Conservation of bamboo

This is in reference to Barry Knight's comment on my post on Bamboo.
Barry was critical of my referring the person looking for
information to a publication which was on treating bamboo recovered
from archaeological sites. Actually, I was noting that a certain
scientist had done considerable research, testing and treatment. I
cited one comprehensive article as an example--the one on
archaeological recovery treatments. What I want to see in
conservation is treatment based on testing and long term stability.

Mr. Knight suggests that one put the object in high humidity and see
what happens. This is just not acceptable. We should never
experiment with artifacts, one can run tests designed to consider
the roles of certain factors using dummy articles manufactured from
the same materials. I have discussed this issue of the basis of
information for decision-making in conservation in a number of
articles in conservation and archaeological journals. The most
detailed discussion is in North American Archaeologist, v. 14, #4,
1993:289-303.

Niccolo Caldararo
Director and Chief Conservator
Conservation Art Service

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:89
                 Distributed: Thursday, April 17, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-10-89-003
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