Leather from archaeological site

Charles Pendleton Redwine <redwi001 [at] bama__ua__edu> writes

>I think the best method for the material we have and our resources
>is the Smithsonian glycerin treatment.  We have one object that
>appears to contain cuprous brads, therefore I wanted a treatment
>method that does not cause oxidation of metal.  Glycerin treatment
>appears to be most suited to this requirement.

I'm not familiar with the Smithsonian glycerin treatment, and I
don't know what your treatment objectives are, but I wonder if it is
necessary to treat the leather at all.  If the fragments are now
quite dry and still remain in stable condition, the main
danger--drying--has passed.  To add a foreign substance (glycerin)
may negate the possibility of future analyses, and may also create
complications with respect to storage, handling, or future
treatment. I would be inclined to simply house the fragments in a
supportive container and store them in as stable an environment as
possible, and to keep an eye out for mold growth on the leather or
active corrosion of the copper alloy in the future.

Julie Unruh
Agora Excavations
Athens, Greece


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 15:26
               Distributed: Wednesday, September 26, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-15-26-006
                                  ***