Archaeologists must learn to do many different jobs as part of archaeological work (e.g. historian, geologist, chemist, photographer, map maker, anthropologist).  sometimes they learn to do all of these jobs themselves.  Sometimes they work in a team with other people who are experts in certain areas.

Conservation is one of the jobs an archaeologist may do by her/himself.  Often archaeologists work with an expert called a conservator.  A conservator cares for the artifacts or features to keep them from falling apart or rotting away. S/he advises how best to store or display artifacts.

A conservator stabilizes an artifact by cleaning it and treating it in a way to keep it from falling apart.  The conservator studies chemistry to know how to clean and care for all the different types of artifacts e.g. glass, ceramic, metal, bone.  Each thing has to be cleaned safely and according to its chemical make-up, so it won't break or get too wet, or dry too quickly.  Some artifacts are made from organic materials - things that were alive once (e.g. wood, leather).  These may need special care to stop them from rotting or decaying.  Artifacts that came from underwater sites (like shipwrecks) also need special care because they were used to certain conditions like cold, wet,
high pressure, low light and oxygen.

Artifacts may be stabilized to be preserved for future study.  Sometimes, when possible, a conservator may help reconstruct an artifact (e.g. if it is broken into many pieces), or even restore an object.

The archaeologist works with a conservator to know how artifacts looked and to understand the artifacts better.  The conservator may help the archaeologist store the artifacts in a safe environment or display them in the right conditions to care for them properly.

1.  What is the job title of the person who stabilizes artifacts?

2.  Why wouldn't a conservator want to wash an iron artifact?

3.  Why would organic artifacts need special care?

4.  How does the work of a conservator help an archaeologist?

to illustrate the
to demonstrate how chemistry is applied to the conservation of artifacts

Knowledge
-discuss the chemical properties of matter

Skills
-problem solving
-technical (measured) graphic drawing
-analysis (artifact composition related to decay rate)
-experimentation

Attitudes
-how (scientists) deal with gaps in information (about the past)
-examining heritage as inheritance or commodity

ceramic         
-an object made from fired or unfired clay

conservation 
-the practice of caring for artifacts, features or objects to prevent decay and to stabilize chemical processes

conservator   
-a person who studies and practises conservation

organic          
-anything living or that once lived

preserve        
-to maintain so that there is no further change by rot, decay or other chemical process

reconstruct    
-to put back together into an original form

restore          
-to protect and reuse an object to illustrate how it was at a particular time (e.g. to restore a house to the 19th century style it had)

stabilize        
-stop or slow chemical processes that decay (artifacts)

Badone, Donalda
Time Detectives Toronto:  Annick Press, Ltd. 1992.

Higgins, Reynold
Minoan and Mycenaean Art Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1967.

McIntosh, Jane
Archeology Toronto: Stoddart Publishing Company, 1994.

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