Happy International Archaeology Day! #IAD2014 Archaeology doesn’t stop when field season is over; there is a whole lot more work to be done in the lab (you know, that place where Indiana Jones never sets foot). For example: salt can cause HUGE problems for ceramic artifacts. While buried, salinized groundwater flows freely through tiny pores in the baked clay. Once excavated from its damp, cozy, insulated matrix—where it’s been perfectly comfortable for a few hundred years, thank you very much—the water evaporates into the air and the salts crystalize and expand. This causes the vessel’s surface to crack and crumble, erasing designs and patterns that are essential for analyzing cultural meaning. Luckily, there is a rather simple solution! The Field Museum is just wrapping up a desalination project on a number of ceramic vessels, most of which are from Pre-Columbian Central and South America. How did they do it? Click through this photo album to find out! - Intern Katie
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 16:11:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015