Asian species which, due to the dyeing method employed or to the composition of some of the plant used, contains a high amount of indirubin. Moreover, a blue pigment used like a paint layer in a decoration of the chifu could be identified as Prussian blue by FTIR and XRF [30]. Two other blue dyes could not be identified by LCDAD because they did not match any available reference. Regarding red samples, we found that they were dyed with cochineal, brazilwood and possibly saf flower, although the presence of the latter could not be confirmed because a carthamin standard was not available. Additionally, two red dyes could not be identified. Four different yellow dyes were found. Two of them could be identified as curcuma and Asian berberis. A third yellow containing rutin as a possible main component, the principal component of Chinese yellow berries (the Japanese pagoda tree, Sophora japonica L.), but its identification was doubtful because the UVVis spectra of flavonoids are all very similar. Furthermore, no corresponding refe rence fibre was available (e.g. dyed with pagoda tree), which would have allowed confirmation of its specific retention time. The last yellow could be identified as picric acid, one of the first semi synthetic dyes based on matching its UVVis spec
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tra with data kindly provided by M. van Bommel. Summarising, after the LCDAD analysis, dyes such as tannins, indigo, cochineal, brazilwood, curcuma, Asian berberis and picric acid could be identified. The possible presence of safflower and Chinese yellow berries could be detected and four dyes, two blue and two red, remained un identified. In order to improve these results, samples con taining doubtful and unidentified compounds were subsequently analyzed using LCDADQTOF. These analyses allowed the confirmation of the presence of carthamin and rutin via its accurate mass and massmass spectrum and consequently the use of safflower and Asian berries dyes. The use of safflower in the orange sample from a child shoe explained the decolouration phenomena observed due to the wellknown poor light fast ness of this dye. In the characterisation of one of the unknown blue dyes, a mixture of blue components (accord ing to their UVVis spectra) was obtained. One of the main compounds could now be identified as the synthethic dye Victoria blue B, introduced in 1883 [37]. The identication was based on its UV Vis spectrum, exact mass (m/z 470.2583; error 0.53 ppm), corresponding to the [MCl]+ ion, distinguishable from other Victoria Blue dyes [38] and on its massmass spectrum matching with its chemical structure. However, the other blue dye still remains unidentified because the entire sample was used in the analysis on system I. Equally, only one of the two unknown red dyes could be identified. In this case, the analysis re veals the presence of three main red components. From the extracts MS chromatograms, three com pounds were identified as fuchsine, magenta II and new fuchsine, components of basic fuchsine
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ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ et al.

Table III. Dyestuffs identified and dating for each piece studied.

Piece

Identified Dyes

Dating

Natural dyes: indigo, dark indigo, Asian berberis, safflower and their mixtures

17001900

Natural dyes: indigo, Asian berberis, Chinese yellow berries, brazilwood, tannins and their mixtures

17001900

Natural dyes: indigo, dark indigo, Chinese yellow berries, tannins and their mixtures

17001900

Natural dyes: dark indigo

17001900

Natural dyes: indigo, dark indigo, Asian berberis, brazilwood, Chinese yellow berries, their mixtures and mixed with Synthetic dyes: picric acid and fuchsine; Prussian blue employed in decoration paint layer Natural dyes: indigo, dark indigo, Asian berberis, brazilwood, curcuma, cochineal their mixtures and mixed with Synthetic dyes: picric acid, fuchsine and unknown red dye Natural dyes: brazilwood, Asian berberis, curcuma, safflower and their mixtures, not mixed with Synthetic dyes: Fuchsine (sewing thread) Victoria blue B (typical Chinese bottom)

18561900

18561900?

18831900?

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CHARACTERIZATION OF DYES IN CHINESE GARMENTS

dye, a synthetic dye which was introduced in 1856 [2]. All compounds were detected as [M+H]+ (m/z 302.1655, error 0.96 ppm; 316.1807, error 0.49 ppm and 330.165, error 0.02 ppm, respectively) and were identified based on their accurate mass, comparison with literature data [39], MSMS frag mentation pattern according to their chemical structure and UVVis spectra (Figure 9). Finally, Table III shows the dyestuffs identified for each piece studied. These dyes were found alone or mixed in different proportions to create different shades, though colour degradation ef fects also took place such as in the bands of the chifu. Conclusions Dyes identified in the pieces under study could be clearly correlated to two important aspects: their oriental origin and their date of manufacture, because the pieces date from the transition peri od between the exclusive use of natural dyes and the widespread introduction of synthetic ones during the late 19th century. Consequently, nat ural dyes found, such as indigo, brazilwood, cur cuma, Asian berberin yellow dye, Chinese yellow berries and safflower, are characteristic for Asia and the Middle East, but some early synthetic dyes such as Prussian blue, picric acid, basic fuchsine and Victoria Blue B were also detected. Knowing the year of introduction of these synthetic dyes helps to improve the initially wide range of uncer tainty when dating the pieces, as shown in Table III. Prussian blue was introduced in 17241725, picric acid in 1771, fuchsine in 1856 and Victoria Blue B in 1883. Hence, for the shoes, belt, jacket and pair of trousers, which were dyed employing natural dyes only, the initial date range between 1700 and 1900 AD could not be narrowed. For the chifu and the theatre costume, natural dyes

were found mixed with some early synthetic dyes (picric acid and fuchsine) and Prussian blue was used to elaborate a paint layer decoration; in particular the presence of fuchsine indicates a fabrication date later than 1856. The case of nup tial tunic is different because though synthetic dyes were identified (fuchsine and Victoria blue B), these were found in parts of the textile (inte rior sewing thread and typical Chinese bottom, respectively) which could be attributed to later interventions dating from after 1856 AD for the sewing thread and 1883 AD for the blue bottom. Regarding the applied techniques, the LCDAD QTOF system has demonstrated to be an excellent tool for both, to confirm the presence of a com pound and to provide a confident identification of unknowns in a single analytical run without the essential use of previous standard analysis because this technique combines UVVis data, excellent mass accuracy and MSMS structural information.

Acknowledgments The authors thank the Spanish Ministry of Culture and the Complutense University of Madrid for the establishment of the agreement of collaboration, in the frame of which the present study has been developed. We would like to thank to the staff of the Textiles Department of the IPCE for their col laboration and valuable help and to the Museum of Arts and Design in Madrid. We also would like to say thank you to Maarten R. Van Bommel, Edith Oberhumer and Maria Melo for always attending our doubts and questions and for their valuable input. Finally, we would like to thank Ana Roquero for her important advice on dyed fibres belong ing to the Reference Collection of IPCE and for her collaboration and valuable help.

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51

ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ et al.

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main flavonoids present in weld (Reseda luteola L.), Dyes and Pigments 57(3), 2003, pp. 267 272, doi: 10.1016/S01437208(03)00007X [8] R. Pedreschi and L. CisnerosZevallos, Pheno lic profiles of Andean purple corn (Zea mays L.), Food Chemistry 100(3), 2007, pp. 956963, doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2005.11.004 [9] S.M. Halpine, An Improved Dye and Lake Pigment Analysis Method for HighPerformance Liquid Chromatography and DiodeArray Detector, Studies in Conservation 41(2), 1996, pp. 7681 [10] L. Rafally, S. Hron, W. Nowik and A. Tchapla, Optimisation of ESIMS detection for the HPLC of anthraquinone dyes, Dyes and Pig ments 77(1), 2008, pp. 191203, doi: 10.1016/j. dyepig.2007.05.007 [11] I. Surowiec, A. Quye and M. Trojanowicz, Li quid chromatography determination of natural dyes in extracts from historical Scottish textiles excavated from peat bogs, Journal of Chromato graphy A 1112(12), 2006, pp. 209217, doi: 10.10 16/j.chroma.2005.11.019 [12] L. Valianou, I. Karapanagiotis and Y. Chrys soulakis, Comparison of extraction methods for the analysis of natural dyes in historical textiles by highperformance liquid chromatography, Analytical Bioanalytical Chemistry 395(7), 2009, pp. 21752189, doi:10.1007/ s0021600931376 [13] X. Zhang and R. A. Laursen, Development of Mild Extraction Methods for the Analysis of Natural Dyes in Textiles of Historical Interest Using LCDiode Array DetectorMS, Analytical Chemistry 77(7), 2005, pp. 20222025, doi: 10.1021/ac048380k
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CHARACTERIZATION OF DYES IN CHINESE GARMENTS

[14] J. Wouters and N. RosarioChirinos, Dye Analysis of PreColumbian Peruvian Textiles with HighPerformance Liquid Chromatography and DiodeArray Detection, Journal of American In stitute of Conservation 31(2)7, 1992, pp. 237255 [15] W. Nowik, S. Desrosiers, I. Surowiec and M. Trojanowicz, The analysis of dyestuffs from first to secondcentury textile artefacts found in the MartresdeVeyre (France) excavations, Archaeometry 47, 2005, pp. 835848, doi:10.1111/j.14754754.2005.00235.x [16] G. G. Balakina, V. G. Vasiliev, E. V. Karpova, and V. I. Mamatyuk, HPLC and molecular spectroscopic investigations of the red dye obtained from an ancient Pazyryk textile, Dyes and Pigments 71 (1), 2006, pp. 5460, doi:10.1016/j.dyepig.2005. 06.014 [17] I. Vanden Berghe, M. Gleba and U. Manner ing, Towards the identification of dyestuffs in Early Iron Age Scandinavian peat bog textiles, Journal of Archaeological Science 36(9), 2009, pp. 19101921, doi:10.1016/j.jas.2009.04.019 [18] I. Degano and M. P. Colombini, Multiana lytical techniques for the study of preColumbian mummies and related funerary materials, Journal of Archaeological Science 36(8), 2009, pp. 1783 1790, doi:10.1016/j.jas.2009.04.015 [19] X. Zhang and R. Laursen, Application of LCMS to the analysis of dyes in objects of his torical interest, International Journal of Mass Spectrometry 284(13), 2009, pp. 108114, doi:10.1016/j.ijms.2008.07.014 [20] X. Zhang, R. Boytner, J. L. Cabrera and R. Laursen, Identification of Yellow Dye Types in PreColumbian Andean Textiles, Analytical Chemistry 79(4), 2007, pp. 15751582, doi:10.1021/ac061618f
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[21] X. Zhang, I. Good and R. Laursen, Characte rization of dyestuffs in ancient textiles from Xin jiang, Journal of Archaeology Science 35(4), 2008, pp. 10951103, doi:10.1016/j.jas.2007.08.001 [22] M. Puchalska, K. PolecPawlak, I. Zadrozna, H. Hrysko and M. Jarosz, Identification of in digoid dyes in natural organic pigments used in historical art objects by highperformance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ioniza tion mass spectrometry, Journal of Mass Spec trometry 39(12), 2004, pp. 14411449, doi:10.1002/jms.728 [23] G. C.H. Derksen, H.A.G. Niederlnder and T.A. van Beek, Analysis of anthraquinones in Rubia tinctorum L. by liquid chromatography coupled with diodearray UV and mass spectro metric detection, Journal of Chromatography A 978(12), 2002, pp. 119127, doi:10.1016/S00219673(02)014127 [24] I. Karapanagiotis, Y. Chryssoulakis, Investi gation of Red Natural Dyes Used in Historical Ob jects by HPLCDADMS, Annali di Chimica 96(12), 2005, pp. 7584, doi: 10.1002/adic.200690008 [25] K. Pawlak, M. Puchalska, A. Miszczak, E. Rosoniec, M. Jarosz, Blue natural organic dye stuffs from textile dyeing to mural painting. Separation and characterization of coloring mat ters present in elderberry, logwood and indigo, Journal of Mass Spectrometry 41(5), 2006, pp. 613622, doi: 10.1002/jms.1018 [26] D. A. Peggie, A. N. Hulme, H. McNab and A. Quye, Towards the identification of character istic minor components from textiles dyed with weld (Reseda luteola L.) and those dyed with Mexican cochineal (Dactylopius coccus Costa), Microchimica Acta 162(34), 2008, pp. 371380, doi: 10.1007/s0060400708660
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[27] R. Marques, M. M. Sousa, M. C. Oliveira and M. J. Melo, Characterization of weld (Reseda lu teola L.) and spurge flax (Daphne gnidium L.) by highperformance liquid chromatographydiode array detectionmass spectrometry in Arraiolos historical textiles, Journal of Chromatography A 1216(9), 2009, pp. 13951402, doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2008.12.083 [28] Y. Lee, J. Lee, Y. Kim, S. Choi, S. Wook Ham and K.J. Kim, Investigation of natural dyes and ancient textiles from korea using TOFSIMS, Ap plied Surface Science 255(4), 2008, pp. 1033 1036, doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2008.05.097 [29] Catalogue of the Museum of Arts and Design (Madrid), ed. Ministry of Culture, Spain, available at URL [30] E. Galiana, T. Garca, A. Platero, M. Alguer, A. Arteaga, C. Martn De Hijas, E. Gonzlez and E. Sanz, Proceso de intervencin de un conjunto de siete piezas de indumentaria oriental: trata miento de conservacinrestauracin y anlisis de materiales constitutivos, Publicaciones del IPCE: Monografas, Investigacin y Conservacin de obras de arte oriental del Museo de Artes Decor ativas, Ministerio de Cultura, Madrid, 2010, pp. 4369, available at URL [31] E. Sanz, A. Arteaga, M. A. Garca, M.A. Del Egido and C. Cmara, Identification of natural dyes in historical Coptic textiles from the National Archaeological Museum of Spain, econservation magazine 15, 2010, pp. 3245, available at URL [32] E. Sanz, A. Arteaga, M.A. Garca and C. C mara, Characterization of natural dyes from the reference collection of American dyestuff of the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute (IPCE), 28th Meeting of Dyes in History and Archaeology

(DHA28), Poznan (Poland), 2124th October 2009 [33] D. Cardon, Natural Dyes: Sources, Tradition, Technology and Science, Archetype, London, 2007 [34] Y.K. Lin, YL. Leu, S.H. Yang, H.W. Chen, C.T. Wang and J.H. Su Pang, Antipsoriatic effects of indigo naturalis on the proliferation and differentiation of keratinocytes with indiru bin as the active component, Journal of Derma tology Science 54, 2009, pp. 168174, doi: 10.1016/j.jdermsci.2009.02.007 [35] B. C. Liau T. T. Jong, M. R. Lee and S. S. Chen, LCAPCIMS method for detection and analysis of tryptanthrin, indigo, and indirubin in Daqingye and Banlangen, Journal of Pharma ceutical and Biomedical Analysis 43(1), 2007, pp. 346351, doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2006.06.029 [36] Yuan Shiun Chang, Yu Ling Ho, Studies on the Homonymic Chinese Crude Drug Species in Taiwan. Evaluation of the Quality of DaChingYeh and ChingDai, Analytical Sciences 17, 2011, pp. a243a426, available at URL [37] A. Bowes, S. Collins, S. Elliott, L.T. Harris, L. Hazlett, E. Meth, M. Razak and P. Y. Subagiyo, Important Early Synthetic Dyes: Chemistry, Constitution, Date, Properties, M. W. Ballard (ed.), Conservation Analytical Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, 1991, URL [38] J. D. Brewer, K. A. Hagan and J. M. Egan, Forensic Analysis of Black Ballpoint Pen Inks Using Capillary Electrophoresis, Forensic Science Communications 7(3), 2005, pp. 110 [39] R. Khling, Colors of the world: fast separ ation of dyes with Ascentis Express, Reporter 38, 2009, pp. 35, also available at URL [pdf]

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CHARACTERIZATION OF DYES IN CHINESE GARMENTS

ESTRELLA SANZ RODRGUEZ

ConservationScientist Estrella Sanz Rodrguez (MSc, PhD) studied at the Faculty of Chemistry in the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), graduating in 1996. She worked for three years as an analytical scientist in the Department of Analytical Chemistry, carrying out research about the identification of organic and inorganic materials in historical samples by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to ultraviolet detection, Raman spectros copy and GCMS. From 2000 to 2003 she worked in the Spectroscopy Research Assistance Centre of the UCM. Subsequently she carried out her PhD dedicated to the development of new methods for arsenic species extraction from environmental samples by HPLC and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). Presently she works as UCM investigator in the Laboratories of the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute (IPCE). Her research interest include the development of new extraction methods for natural dyes from historical and archaeological textiles samples and their analysis by liquid chromatography coupled to array and mass detector (LCDADMS).

MARA ANTONIA GARCA RODRGUEZ

ConservationScientist Mara Antonia Garca Rodrguez received her MSc (1991) in Analytical Chemistry from the Complu tense University of Madrid. From 1992 to 1997 she developed her professional work in the Laboratory of Doping Control in Madrid (The Sports Council, CSD). In 1998 and 1999, she collaborated with the Laboratory of Public Health of the Community of Madrid. Between 2001 and 2005 she worked as technical attendance in the study of instrumental techniques applied to the Investigation and docu mentation on artworks in restoration process in the IPCE, where since 2006, she belongs to the technical staff in the Area of Laboratories. Her work consists in studies related to mural paintings and archaeological material, as well as the analysis of organic materials in other art objects.

CARMEN CMARA Chemist Carmen Cmara is a professor in Analytical Chem istry at the Complutense University since 1992. She is the leader of the Research Group of Trace Determination and Speciation, belonging to the Department of Analytical Chemistry. Her main research interest is focused on the development of new analytical methods for trace metal speci ation, emergent contaminants, bioaccumulation studies of trace metals and organic compounds in zebra fish embryo, proteomics and other topics related with a wide variety of samples. She has coordinated more than six European and several National projects. She has also participated in more than 30 European projects. She has published more than 250 papers in international journals, was invited to held plenary lectures in the most relevant international meetings related with her activity and helds two patents.
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ANGELA ARTEAGA RODRGUEZ ConservationScientist Angela Arteaga Rodrguez received her CINE5b (1972) in Chemistry by the School of Industrial Masters of Madrid. Since 1992 she develops her professional work in the Area of Laboratories of the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute (IPCE). Her work consists in the analyses of natural dyes, binding media from works of art by different tech niques like FTIR, TLC and HPLCDAD. She has also participated in several publications, congresses and other professional meetings, both national and international.
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AN INNOVATIVE STRETCHER FOR CANVAS PAINTINGS

By Osama M. ElFeky

AN INNOVATIVE STRETCHER FOR CANVAS PAINTINGS

One of the most important deterioration factors of paintings on canvas is the inadequate fixation to a stretcher frame. In addition, metallic nails are often used, causing corrosion and tears in canvas edges, etc. Climatic changes will cause expansion or shrinkage, leading to a sagging or rippling canvas resulting in the need for the painting to be restretched. Paintings with a fragile stretcher need to be stretched on a new one. The objective of this study aimed to invent a new stretcher frame avoiding the drawbacks of the traditional ones, made of plexiglass which is a transparent material. This frame consists of four sides with chamfered inner edges and mitered corners with slot and tenon joints that can be expanded by using a control unit containing eight gears. The sides can be moved easily by turning the gears, which aids the adjustment of the painting when it expands or contracts. Around the new stretcher frame there are four plexiglass pieces which are covered by toothed rubber and eight straps for fixing the oil painting to the frame1.

Introduction In 2003, the author designed and executed a new modern stretcher frame to control the rate of canvas tension by using a screw system which pushes a free wooden frame that the canvas is fixed to [1] (Figure 1). In 2007 a new stretcher frame made of transparent Plexiglass (10 mm) was applied to the Musicians by Emile Bernard (1895) oil on canvas that belongs to the Museum of Fine Arts in Alexandria. This idea arose be cause there is another painting on the back of the painting's canvas support and using the Plexiglass stretcher frame allows the observation of the rear of the oil painting. Stainless steel nails were used to fix the fabric edges on the Plexiglass stretcher frame [2] (Figure 2). Generally, stretcher frames have several disadvan tages including many technical shortcomings; the members of the old wedged stretchers are often not chamfered, where the inner and the outer edges are not rounded off. They are not grooved on the miter and the grooves and/or tenons tend to shrink these defects affect the appearance and the state of preservation of the painting. If the textile support is lying on members that have not been chamfered, a pronounced wedged stretcher crack can form. If the outer edges under the tex
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tile support are not rounded off they endanger the stretched edges. In poststretching, if the wedged stretcher is not grooved on the miter, when the frame is more powerfully enlarged, creases occur in the corner area. If the tenon and the groove are not precisely matched, or are altered as a result of shrinkage, the members twist in the grooves as the textile support is stretched, and creases occur running from the corners into the painting (Figure 3). Wrinkles may sometimes appear in the canvas, and these may be caused by the fact that the wedges driven into the corners of the stretchers have come loose or fallen away altogether [3]. The wooden wedges of the traditional stretcher frame can fall off by transporting the painting from place to place leading to a loose canvas support, so it will be necessary to refix the keys again and by continual repetition of this process, the painting will be subjected to many creases and deteriorations over time.

This invention was presented to the Egyptian Patent Of fice, a PerformanceBased Organization of the Government of the Egypt, and Academy of Scientific Research and Tech nology, Ministry of High Education and Scientific Research under the No. 192/2010 in 722010.

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OSAMA ELFEKY

Figure 1. A modern stretcher frame was designed and executed to control the rate of painting stretch by using screw system.

Using a hammer on the wooden wedges of the traditional stretcher frame is not an accurate process to control the rate of the stretching of a painting because it leads to many drawbacks on the painting's layers such as cracking and/or paint loss in cleavage parts, especially in the case of paintings with weak adhesion. The old stretcher frame cannot allow a satisfactory ad justment to one side of a painting without the adjustment of the others. On the other hand, the wooden stretcher frame may be attacked by fungi and insects that are capable of destroying it wholly or in part (Figure 4), even spreading to the oil painting support and to the upper layers. Wood is a material that is highly susceptible to atmospheric influences because of its hygro scopic character, which leads to shrinkage and swelling due to humidity fluctuation [4]. Shrinkage and swelling take place when mois ture content decreases or increases, respect ively; however the volume changes are never equal in all directions. The dimensional change
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Figure 2. Applying a transparent stretcher frame on a double face oil painting.

occurs mainly in a direction tangential to the growth rings. The shrinkage 510% in the tangen tial direction and 26% in the radial direction [5], resulting in many defects such as curving, warp ing, twisting, cupping, splitting, and cracking; these factors affect not only the supporting structure but also the appearance and stability of the oil painting itself. The wood used in stretcher frames emit a low, but still detectable, amount of vapors such as carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, chlorohydroxide and ammonia gas, depending on either exogenic factors such as temperature, and relative humidity or endogenic factor as wood species, binder level, binder type, and production conditions, etc. [6], and produces number of
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AN INNOVATIVE STRETCHER FOR CANVAS PAINTINGS

Figure 3. Tears and cuts in the edges area of the painting due to not chamfered wooden bars.

Figure 4. Fungal infection (left), and attack of insects (right) in the wooden stretcher.

volatile organic compounds, including aldehydes and organic acids [7], such as formaldehyde, acetic acid, formic acid, sulphuric acid, resulting in corrosion, discoloration and deterioration which are speeded up by high temperature and/ or high humidity levels [8, 9]. Sometimes drawings, signatures, or other impor tant words are covered by the wooden stretcher frame which hinders the accurate and precise study by specialists or art students, which may lead to the necessity to remove the stretcher frame from the painting to allow a complete ob servation and study of the back of the oil paint ing then refix it again to the stretcher frame, this process leads to damaging the fragile oil paintings. On the other hand, iron nails in the wooden frame cause several harmful effects to both the frame and the edges of the oil painting such as corrosion, tears and cuts specially by re peating the fixation process. Furthermore, using the screw systems in the corners of the modern stretcher frame requires thick sides resulting in heavy weight addition. The plexiglass stretcher frame made in 2007 was fixed in the corners, so it is difficult to control the degree of stretching of the oil painting due to the expansion or shrin kage of the oil painting in hot or cold weathers.
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The aim of this study is to invent a new stretcher frame that avoids the drawbacks of traditional frames. Its concern is to give a complete fixation and precise adjustment in any part of the paint ing when it expands or contracts, and to avoid the harmful effects and strains on canvas which result from the use of iron nails to fix the oil painting on the frame. It aims to protect the oil painting from various deterioration aspects such as cuts, tears in canvas, cracking, separation and falling off of painting layers. It strives to provide a maximum degree of safety and protection to the oil painting for the longest possible time. Material and Laboratory Tests The new stretcher frame is made of Plexiglass, which are "poly acrylates, composed of poly (methyl methacrylate) [10]. It is a transparent material and its chemical stability can be ensured by the results of testing using a FTIR Nexus 670 infrared spectrometer, Nicolet (USA), before and after artificial aging in a climatic chamber (60C, 70% RH, 360 nm) for 400 hours constant. Also, the transparency and yellowness resistance of the material can be ensured by using Hunter lab colorimeter Model D25 A2 before, during and after the exposure to artificial aging.
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OSAMA ELFEKY

Description of the new stretcher frame The new stretcher frame (35x50 cm) was made at the Academy of Scientific Research and Techno logy, Ministry of High Education and Scientific Research, Cairo, Egypt. It consists of four main sides, each side has a 7 cm width, the internal edges are chamfered by 5 mm to avoid direct contact between the back of the painting and the sides of the frame in the fixation process. The corners were mitered with slot and tenon joints to allow for free movement of the sides of the frame (Figure 5). The internal surface of each side of the frame has two teethed columns (4.5 cm) made of Plexiglass, so that the complete frame contains eight columns (Figure 6). A control unit was sup plied to the frame, it consists of a small fixed frame (18x33x0.5 cm), it contains eight gears where each gear faces a teethed column, and each gear can be turned using a constant haft (Figure 7). An innovative method was used to fix the oil painting on to the stretcher frame without using any metal nails. This method depends on prepar ing 4 streaks of Plexiglass (2 cm height, 0.5 cm thickness) surrounding the outer edges of the frame in the same dimensions, so it will surround all edges of the oil painting during the stretch ing process. All outer edges of the frame and the facing streaks are covered by a teething layer of rubber to restrict and control the stretching pro cess of the oil painting on the frame. A column (12 cm length) was fixed in the middle of each streak; its latter part was screwed (4 cm length) into place. In the screwing part, two slices of plexiglass were fixed by two nuts, the first slice (Figure 8, element A) used to press on the inner part of the frame side for preliminary fixation for the edges of the oil painting on the frame. The second slice (Figure 8, element B) was used to press on the inner edge of the control unit to
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Figure 5. The corners of the stretcher frame were mitered with slot and tenon joints to allow the free movement for sides of the frame.

Figure 6. Presence of two teethed columns in the internal sur face of each side of the frame, so the complete frame contain eight column.

Figure 7. A control unit was supplied to the frame, it consists of a small fixed frame, it contains eight gears where each gear faces a teethed column, and each gear can be turned using a constant haft.
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AN INNOVATIVE STRETCHER FOR CANVAS PAINTINGS

Figure 8. The streak contains a column in the middle; the later part of the column was screwed. In the screwing part, two slices of plexiglass were fixed by two nuts.

Figure 10. Placing of the oil painting face down on a flat surface followed by putting the new frame on the back of the painting.

Figure 9. Schematic diagram of eight straps made of plexiglass, in a rectangle shape without long side. A screwed gape was made in the short side of each band to be suitable for the entry of the nail.

nails in the screwed gapes causes pressure on the straps on the streaks surrounding the oil painting in the frame resulting in tight stretching of the oil painting securely on the frame. Fixation process Firstly the painting should be placed face down on a flat surface. The new frame should be put in the back of the oil painting where the inner chan fered edges of the four sides facing the back of the oil painting with upward haft of gears (Figure 10). Then, the edges of the oil painting should be bent on the outer edges of the frame (Figure 11). The four streaks should next be fixed surrounding the edges of the painting, then the teethed rubber layer, which covers the outer edges of the frame
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avoid mobility of the edges of the frame after fixation of the oil painting. Eight straps were made of plexiglass with a rectangle shape without long side (the long side has 9 cm length, while the two short sides have 2 cm length). A screwed gape was made in the short side of each band to be suitable for the entry of the nail (Figure 9). These straps were used to fix the edges of the oil painting in the new frame, where the entry of the
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OSAMA ELFEKY

and the facing streaks, should strictly stretch the oil painting (Figure 12). The first slice (A) of these streaks should be fixed in the edges of the frame for preliminary fixation of the paintings edges (Figure 13). Then the eight straps should be fixed surrounding the back edges of the frame. This process should be carried out in all four edges of the frame, where as each edge contains two fixed straps, one of them is on the right and the other on the left side (Figure 14). The painting should be adjusted on to the new frame and tightly stretched, using hafts of the gears to move the teethed columns to push the sides of the frame outwards (Figure 15). This process is used to achieve complete control in specific stretching on one side or more of the frame without the need to remove the painting from the frame. In the final stage, the second slice (B) should be fixed to the inner edge of the control unit to avoid falling of the edges of the frame after fixation of the painting; this process should be carried out in all edges of the frame (Figures 16 and 17). The conservator should take into consideration that the slice (B) should be disentangled from the in ner edges of the control unit before performing the fixation of the oil painting on the frame using the gears, and after finishing fixation process, slice (B) should be fixed again.

Figure 11 (top). Bending of the edges of the oil painting on the outer edges of the frame. Figure 12 (center). Putting the streaks surrounding the edges of the oil painting. Figure 13 (bottom). Fixation of the first slice of the streak in the inner edge of the frame.

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AN INNOVATIVE STRETCHER FOR CANVAS PAINTINGS

Results and Discussion Using this new frame, the oil painting can be either vertically or horizontally stretched. This frame is used to overcome the disadvantages of the traditional frames and provides a maximum degree of safety and protection of the painting over the long term, giving a complete and accur ate control in the stretching of the painting to prevent its flaccidity in case of expansion or shrink age with complete safety for the oil painting. The control unit in the new stretcher frame is used for the complete and precise adjustment in any part in the oil painting as it expands or contracts, so the oil painting can be accurately adjusted on the frame to prevent tearing. It is considered as a good method to enable specific adjustments, without having to dismount the picture. This new frame resists different biological infestations either by insects or fungi, so that, it provides a great protection for the oil painting over time. In addition it has a greater resistance to several de fects such as curving, warping, twisting, cupping, splitting, and cracking. On the other hand, the material of the new stretcher frame is chemically stable as analyzed by FTIR (data not shown) and therefore no interaction or defects are formed by contact with the back of the oil painting, so that no harmful effects occur. In addition its transpar ency and resistance to the yellowness of aging have been confirmed by extensive scientific tests.

Figure 14. Fixation of the straps surrounding the back edges of the frame

Conclusions Plexiglass is a transparent material allowing the observation of drawings, signatures, or any other important written words that may be found on the back of the oil painting to be easily and ac curately studied by specialists and art students without the need to remove the oil painting from its stretcher.
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Figure 15. Adjustment of the oil painting on the new frame using hafts of the gears to move the teethed protrusions to push the sides of the frame to outside.

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OSAMA ELFEKY

The fixation process of the oil painting on the new stretcher is a new method that does not de pend on the use of metal nails, so no tears or cuts take place at the fixation area in the paint ing's canvas, even by repeating the fixation method several times. It is an innovative meth od to fix the oil painting onto the frame that does not depend on the use of any metals thus avoiding any corrosion in the edges or deterior ation of different layer of the oil painting. This new frame is a helpful method for paintings conservators all over the world because it main tains the stability of the painting allowing fixa tion and refixation of the canvas on the frame without any tears or cuts in the edges of the paintings. It also protects the oil painting from cracking at the ground and paint layer levels which leads to separation and loss of paint.

Figure 16. Fixation of the second slice (B) to the inner edge of the control unit to avoid falling of the edges of the frame after fixation of the oil painting.

References [1] O. M. ElFeky, In the thought of restoration of oil paintings, The AngloEgyptian Bookshop, Cairo, 2004, pp. 203205 [2] O. M. ElFeky, New Restoration Method for a Doubled Oil Painting of Emile Bernard, 1895 A.D., The Fifth International Conference on Science and Technology in Archaeology and Conser vation, Granada Baeza, Spain, 711 July 2007 [3] M. John and F. Mournce, The care of Antiques, Arlington Book, London, 1980, pp. 8990 [4] A. J. Stamm, Wood and Cellulose Science, Ronald Press, New York, 1964, p. 509 [5] J.C.F. Walker, B.G. Butterfield, T.A.G. Langrish, J.M. Harris, and J.M. Uprichard, Primary Wood Pro cessing, Chapman and Hall, London, 1993, p. 595
64

Figure 17. The oil painting after fixation on the invented stretcher frame.
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AN INNOVATIVE STRETCHER FOR CANVAS PAINTINGS

[6] E. Roffael, Volatile organic compounds and formaldehyde in nature, wood and wood based panels, European Journal of Wood and Wood Products 64(2), 2006, pp. 144149, doi: 10.1007/s0010700500610 [7] M. RyhlSvendsen, The PROPAINT Project: Preliminary Results from Studying Gaseous Pollu tants within Microclimate Frames, Facing the Challenges of Panel Paintings Conservation: Trends, Treatments and Training, Getty Conservation Institute, 2009 [8] A. Schieweck, and T. Salthammer, Chemical emissions and secondary reactions in museum showcases, 8th Indoor Air Quality 2008 Meeting, Vienna, Austria, 1719 April 2008 [9] H. Phibbs, "Sealed frames for preservation", Supplement to Picture Framing Magazine, 2002, p. 14 [10] K. J. Saunders, Organic Polymer Chemistry, Chapman and Hall, London, 1976, pp. 131133.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

econservation magazine is open to submission of articles on a wide range of relevant topics for the cultural heritage sector. Next deadlines for article submission are: for Issue 22, November 2011 submissions due 30th September 2011 for Issue 23, February 2012 submissions due 15th December 2011 Nevertheless, you can always submit your manuscript when it is ready. Between the receival of the manuscript until the final publication may pass up to 3 months according with: the number of the manuscripts on hold, submitted earlier by other authors the release date of the upcoming issue the preallocated space in the magazine to each section Please check our publication guidelines for more information.

OSAMA M. ELFEKY ConservatorRestorer Contact: osmelfeky@yahoo.com Osama ElFeky is a conservatorrestorer specia lized in oil paintings. He has a Ba and MA in Con servation from the Department of Conservation and Restoration from the Faculty of Archaeology of Cairo University, Egypt. In 2003 he obtained his PhD from the same university with a thesis on comparative evaluation of materials and methods used for the conservation of oil paintings. He currently works as Assistant Professor at the Department of Conservation and Restoration of Cairo University.
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DETERIORATION AND RATES OF WEATHERING OF THE MONUMENTAL ROCK INSCRIPTIONS AT WADI HAMMAMAT, EGYPT

By Hesham Abbas Kmally

DETERIORATION OF ROCK INSCRIPTIONS IN EGYPT

The famous ornamental stone known in antiquity as ''Bekhenstone'' comes from the Wadi Hammamat area and it has been used for ornamental purposes since the ancient Egyptian times. The Wadi Hammamat is one of the most ancient archaeological sites in Egypt because of the important rock inscriptions scattered in the area, dating from before the earliest Egyptian dynasties to the late period. These rock inscriptions suffered from serious damage due to natural weathering, pollution, salt efflorescence and other physicochemical weathering. Field observations referred that hard cement mortars were used for repointing the greywacke rock inscriptions in Wadi Hammamat. The different rate of expansion and contraction between the cement mortar and the greywacke rocks will eventually lead to the separation of the two materials. This paper tries to clarify the main types of deterioration and measure the chemical alteration and geological characteristics of the monumental greywacke rocks. In order to achieve this, several studies were performed using a petrographic microscope, SEM micrographs, Xray fluorescence and Xray diffraction analysis. The results have shown that the greywackes have a moderate weathering and high content of ferromagnesian minerals.

Introduction In Wadi Hammamat there are outcrops for about two kilometers of the Bekhenstone (conglomer ates, silt stone and greywackes) that were quar ried by the ancient Egyptians from the Predynas tic times until the Roman period. These rocks, called the Hammamat formation, are a thick se quence of late Precambrian age distributed in the Eastern Desert of Eygpt. The Wadi Hammamat area can be found halfway of the road between Qift and Qusier. This area contains hundreds of hieroglyphic and hieratic rock inscriptions (Fig ure 1), texts that represent royal and private names varying in length from a single word to several lines. Some inscriptions show a number of cartouches of several kings of Egypt who sent several military and quarrying expeditions to ex tract greywacke rocks. These rocks were used to make several statues, vessels, sarcophagi and other ornamental structural elements from the Predynastic time to the Roman period. Romans built watchtowers on the tops of the mountains to guard the road, wells and quarries (Figure 2). The Hammamat quarry still contains remains of ancient quarrymen's huts on the north side of QiftQusier road, built with dark greywacke and
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silt stone (Figure 3). The region also includes Bir Hammamat, located in the Central Eastern Desert of Egypt at Wadi Hammamat, which is a Roman watering station serving traffic travelling along the QiftQusier road (Figure 4). The Hammamat Group includes a thick sequence of unmetamorphosed, clastic, coarsemedium and fine grained sediments of molasse facies [1, 2]. The Hammamat sediments formed by alluvial fan braided stream [3] and composed mainly of con glomerate, greywacke, arkose, siltstone and little of mudstone [4], are affected by a very low grade regional metamorphism, characterised by the presence of muscovite, sericite and chlorite [5]. In time, the rock inscriptions were affected by several types of deterioration, namely exfoli ation, flakes, pits, joints, fissures, overloading, thermal expansion, dissolution and salt efflores cence. The Hammamat quarries have influence by natural hazards, including torrential rains and flash floods, salt efflorescence, mechanical and chemical weathering. In most cases these hazards
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HESHAM ABBAS KMALLY

Figure 1. Example of rock inscriptions from Wadi Hammamat.

and weathering agents work together influencing or strengthening each other. Moisture and rains are considered the primary factors of deteriora tion of the rock inscriptions in the studied area. The interaction between the stone and moisture or rain results in the appearance of destructive subsurface patterns such as flaking, crumbling and cracking of the stone surface. Granular disintegration represents the most im portant weathering process as result from the hydration and dehydration of salts and hydrolysis processes. The intensive alteration of greywacke rocks is very porous, individual mineral grains are weakened and bonding between them is lost du ring wittingdrying cycles of moisture and salt crystallisation, ultimately causing flakes and gra nular disintegration of the inscriptions [6, 7]. In arid or semiarid regions insolation weather ing, the alternating warming and cooling of rock surfaces through solar heating, is capable of
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Figure 2. Roman stone watchtowers on the top of hills.

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DETERIORATION OF ROCK INSCRIPTIONS IN EGYPT

Figure 3. Remains of workmen huts.

Figure 4. Bir Hammamat, a Roman watering station for travellers.

breaking up rock inscriptions through thermal action [8]. Insolation weathering causes fracture of the minerals on the rock surface while the great temperature difference between the rock layers causes exfoliation [9], making the grey wacke rock to become weaker and more deform able. The majority of the rock fragments and different grains in the Hammamat sediments are composed of several elements with different chemical weathering. Thus, the major element contents (wt%) in the sedimentary rocks were used for calculating the rate of chemical altera tion and paleoweathering conditions [1014].

by SEM in the laboratories of the Scientific Mobark City in Alexandria. The present study tries to define the deterioration features and describe the conservation state of the rock inscriptions in Wadi Hammamat. A de tailed petrographic study covering about 20 thin sections was also performed.

Results and discussion Field observation Through a complete survey carried out by visual observation and digital photography at Wadi Hammamat quarries, we realised that there are different deterioration processes with varying degrees of weathering and decay features in the studied area. According to Fassina, all sediment ary, metamorphic and igneous rocks exposed to a weathering agents deteriorate continually as a result of physical and chemical processes [16]. Geologically, the Hammamat stone belong to the sedimentary rocks and have several weakness zones such as bedding, lamination, spherical and oval nodules from soft material. These zones are weaker than the rest of the rock, being more sus
69

Materials and methods Fresh and weathered samples were collected from the rock inscriptions at Wadi Hammamat. The altered samples of siltstone and greywacke sur faces were studied by polarizing microscopy (PL), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Xray fluo rescence (XRF) and Xray diffraction (XRD) to determine their mineral composition, alteration products, morphological and the degree of chemi cal weathering. The major elements of greywacke rocks were determined by XRF at the central labo ratories of Egyptian Geological Survey, Cairo. Grey wacke samples were coated with gold and examined
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HESHAM ABBAS KMALLY

ceptible to weathering and erosion. Mechanically or structurally, the Hammamat stone inscriptions are predominantly dissected by many joint sets of different attitudes and separated by weathering processes as rectangular, angular and cuboidal joint blocks (Figure 5A). The process of jointing greatly increases the amount of surface space exposed to weathering. These joints in the rock allow the circulation of water and facilitate the disintegration of minerals by hydrolysis processes, leading to more mechanical and chemical weath ering. Several small and large pieces of greywacke are separated from the rock inscription walls due to the combination of bedding planes and vertical joints or inclined fractures (Figure 5B). It is also worth mentioning that the fall down of greywacke blocks lead to damage of many inscriptions. Wadi Hammamat was subject to heavy rains in 1925, 1954, 1960, 1979, 1987, 1991 and 1996 with an average amount of rain fall of 40300x106 mm3 over the area [17]. Several flash floods were also recorded in the Eastern Desert during the last decades (1969, 1980, 1984, 1985 and 1994) [18]. The rock slides in the area are attributed to structural features and a period of very high rain fall. The area has an arid desert climate, very high moisture in the early morning, appearing as con densation of water droplets on the surface of the greywacke and siltstone. Rocks may deteriorated and weaken by moisture and the action of water may reduce the compressive strength of sandstone up to 60% [19, 20]. The weathered rock inscrip tion surfaces show a dark brown ferruginous layer a few millimetres thick (Figure 5C) as a result of chemical processes (water action) that change ferrous iron to ferric iron in greywacke rocks. Also, chemical weathering leads to dissolution of calcite and clay nodules (Figure 5D) that create many fractures and extension fissures connected with the empty nodules (Figure 5E). The relative humidity (RH average) of the Eastern Desert
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ranges between 43% in summer to 48% in winter, while the temperature ranges between 21C and 41C and increase from north to south [18]. The temperature changes of the greywacke surface are due to warming by the sun during the day and cooling by night. The expansion and con traction are important thermophysical factors affecting their capacity to transform heat into mechanical external energy (tensile and shear ing stresses) leading to fractures and flakes in greywacke rocks. Spalling and flaking were ob served on the rock inscriptions as a result of the thermophysical action (Figure 5F). Contour scal ing phenomena was observed commonly in the studied area as several lamellar parallel the grey wacke surface as a result of thermophysical action and salt crystallisation (Figure 5G). Use of hard cement mortars for repointing greywacke rocks This is probably the most common form of human induced stone decay. Sedimentary rock walls need to breathe through porous to allow water to easily evaporate from them. Most cement mortars are harder, massive and less porous materials, so any evaporation is concentrated in the face of the rock rather than in the mortars filling joints, fractures and cleavages of greywacke rocks. This result in soluble salts crystallising in the surface layers of the greywackes and not in the adjoining mortar leading finally to flakes and crumbles of the rock rather than the pointing (Figure 5H). Interactions between the atmosphere and grey wackes or adjoining mortars lead to the formation of altered surface layers and producing damage in the original greywackes structure. The appear ance of salt efflorescence deposits over the rock inscriptions is common as a result of the reaction of Portland cement with the rock and/or atmo sphere pollution (Figure 5I). The main cause of damage of the cement mortars and their adjoining
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DETERIORATION OF ROCK INSCRIPTIONS IN EGYPT

Figure 5 (left to right, up tp down). Deterioration aspects of Hammamat quarry.(A) Several joint sets produced cuboidal jointing blocks. (B) The vertical joints intersecting the bedding plane and inclined fractures lead to damage the rock inscriptions. (C) The greywacke rock surfaces appear as a dark brown ferruginous layer. (D) Dissolution of calcite and clay nodules leads to serious loss of rock inscriptions. (E) Extension fissures developing on the rock inscriptions. (F) The mechanical spalling in the rock in scription. (G) Contour scaling on the greywacke surfaces as a result of high salt content near the surface. (H) Rock inscriptions flakes and crumbles as a result of repairs with Portland cement. (I) Whitish deposit over the surface due to the reaction of Portland ce ment with greywacke rock inscriptions.
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HESHAM ABBAS KMALLY

rock inscriptions is probably sulphating formation, in particular of gypsum and anhydrite. Sulphate damage is closely related to the location of the cement repair, indicating that the sulphate source is internal, obtained from a sulphurrich clinker phase in the cement mortars. Sulphates are also obtained from atmosphere pollution and soils. The different rate of expansion and contraction between the cement mortar and the greywackes will eventually lead to the two materials separat ing, a phenomenon referred to as bossing. Petrography of the altered greywackes (Polarizing Microscope) A Greywackes The examination of the greywacke samples thin section under polarized light microscope showed that the greywacke rock composed mainly of quartz, plagioclase, epidote and lithic fragments of sand size embedded in a finely crystalline pelitic ground mass (Figure 6A). The pelitic groundmass consists of chlorite, calcite, quartz, muscovite, sericite, epidote and iron oxides. Lithic fragments are subangular to rounded, composed mainly of glassy fragments and reworked siltstones. Quartz occurs as subangular to subrounded grains and stained by fine grained dust of ferric iron oxides as a result of alteration. Some quartz crystals show turbid colour, fractures and opening of microfrac tures as a result of mechanical external energy (tensile and shearing stresses) (Figure 6B). Plagioclase grains dissected by microfaults and partially altered to epidote and sericite (hydro mica) as a result of mechanical and chemical weathering (Figure 6C). Also, some of the weath ered plagioclase grain is completely kaolinitized due to chemical weathering. In some slices, plagio clase lamellae are bent as a result of deformation in greywacke rock. Sericite occurs as randomly small flakes and scaly aggregates that are frequently
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interlacing the quartz and plagioclase grains. The scaly aggregates of sericite filling the fractures in the quartz grains and replaced several plagio clase grains as a result of chemical activity of water and mechanical stress action, ultimately causes disintegration of the greywacke rocks. Calcite occurs as original mineral either as alte ration product of feldspar minerals or as a result of the chemical alteration by water. It appears as irregular patches scattered in the interspaces between the other constituents as a cement joint between grains and sometimes occurs as nodules scattered through the greywacke rocks. Epidote occurs as original mineral or as alteration products of feldspar minerals. Chlorite occurs as original mineral in the groundmass that cemented the greywacke rocks. Chlorite coats the quartz and plagioclase grains and gives the green pigmenta tion of greywacke rocks. Iron oxides are repre sented mainly by irregular granules, dust and films of hematite covering the other mineral constituents in the greywacke rocks. The grey wacke appears stained with a dark brown colour, indicating the presence of iron oxides suggesting extensive invasion of water and exposure to oxidizing conditions for a long period of time. B Foliated greywackes These rocks are fine grained, greenish grey in colour and foliated. They are composed mainly of subangular to subrounded quartz, plagioclase, clastic grains together with lithic fragments of sand size set in fine grained matrix of silty sand size consisting of quartz, chlorite, calcite, musco vite, epidote and iron oxides. The foliation is raised by the parallel arrangement of quartz, plagioclase, lithic fragments, chlorite and musco vite. The weathered plagioclase grain is partially kaolinitized and replacement by calcite patches due to chemical weathering.
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DETERIORATION OF ROCK INSCRIPTIONS IN EGYPT

Figure 6 (left to right). The examination of the greywacke samples thin section under cross polarised microscope.(A) grey wacke rock composed mainly of quartz, plagioclase and epidote embedded in pelitic groundmass. (B) Quartz crystals occur fractures and opening of microfractures. (C) Plagioclase grains dissected by microfaults and partially altered to epidote and sericite as a result of mechanical and chemical weathering.

Scanning Electron Microscopy SEM micrographs of the deteriorate rock inscrip tions show that the greywacke surface is rough, porous, crumbling, and fractures have flakes, scales and etch pits due to alteration and weath ering processes (Figure 7A). Mechanical weath ering effects take place in hot deserts such as Wadi Hammamat. The absorbed sun heat causes not only heating of the rock surface but also external mechanical stress for linear and volume expansion or contraction of the rock and its minerals [21]. These stresses are causing many fissures and flakes in greywacke as seen in SEM micrographs (Figure 7B). Several rock fragments weather and the surfaces can be seen rough, scaled and flaked as a result of the thermal action. On the other hand, the action of rain, moisture and groundwater on the greywackes can cause a diffe rent expansion and consequently contraction of minerals upon drying. Between wet and dry zones a shear force may set up and causes many fractures both between and within mineral grains. The SEM micrographs of greywackes show many deep fissures inside the internal structure and the opening of the mineral grains boundaries as a
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result of water action. Water weathering leads to changes of the mechanical behaviour and strength parameters of the rock. The rock strength para meters were changed by the development of crack fractures and microfractures due to water absorption [22]. Pits are also present on the studied samples, with diameters and depths ranging from macroscopic to microscopic scales. Secondary minerals such as chlorite, sericite, kaolinite and calcite typically cemented the greywackes. With prolonged wet ting and draying, these secondary minerals beco me soft and fail readily, creating numerous pits. For instance, the dissolution and leaching of calcite by acidic water lead to the formation of irregular pores which may be randomly distribu ted. Moreover, the increase in number and size of pits in the greywacke is due to the intermineral space that results from transformed several pri mary minerals into fine aggregates from secon dary minerals have total volume less than the total volume of the primary minerals (Figure 7G). For instance, several feldspars are pitting as a result of partially or completely altered to seri cite (hydromica) and clay minerals, through the
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HESHAM ABBAS KMALLY

Figure 7 (left to right). The SEM micrographs of external deteriorated greywacke surfaces (rock inscriptions). (A) The weathered greywacke surfaces are porous and fractures have flakes and scales. (B) Many fissures and flakes of rock break away from the greywacke surfaces (C) Kaolinite grains and several secondary minerals contain many residual pores between them.

dissolution and leaching processes. Generally the connected pores and microfracture within grey wacke minerals act as channels through which the soluble salts and the alteration products mi grate and cause many deterioration features in greywackes. These soluble salts entrapped in the pores, between grains and cover the greywacke surfaces, often causing microfractures, pores and fractures. In some weathered greywacke close to the position of the Portland cement mortars, the SEM micrographs show that the gypsum salts pre cipitate in pore spaces and coatings the calcite grains as a result of chemical processes. Ollier stated that a thermal and hydration stresses developed when salts precipitated in the pores and cracks between or in the grains of the rock [6]. The salt crystals expand and exerts hydra tion pressure against the pore and crack walls when hydrates. Ultimately the thermal and hydra tion processes lead to disintegration of the grey wacke rock. Sulphates may be coming from the atmosphere (pollution) or cement mortars. Interactions between the greywackes and the atmosphere or adjoining mortars leads to the formation of gypsum salts, producing damage to the original structural of greywacke rocks. SEM
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micrographs of some greywacke samples adjoining the cement mortars show crumple of the gypsum crust and rolled the outer layer of greywacke, ultimately separated from the rock inscriptions. Commonly, the salt weathering leads to flaking and scaling the stone surface [23, 24].

XRay Diffraction Analysis Four samples of greywacke rock inscriptions were collected and studied by Xray diffraction to de termine their mineral composition. The results of the analyses is shown in Table I. The altered grey wacke sample from the Hammamat quarry wall consists of quartz (SiO2), microcline (KALSi3O8), plagioclase, calcite (CaCO3), halite (NaCl), anhyd rite (CaSO4), iron oxide nontronite (smectite group), orthoclase, hematite (Fe2O3), magnetite (Fe3O4), halloysite, kaolinite (hydrated aluminum silicate), greenalite (Fe2+, Fe3+) 23 SiO2O5(OH)4, chloritoid, magnesio chloritoid and forsterite (Mg2SiO4). The clay minerals shown in Table I are represented mainly by nontronite (smectite group) kaolinite
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DETERIORATION OF ROCK INSCRIPTIONS IN EGYPT

Table I. Results of Xray diffraction analysis of greywacke rocks from Wadi Hammamat.

Sample

Material Type

Chemical composition Quartz (51.65%), Microcline (3.2%), Calcite (5.89%), Halite (9.66%), Anhydrite (6.25%), Iron oxide (6.76%), Nontronite (smectite group, 5.58%), Caplagioclase (anorthite, 1.14%), Epidote (7.39%), and Chloritoid (Brittle mica, 2.48%)

Greywacke rock from Wadi Hammamat

Quartz (63.65%), orthoclase (14.51%), Hematite (3.63%), Anhydrite (13.56%), Epidote (4.65%) Quartz (62.35%), Microcline (6.01%), Calcite (8.11%), Magnetite (8.3%), Hematite (11.97%) Chloritoid (3.25%) Quartz (53.65 %), Halloysite (4.9%), Kaolinite (hydrated aluminum silicate) (4.56%), Gypsum (10.46 %), Hematite (4.33%), Greenalite (Fe2+, Fe3+) 23 SiO2O5 (OH)4 (8.5%), Magnesio chloritoid (5.7%), Forsterite (Mg2SiO4) (7.9%)

and halloysite, commonly dispersed as a result of chemical alteration of feldspar minerals and ferro magnesian minerals. The clay minerals normally occur as alteration products, filling the fractures, microfractures and cleavages. The change of the moisture content of clay minerals can cause signi ficant problems related to the high swelling pres sures such as the opening up of microfractures and fractures and lead to rock falls. The crystallisation of soluble salts in pores and cracks between or in the grains of rock is one of the major causes of greywackes decay in nature [25, 26]. Halite and gypsum accumulation occurs on the faces of the Hammamat stone inscriptions due to the influence of meteoric water, condensation, groundwater and Portland cement. XRD analyses have shown the predominance of gypsum in their crystalline phases (gypsum and anhydrite). The accumulation of gypsum and halite salts behind the rock inscrip tion surfaces lead to a detachment of the stone material in the form of granular disintegration, contour scaling and flaking.
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XRay Fluorescence Analysis Three samples from the altered greywacke rock inscriptions were collected and analysed by XRF to determine their elements. The results of this analysis are listed in Table II. There are some differences between the chemical composition of greywacke rocks in amounts of SiO2, TiO2, MnO, K2O, Fe2O3, Al2O3, CaO, MgO, CaO and Na2O. These differences may be due to the alteration and deterioration processes. The high amount of Na2O in greywacke samples is attributed to the greater amount of Narich plagioclase and alkali feldspar. The greywacke samples have a high content of iron oxides due to the mineral alteration and high content of MgO due to the high amount of phyllosilicate minerals such as chlorite, mica and clay minerals. Moreover, the CaO content is higher in greywacke samples, which can attributed to the greater amount of Carich plagioclase, epidote and carbonate minerals.
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HESHAM ABBAS KMALLY

Table I. Results of Xray diffraction analysis of greywacke rocks from Wadi Hammamat.

Samples SiO2 1 2 3 65.08 64.22 66.69 TiO2 0.58 0.70 0.82 Al2O3 13.25 13.90 14.50

Element Contents (wt %) Fe2O3 6.05 6.60 2.95 MnO 0.06 0.15 0.10 MgO 2.51 5.10 2.12 CaO 9.65 4.65 6.17 Na2O 2.03 2.62 4.70 K2O 0.75 0.98 1.19 Total 99.96 98.92 99.24

Chemical Classification Different diagrams were constructed to classify the sedimentary rocks according to the chemical analysis such those of Pettijohn et al. [27], Crook [28], and Blatt et al. [29].The analysed samples were plotted using Blatts Ternary diagram [29]. This diagram indicates that the plotted samples fall in the greywacke field lying close to the Fe2O3 + MgO field. This is again confirmed by plotting the samples on the Log (Na2O/K2O) versus Log (SiO2 /Al2O3) diagram, suggested by Pettijohn et al. [27], where the studied samples mostly fall in the greywacke field. Furthermore, the samples were plotted on the Na2O K2O diagram by Crook [28] where the all greywacke samples fall in the quartzintermediate field. Combining the three diagrams, the greywacke rock inscriptions can be described as ferromagnesian rich and quartz intermediate greywacke. The chemical classifica tion diagrams also prove that the greywackes have a high content of ferromagnesian minerals such as chlorite, mica, chloritoid (brittle mica), Magnesio chloritoid and forsterite (Mg2SiO4) as detected by XRD. The petrographic study suggests that the groundmass in greywacke consists essen tially in ferromagnesian minerals and calcite. It is know that the ferromagnesian minerals were rapidly altered as a result of chemical processes and converted into clay minerals.
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Degree of Weathering The degree of chemical weathering for greywacke rocks can be quantified by applying the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) [15]. The CIA was used to quantify and to calculate the degree of rock alteration and deterioration [10]. The CIA can be obtained by using the following equation: [Al2O3/ (Al2O3 + CaO* + Na2O + K2O)] 100. If the CIA value less than 50% it indicates that the rock is unweathered. In case the CIA value ranges between 50% and 75%, it indicates that the rock have a moderate weathering While if the value if more than 75% this indicate that the rocks suf fered strong weathering. The CIA values of the samples analysed were of 58, 69 and 73, indica ting a moderate weathering. This index reflects the chemical alteration of plagioclase, orthoclase, microcline and mica to kaolinite. Generally, this index is used for calculating the total chemical weathering of greywackes in Wadi Hammamat. Conclusions The greywacke rock inscriptions have significantly deteriorated in the last decades. Several types of rock deterioration can be found, namely exfolia tion, flakes, efflorescence, current detachment of stone material and deformation. The site is affected by a series of joints, faults, cracking,
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DETERIORATION OF ROCK INSCRIPTIONS IN EGYPT

sliding movements, dislocation block and rock falls. It is worth mentioning that the fall down of the stone blocks leads to the damage of many rock inscriptions carving on greywacke rocks. Furthermore, two types of the failure might result from thermal weathering (insolation weathering), including exfoliation and disintegration of the stone. In addition, water from rainwater, moisture and groundwater assist in the weathering of greywacke minerals, increasing the chemical weathering and leading to the formation of clay minerals. The petrographic analysis reveals that all the greywacke rocks are mainly cementing by calcite, iron oxides, sericite, chlorite and clay minerals. The ferromagnesian (chlorite, chlori toid, magnesio chloritoid and forsterite), iron oxide, calcite and clay minerals were easily al tered and removed by chemical weathering. With increasing grade of the chemical weathering by the dissolution of calcite and clay minerals the amount of microfractures and voids increases in the greywacke rocks and causing damage of the rock inscriptions. The XRF analysis reveals that the greywackes have a high content of Fe2O3 due to the alteration processes and the high content of MgO due to the high amount of ferromagnesian minerals. Gypsum, anhydrite and halite were the common salts developing in the greywacke rock inscriptions. High gypsum content near the sur face is a crucial factor for flaking, pitting and contour scaling, when the areas with high load of halite are characterised by a visibly darker weak surface. Gypsum and anhydrite formation cause damage of the Portland cement mortars and their adjoining rock inscriptions. The reaction between the cement mortar and the greywackes will eventually lead to flake, crumble and deterio rate greywacke rocks. The chemical classification diagrams confirmed that the greywacke rock can be described as ferromagnesian rich quartzinter mediate and have a high content of ferromagne sian minerals as detected from petrographic
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studied, XRD and XRF analysis . These minerals are easily altered and finally transformed into clay minerals and cause intensive disintegration of greywacke rock inscriptions. Moreover, the CIA values of the analysed greywacke samples indica ted a moderate to less strong weathering. Conse quently, we believe that the temperature change, moisture, rain, salts, and incorrect restoration representing the very important factors lead to the disintegration of greywacke rocks. Geochemically, the greywacke deterioration can be attributed to the dissolution of calcite, clay and iron oxides. Feldspar and ferromagnesian minerals by intensive alteration were easily remo ved, altered into iron oxides and clay minerals very rapidly and cause different deterioration features in the greywacke rock inscriptions.

Acknowledgments The author wishes to thank Dr. Mohamed Fathy, geology in the laboratory of Egyptian Geological Survey in Cairo for his helping during laboratory work. This work has been supported by the High Institute of Tourism and Restoration, AlexandriaEgypt.

References [1] M.K. Akaad, and A.M. Nowier, Geology and lithostratigraphy of the Arabian Desert Orogenic Belt of Egypt between Latitudes 25 30' and 26 30' N, Bulletin of the Institute of Applied Geology 4(3), King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, 1980, pp. 127134 [2] M.K. Akaad, and A.M. Nowier., Lithostrati graphy of the Hammamat Um Seleimat district, Eastern Desert, Egypt, Nature 223, 1969, pp. 284285
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[3] B. Grothaus, D. Eppler and R. Ehrlich, Deposi tional environment and structural implication of the Hammamat formation, Annals of the Geolo gical Survey of Egypt 9, 1979, pp. 564590 [4] M. Ghanem, A.A. Dardir, M.H. Francis, A.A. Zalata, and K.M. Abu Zeid, Basement rocks in Eastern Desert of Egypt north of latitude 1640'N, Annals of the Geological Survey of Egypt 3, 1973 [5] A.E.A. Ahmed, M.L. Kabesh, and S.G. Mawas, Dokhan Volcanics of Abu Gawa area and their epiclastic derivatives Central Eastern Desert, Egypt, Bulletin of the Faculty of Science, Assiut University 17, 1988, pp. 195222 [6] C.D. Ollier, Weathering, Longman, New York, 1984 [7] G. Benito, M. J. Machado and C. Sancho, Sand stone weathering processes damaging prehistoric rock paintings at the Albarracin Cultural Park, NE Spain, Environmental Geology 22(1), 1993, pp. 7179, doi:10.1007/BF00775287 [8] M.J. Selby, Earth's changing surface. An intro duction to Geomorphology, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1985 [9] L.P. Zhu, J.C. Wang, and B.Y. Li, The impact of solar radiation upon rock weathering at low temperature: A laboratory study, Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 14, 2003, pp. 6167, doi: 10.1002/ppp.440 [10] H.W. Nesbitt, and G.M. Young, Early Prote rozoic climates and plate motions inferred from major element chemistry of lutites, Nature 299, 1982, pp. 715717 [11] J.R. Price, M.A.Velbel, Chemical weather ing indices applied to weathering profiles develo
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ped on heterogeneous felsic metamorphic parent rocks, Chemical Geology 202, 2003, pp. 397416 [12] Z. Jin, J. Cao, J. Wu and S. Wang, A Rb/Sr record of catchment weathering response to Holocene climate change in Inner Mongolia, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 31, 2006, pp. 285291, doi: 10.1002/esp.1243 [13] S.L. Yang, F. Ding, Z.L. Ding., Pleistocene chemical weathering history of Asian arid and semiarid regions recorded in loess deposits of China and Tajikistan, Geochimica et Cosmochi mica Acta 70, 2006, pp. 16951709, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2005.12.012 [14] S. Ceryan, New Chemical Weathering Indices for Estimating the Mechanical Properties of Rocks: A Case Study from the Krtn Granodiorite, NE Turkey, Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences 17, 2008, pp. 187207 [15] D.E. Kirkwood, H.W. Nesbitt, Formation and evolution of soils from an acidified watershed: Plastic Lake, Ontario, Canada, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 55, 1991, pp. 12951308, doi: 10.1016/00167037(91)90308R [16] V. Fassina, Atmospheric pollutants respon sible for stone decay. Wet and dry surface deposi tion of air pollutants on stone and the formation of black scabs, in F. Zezza (ed.), Weathering and Air pollution, First Course, Community of Mediter ranean Universities, University School of Monu ment Conservation, Mario Adda Editore, Bari, 1991, pp. 6786 [17] M.B. Ismaiel, Geoarchaeological Study on Rock Art Sites, with Special Emphasis on Gebel El Silsilah and Wadi Hammamat, Qena 7(2), Faculty of Arts South Valley University, 1996, pp. 759
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DETERIORATION OF ROCK INSCRIPTIONS IN EGYPT

[18] A.A. Abdel Monein, Overview of the geomor phological and hydrogeological characteristics of the Eastern Desert of Egypt, Hydrogeology Journal 13(2), 2005, pp. 416425, doi:10.1007/s10040 0040364y [19] K.I. Meiklejohn, Aspects of the weathering of the Clarens formation in the KwazuluNatal drakens berg. Implications for the preservation of indige nous rock art, PhD Thesis, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1995, unpublished [20] F.G. Bell, Engineering properties of soils and rocks, Butterworths, London, 1983 [21] S.M. Soliman, Thermal weathering of sedimen tary ancient monuments, Department of Geology, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, 1999 [22] P. A. Rebinder, L. A. Shreiner, K. F. Zhigach, Hardness reducers in drilling: a physicochemical method of facilitating the mechanical destruction of rocks during drilling, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948 [23] D.A. Robinson, and R.B.G. Williams, (eds), Rock Art and Landform Evolution, John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, 1994 [24] S. Hoerle, A preliminary study of the weath ering activity at the rock art site of Game pass shelter(KwazuluNatal) in relation to its conserva tion, South African Journal of Geology 108(2), 2005, pp. 297308, doi: 10.2113/108.2.297 [25] I.S. Evans, Salt crystallisation and weath ering: a review, Revue de Geomorphologie Dyna mique 19, 1970, pp. 15377 [26] E.M. Winkler, and P.C. Singer, Crystallisation pressure of salts in stone and concrete, Geological Society of America Bulletin 83, 1972, pp. 35093514
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[27] F.J. Pettijohn, P.E. Potter, R. Siever, Sand and Sandstone, SpringerVerlag, New York, 1972 [28] K.A.W. Crook, Lithogenesis and geotectonios: the significance of compositional variations in flysch arenites (greywackes), in R.H. Doti, and R. H. Shaver (eds.), Modem and Ancient Geosyn clinal Sedimentation, Society of Economic Paleon tologists and Mineralogists Spec. Publ. 19, 1974, pp. 304310 [29] H. Blatt, G.V. Middleton, R.C. Murray, Origin of Sedimentary Rocks, PrenticeHall, 1980 [30] W.F. Hume, Geology of Egypt, Vol. 2, Part I. The Metamorphic Rocks, Geological Survey of Egypt, 1934

HESHAM ABBAS KMALLY Conservation scientist Contact: heshamabbas@windowslive.com Hesham Kmally is a conservation scientist specialised in conservation of rock inscriptions. He obtained his Master degree in Geochemistry, Petrography and Structural Studies of Rocks from South Valley University, Egypt in 1999. He was director of the Conservation Center at the Nubia Museum in Alexandria, Egypt up to 2003, after which he pursued a PhD in Archaeological Quar rying and Conservation of Rock Inscriptions in Aswan from the same university in 2005. He now works at the Conservation Department of the High Institute of Tourism, Hotel Management and Restoration, Egypt.
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educatio

SUSTAINABILITY IN THE PRESERVATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE THROUGH EDUCATION

Training in Wood Conservation and Restoration in Malta

By Ninette Sammut

TRAINING IN WOOD CONSERVATION IN MALTA

Sustainability in the preservation of cultural heritage is multifaceted. Education is one of the facets. Courses in conservation, restoration and conservation science help reach this aim by bringing together policy makers, enforcement units, educational institutions, the employment sector and people with different backgrounds of knowledge, skills and competences. This is the outcome of a three year project cofunded by the European Union that Heritage Malta has conducted as the lead partner. Through this project four accredited courses were designed within the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), namely at EQF levels 1, 3, 6 and 7. The courses at EQF levels 1, 3 and 7 have been implemented throughout the period of this project with the courses at EQF levels 1 and 3 to be established as part of the prospectus of two of the national educational institutions, namely the Lifelong Learning Directorate in the former case and the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) which is mainly responsible for vocational education and training in the latter.

Introduction The type of objects that need to be safeguarded range from organic to inorganic, from natural to manmade and from a single material to compos ite materials. Furthermore, the object materials could have been sourced within the country or imported. Natural resources in Malta are limited to stone, sun and sea. Wood was also one of its natural re sources but through its extensive use through the ages to make way primarily for agriculture and grazing of animals [1] and then for structural, technologic, storage and decorative purposes [2], it became a treasured material. Cultural identity is kneaded within such purposes and hence the importance to preserve, conserve and restore wood objects/structures. Yet, the lack of know ledge about how to cherish this material, the per formance of interventions within the considera tion of conservationrestoration ethics and the desire to avoid maintenance in a fast moving world are main issues that are leading to the destruction of this local patrimony. The need to preserve wood objects/structures brought about the need to educate and train
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people in conservation and restoration, hence the design and implementation of this project co funded by the European Union, European Social Funding (ESF). The title of this project is Wood CPR: Education and Training in Wood Conservation and Restoration. The courses in this project were developed to give its participants the opportunity to realise that one is living in a global society where everybody is a citizen of the world, according to Whitheads philosophy of education [3]. This approach seeks to link new and past knowledge acquired in diffe rent ways and from different contexts to different forms of knowledge within the established disci plines. That is linking competences, skills and knowledge acquired throughout ones life while bringing people together. Wood as material heritage in Malta Although wood is not considered one of Maltas natural resources, the existence of objects made from this material indicates its extensive use through time. The species of such wood is not limited to one but to a variety of species which could be found locally or imported. The uses of the various types of wood depended on its
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physical properties, morphology and anatomy. Such characteristics determined whether the par ticular type of wood would be used to construct or embellish an object/structure, to manufacture a piece of fine or utilitarian furniture, to seal or support a building structure, and as a means of transport. The concept of reuse was more practised in the past. This can be observed through scientific in vestigations of panel paintings which have shown evidence of overpainted surfaces, and through research in notarial documents, specifically those related to dowry or wills, which refer to pieces of furniture inherited from one generation to another. Past craftsmen utilised wood as beams to support limestone slabs in ceiling structures and to be able to span large areas. Other uses in buildings include apertures such as window frames and balconies (gallarija in Maltese) which became more elaborate during the Baroque period [4] complete with shutters to redirect or block natural light, and solid wood doors with lock systems to divide spaces and safeguard what is behind them. Such apertures characterise street scapes in Maltas capital city, Valletta, which is considered a world heritage site by UNESCO, and in Birgu, one of the three cities characterising the waterfront of the Grand Harbour (Figure 1). Extensive use of wood has also always made for the internal decoration of churches. Other uses of wood include its utilisation to pro duce tools used in quarrying and wood working as well as machinery such as windmills and wax candle factories. Wood was also used for the manufacture of traditional fishing and passenger boats an integral part of Maltas heritage. As in other countries, there are hazards in Malta that threaten the survival of this material result
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Figure 1. Wooden balconies at Birgu as part of the streetscape.

ing from natural and/or anthropogenic factors. Such factors include mishandling, lack of know ledge or maintenance, unnecessary or wrong interventions, exposure to the surrounding envi ronment and biological infestations, vandalism, fires and floods. The combination of the nature of artefacts, the relative scarcity of such material on the island, and the hazards to which it is exposed, led to the necessity to create courses that address such matters and disseminate knowledge, skills and competences. Sustainability through an integrated approach to conservation practice Huge strides ahead with respect to sustainability in wood preservation have been made at first through the grant offered by Malta Environment
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TRAINING IN WOOD CONSERVATION IN MALTA

Planning Authority (MEPA) [5] and through this European Union funded project where the founda tions to sustain the preservation of wood objects/ structures were built upon training. This project started during the first quarter of 2009 and last until the end of 2011. The importance of wood as material heritage in Malta should be considered as an essential part of the local heritage and also as part of the world heritage. The importance to preserve wood through education resulted from the fact that: grants given in a local scheme to restore wooden balconies were offering the opportunity to skilled craftsmen to diversify their dying business to the field of conservationrestoration without any consideration being given to ethics related to this specialised field because the skilled crafts men were not trained according to international ethics existing in conservationrestoration; there has been a general increase in apprecia tion of cultural heritage in the last decade, which has led to an increase in demand for conservation restoration; the amateur woodworker was increasingly at tracted to the restoration practice by taking it up as a hobby; there was lack of awareness on preservation of material heritage irrespective of a high interest in antiques; anyone going through vocational education training could not specialise in wood conservation restoration; training in conservationrestoration of wood at bachelor level was being taught as a small com ponent in comparison to other materials; training of scientists supporting conservator restorers did not have the necessary background knowledge related to conservation science. These considerations brought about the need for such a project. The main aims were: (a) to increase
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awareness in preservation of material heritage; (b) to train people coming from different educa tional backgrounds; (c) to give equal gender opportunities; (d) to address skills mismatches; and (e) to propose a strategy for future grant schemes in relation to restoration of wooden bal conies. This brought the need to design courses at different EQF levels within the frameworks of the Copenhagen and Bologna Processes, namely the following courses: Preservation of Material Cultural Heritage at EQF level 1; Wood and Furniture Heritage Skills at EQF level 3; ConservationRestoration of Wood at EQF level 6; Conservation Science applied to Wood at EQF level 7; The courses were designed from a lifelong lear ning perspective where irrespective of age, whether active or inactive and irrespective of ones level of education, the person wishing to engage in such courses could progress accordingly. Such an exercise brought together various other local state entities: the Malta Qualifications Council (MQC); the Institute of Building Construction & Engineering within MCAST; the Employment & Training Centre; the Malta Environment & Plan ning Authority; the National Womens Council and the Federation of Womens Council; and the Commission for People with Disabilities (KNPD). Participants who showed difficulty in providing an accredited certificate to be able to follow the courses at EQF level 3 and EQF level 7 were given the opportunity to get it accredited to the right EQF level through the Malta Qualifications Re cognition Information Centre (MQRIC), which is part of MQC. Three out of the four designed courses were im plemented. Ten editions of the same course with a maximum of one hundred and fifty participants were delivered in the case of the course at EQF
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level 1 in both Maltese and English languages. The course at EQF level 3 was open for a maximum of fifteen participants while the course at EQF level 7 was open for a maximum of eight partici pants. The language in this case was English. The course at EQF level 6 was intended to run at a later stage, which is after there are specialists trained in wood conservation science at EQF level 7 to be able to support EQF level 6 students in their studies. The lecturers were all Maltese or foreign qualified professionals. The ratio of theory versus practical of each course varied according to the needs within the course content. The assessment methods of the courses in levels 1, 3 and 7 include the preparation of assignments, reports, exami nations and presentations to the public depend ing on the course level. In all cases a certificate is awarded. The same assessment methods are proposed in the course at level 6 but in this case a degree is awarded. The EQF level 1 course treated basic conservation skills. It addressed all materials, namely ceramics, glass, metal, stone, wood, canvas, textile and paper. Such materials can be found either singu larly or assembled together composing objects. The properties of each material were initially tackled on their own and then in combination with each other. The effect that such materials can have on wood and vice versa was discussed through practical exercises and on site visits to museums. Through this course participants were made aware of the vulnerability of such cultural heritage objects. They were also taught how to reduce this vulnerability from a preventive con servation perspective. The pedagogic role of the lecturer was primarily to provide opportunities for participants to develop and demonstrate skills which allow them to pursue a career as mu seum attendants, housekeepers, cleaners, hand lers, maintenance personnel, and antique dealers within an ethical framework. The teaching was
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Figure 2. People attending level 1 course.

also aimed at avoiding damage by thinking be fore acting and knowing when one needs to consult a professional in the field (Figure 2). The EQF Level 3 course aimed towards a more practical background and therefore prospective students had to have sound knowledge of wood and good hands skills in woodwork. These prospec tive students included either those who have ac quired a certificate at EQF level 2 by MCAST (the maximum qualification which could be acquired at the beginning of the project) or those who were already practising wood restoration. In both cases, the certificate at EQF Level 1 course was a pre requisite. Throughout the EQF level 3 course the participants have put into practice the conserva tionrestoration ethics acquired through the EQF level 1 course under the vigilant eyes of the quali fied conservatorrestorer. Documentation meth ods and ethics were largely discussed as well as the nonexistence of recipes applied in conser vationrestoration practice was made very clear to the participants especially during their prac tical sessions (Figure 3). It was imperative to pass clearly the message, especially to students at this level, that evidence is lost with every single restoration intervention that is taken.
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TRAINING IN WOOD CONSERVATION IN MALTA

Figure 3. Students undertaking restoration work on a 16th century sacristy.

The participants were instructed on historical manufacturing techniques. Towards the end of their course they were capable to reproduce part of a traditional wooden balcony (Figure 4). This will allow them to become part of the list of skilled carpenters recognised to undertake bal cony restoration projects such as the one promo ted by MEPA. The course at EQF Level 6 was designed in the framework of the current course content being offered at bachelors level by the University of Malta. This is a 4year degree which currently trains conservatorrestorers in the following areas: paintings, objects (ceramics, glass, metals, and stone), textiles and paper. The first year is considered a foundation year across all areas of study and streaming together with handson practice which starts from the second year on
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wards. The course designed in this project focuses on wood. The area of study in wood conservation restoration as part of the degree course was not offered at this stage: professionals in conserva tion science related to wood needed to be trained beforehand to be able to support students in their conservation projects. The studyunits covered in the course content include the use of wood throughout the ages, stylistic analysis, manufac turing techniques, scientific analysis of wood, past interventions/restoration and evaluation of conservation treatments. The EQF Level 7 course in conservation science aimed to promote research and innovation in conservation science education in relation to conservationrestoration of wood and wooden structures and artworks. The aims of this course were to strengthen the human resource capacity
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Conclusion The appreciation of cultural heritage should be communicated through an integrated education approach in this global society. Sustainability in the preservation of cultural heritage through education should be encouraged. It is a way of how tangible and intangible cultural heritage can be safeguarded. This Europeanfunded project presented various challenges throughout the various stages of re search, design and implementation of the courses. The fact that the courses had to be de signed around needs in conservationrestoration in the local context posed a further challenge than just designing and implementing general courses in preservation, conservationrestoration and conservation science. Yet this challenge is what will make it sustainable in the long run: offering new opportunities to all those already involved in wood working by providing further training and increasing awareness on the need to preserve wood objects in their current envir onment. It should be pointed out that in this case two of the four courses, namely those at EQF level 1 and 3, are already featuring in the prospectus of two educational institutions for the next academic programmes. The course created at EQF level 1 will help a per son, irrespective of his background, to appreciate cultural heritage through the use of materials. This will increase the interest and transform such awareness to further training in the fields of conservationrestoration and conservation science. Through this approach, other professions and existing courses would be directed to sustain directly the preservation of cultural heritage.

Figure 4. Reproduction of part of the traditional balcony.

to aid in training of future conservatorrestorers and create a common language to ease commu nication between the persons trained through this course and the conservatorrestorer. Lectur ers from the Department of Agricultural and Forest Economy, Engineering, Sciences and Tech nologies of the University of Florence (DEISTAF) delivered this 9week long certificate course. Lectures were delivered 4 weeks in Florence and 5 weeks in Malta. The course content included studyunits of applied physics and chemistry rela ted to the morphology of wood at micro and macro levels, the deterioration process influenced by physical and chemical reactions, and practical sessions in analytical techniques using different instrumentation including sample preparation within the ethical and legal framework related to conservationrestoration. This course brought together a multidisciplinary team of profession als specialised in their own field without having much in common, yet finding common grounds through the analysis of wood objects (Figure 5).
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TRAINING IN WOOD CONSERVATION IN MALTA

Figure 5. Laboratory work by the participants on microCT.

References

[1] P. J. Schembri, "Physical Geography and Eco logy of the Maltese Islands: A Brief Overview", Options Meditrranennes 7, 1993, URL [2] L. J. Saliba, "Education and Afforestation in Malta", Options Mditerranennes 9, 1971, URL [3] A. N. Whitehead, The Aims of Education and Other Essays, Free Press, New York, 1967 [4] G. Bonello, "Mysteries of the Maltese Gallar ija in Treasures of Malta", Progress Press, Vol. IX No. 2, Malta, 2003 [5] Traditional Maltese Wooden Balcony Restora tion Grant Scheme, http://www.mepa.org.mt [accessed on 31st July 2011]
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NINETTE SAMMUT Conservation Manager Contact: ninette.sammut@gov.mt Ninette Sammut is the manager leading the edu cation arm of Heritage Malta. Her qualifica tions and experience as a conservatorrestorer and her involvement in education in the past 10 years, including vocational and tertiary educa tion and training on national and European levels, led to her choice in this leading position and as project leader of this EUfunded project.
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