Page 99 - TINA Dergi Sayi 08

TINA

Maritime Archaeology Periodical

The reason for this is that if the artifact is not
properly attached and needs to be separated again,
the edges should not be damaged. The same pro-
cedure should be applied to metal artifacts. The
parts to be joined are again bonded with a 50% so-
lution of paraloid B72 dissolved in acetone (Fig.
12). During all these procedures, the state of the
artifact is documented by photographic records.
After bonding procedure, if the artifact is going
to be displayed or if it is not as strong as its capa-
city, it is necessary to fill the gaps in the artifact
with plaster. Firstly, methyl cellulose should be
Fig. 14 applied on the artifact for protection and easy cle-
aning of the plaster. Then a mold-resin common-
Fig. 15 ly used by dentists is used to make a mold of the
empty spaces and to fill these cavities with plaster
(Fig. 13). If the artifact is going to be displayed,
the plaster is painted with acrylic paints in suitable
colors; however, no painting is required if it is to
be stored in a museum’s warehouse.
Reconstruction of ceramic vessels, and especi-
ally all amphoras that make up the main cargo of
the ship removed from underwater excavations is
very important in terms of archaeological data.
Individual capacity measurements are made af-
ter these ceramic vessels carrying the main cargo
of the ship are reconstructed. The reason for this
is to calculate total weight of the cargo that the
ship carried. This information is very important in
reaching archaeological conclusions. Therefore,
ceramic artifacts from shipwreck excavations are
Fig. 16 reconstructed even if they are not going to be ex-
hibited in a museum (Fig. 14-16).
Underwater excavations usually yield encrusted
conglomerates. These conglomerates should be
X-rayed because such conglomerations are likely
to contain iron artifacts. The surface of iron arti-
facts that have remained in seawater for many ye-
ars is commonly encrusted with layers of calcium
carbonate (Ca2CO3), organic residues, sand, clay,
and sea shells. When exposed to seawater, iron
corrodes and oxidizes, and the object gradually
disappears by losing its form. However, encrusted
layer retains its original shape, even if the iron it-
self has become iron oxide dust, since encrustati-
on begins to cover up before the artifact begins to
disappear.
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