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‘Low-Tech’ Methods for Characterizing Materials in the Field

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2011

Harriet F. Beaubien
Harriet F. Beaubien*
Affiliation:
Conservation Analytical Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA
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Abstract

Characterization of materials by methods which require neither expensive equipment nor specialist participation are of interest to archaeologists, conservators and other researchers who work in the field. Utilizing as points of focus those questions cited most frequently in a survey of field conservators, archaeologists and related literature sources, tests are reported which may be used on site to characterize artifacts, their condition and the context from which they come, to monitor the progress of treatments and to assess the stability of materials for use in longterm storage of archaeological collections.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 352: Symposium – Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology IV , 1995 , 641
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

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