Preserving bricks

In regard to Jonathan Farley's query and the subsequent replies, I
suggest that Mr. Farley take the brick to an experienced
archaeological conservator to determine the cause of deterioration
and formulate a suitable treatment.  I agree with the other
respondents that the damage sounds like typical salt migration and
recrystallization, but I would not recommend consolidation, before
or after desalinization, until I was sure that it was needed
structurally.  Desalination alone, perhaps followed by local
reattachment of flakes, might be an adequate treatment which would
avoid saturating the brick with intrusive materials.

Geoffrey Brown
Curator of Conservation
Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
University of Michigan

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:72
                Distributed: Thursday, February 13, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-10-72-002
                                  ***