In this episode of the Preservation Technology Podcast, Kit Arrington, digital library specialist at the Library of Congress, discusses how the Library of Congress digitizes and shares documents online for longterm public access.
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Like archeological information on paper, the archeological information we get in digital form must be both appropriate and trustworthy. The forms we can obtain must be the right ones for the job — cost effective and usable. At the same time, what we receive — capta, information, knowledge or summary — must be dependable, resulting from transformations that we can understand and evaluate.
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The visual manifestation of the recent Hale-Bopp comet reminds us how telling are those rare objects which suddenly flare in the sky. One can suppose ancient people living by natural light were more compellingly struck by the sight of comets and supernovae, and understandably researchers seek images of them in the shapes of rock-art motifs. An absolute dating contradicts that supposition in respect of a presumed image of the visible supernova of AD 1054.
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A resurgence of interest in prehistoric rock art has occurred recently owing to advances in analytical techniques that provide information on the composition of ancient paints and the natural man”ices surrounding the paints. The greatest problem in studying ancient rock art was the inability to affiliate the artifacts to specific cultures. which severely limited our knowledge of the origin and role of art within prehistoric societies. It is now possible to date directly many pictograph paints if organic matter was utilized in the original paint mixture and residual organics remain in the paint, or if the paints are incorporated with natural rock crusts such as calcium oxalate or silica skins that are datable. Furthermore, it is now realized that inorganic constituents of pictograph paints can be used to compare motifs, themes and painted panels based on chemical characteristics of the paints, in addition to providing information regarding the substances available and utilized by early people for their art.
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We developed a plasma-chemical technique to remove carbon from rock paintings. This extraction is followed by
accelerator mass spectrometric analysis of the 14C to yield direct estimates of the ages of rock paintings. We have demonstrated
use of the technique on charcoal as well as iron and manganese pigmented paintings. Unfortunately, there are no rock paintings made with inorganic pigments that have accurately known ages. That means there are no primary standards for checking the accuracy and validity of our technique on this type of samples. To compensate for this, known age samples (charcoal and Third International Radiocarbon Intercomparison wood) were dated: these support the general validity of this technique.
The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) is a multidisciplinary international organization composed of individuals and institutions who are interested in the development and preservation of natural history collections. Under the direction of the SPNHC Conservation Committee and its Research Subcommittee, the project coordinator surveyed the SPNHC membership by mail to develop an updated list of priorities for natural history collections conservation research. This report summarizes background information, development and implementation of the survey instrument, results and data analysis of this project.
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In this edition of the Preservation Technology Podcast, NCPTT’s Jeff Guin speaks with Bernard Frischer about 3D digital documentation of historic resources and the project, “Rome Reborn.”
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In this edition of the Preservation Technology Podcast, we meet Eric Schindelholz, a conservator in private practice who specializes in metals and marine archaeological materials. Eric was the principal investigator for a PTT Grant Project that examined methods to dry waterlogged archaeological wood.
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In this edition of the Preservation Technology Podcast, we’ll meet Carla Schroer of Cultural Heritage Imaging. The non-profit organization recently used a PTT Grant to hold a workshop on 3D digital rock art documentation and preservation.
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A symposium is being held on Saturday, September 26, 2009, from 9AM to 5PM to honor James Marston Fitch, a founding father of historic preservation in the United States. Fitch was an architect, preservationist, and a founder of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University.
The topic for this year will be “The Preservationists’ Eye: Esthetics in Reuse and Conservation of the Historic Built Environment” and will be held at the recently restored Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at 15 East 84th Street in New York City.
The deadline for applying for the Fitch Mid-Career Grant and the Richard L. Blinder Award is Wednesday, September 16, 2009.
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