18. Carmen Gütschow: Archaeological conservation

01/26/21 • 31 min

18. Carmen Gütschow: Archaeological conservation
Carmen introduces the work of an archaeological conservator. She discusses the issues that arise in different materials, and the range of treatments and tools she uses. What are the pressures of conservation work on an archaeological site? And what does she do differently in Europe and the Middle East. As an expert in treating cuneiform tablets, Carmen explains about firing and salts.
3:03 what a conservator does
4:23 ceramics
7:38 organics and humidity
8:54 metals
11:40 work on an archaeological site versus work in a lab
13:38 work in the Middle East
16:23 cuneiform tablets
17:42 firing tablets
21:46 preserving original condition
24:37 working in museums
Carmen’s book
Ruprecht-Karls University Heidelberg/Excavation in Assur and Bakr Awa and Ninive in Iraq/Kurdistan

https://www.assur.de/Themen/Ausgrabung/Assur2001/Konservierung/konservierung.html
https://www.assur.de/Themen/Bakr_Awa/Restoration/body_restoration.html
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/wissen/ausgrabung-in-ninive-heilsbotschaft-aus-dem-alten-orient/25727444.html

The Shamlu Archaeological Mission (SAM) is part of the DFG Emmy Noether project "Flight - Migration - Interaction. Artefact related diversity in Ancient Near Eastern contexts of the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC"
LMU/ Iran. Das elamische Archiv aus Goshtaspi. Staatliche Verwaltung
Sippar library/ Baghdad, Iraq. „Electronic Babylonian Literature“ (Professor Enrique Jiménez).
Hilprecht collection, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena
• https://www.oriindufa.uni-jena.de/keilschrift
• https://iaassyriology.com/congratulations-winner-of-the-second-iaa-dissertation-prize/
• https://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/dzo/artikel/201/91_201.pdf?t=1408373297
DAI /Uruk-Warka collection, Ruprecht-Karls University Heidelberg
• iDAI.publications: publications.dainst.org › efb › article › download
• https://lens.idai.world/?url=/repository/eDAI-F_2020-3/eDAI-F_VanEss.xml
Böhl-Collection NINO /Leiden, Netherlands
• http://www.nino-leiden.nl/collections/de-liagre-bohl-collection
• http://www.nino-leiden.nl/message/pilot-restoration-of-clay-tablets-in-the-bohl-collection
VAM Berlin “Das Vorprojekt BABylo-tec”. Erinnerung an das ende der deutschen Babylon- Expedition
Museum of Islamic art Berlin/ Afghanistan. A museum project in Herat Afghanistan
• http://ancient-herat.de/category/herat_pdf_en/
• http://ancient-herat.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/00b-Showcasing-History-Realisation-of-a-Vision-D.pdf
•https://www.academia.edu/30106499/Herat_Through_Time_The_Collections_of_the_Herat_Museum_and_Archive_Ancient_Herat_Vol_3_Berlin_2016_extracts
Museum of Islamic art Berlin/ Karachi, Pakistan. A project and exhibition in Karachi
A new museum project in Yazd
• https://www.smb.museum/museen-einrichtungen/museum-fuer-islamische-kunst/sammeln-forschen/forschung-kooperation/iran-the-provincial-museum-yazd-national-museum-teheran/
• https://www.bundeskunsthalle.de/forschungsprojekte/iran.html
• https://www.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/Iran
• https://www.welcometoiran.com/german-institute-to-help-set-up-museum/
Music by Ruba Hillawi
Website: http://wedgepod.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @wedge_p

https://www.assur.de/Themen/Ausgrabung/Assur2001/Konservierung/konservierung.html
https://www.assur.de/Themen/Bakr_Awa/Restoration/body_restoration.html
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/wissen/ausgrabung-in-ninive-heilsbotschaft-aus-dem-alten-orient/25727444.html

Previous Episode

17. Strahil Panayotov: Assyrian eye medicine

Strahil explains how Assyrian medicine worked. Who were the doctors and what did they do? Would their treatments have been effective? He discusses the problems caused by taxonomy. Different ideas about the human body and the diseases affecting it make it more difficult for us to understand Assyrian medicine. One of our most important sources is a newly reconstructed reference work, The Nineveh Medical Encyclopaedia.

2:46 Assyrian doctors

5:24 how medicine worked

8:44 eye problems and their treatment

12:25 the problem of taxonomy

15:25 about our sources

17:30 the Nineveh Medical Encyclopaedia

BabMed: https://www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/en/e/babmed/index.html

Strahil’s Academia: https://bas.academia.edu/StrahilPanayotov

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @wedge_pod

Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

Next Episode

19. Shiyanthi Thavapalan: Colour in Mesopotamia

Shiyanthi throws light on how colour was interpreted in Mesopotamia. What cultural meanings were attached to colours? What was the relation between materials and colours? She explains where they sourced their pigments and how they made paints.

2:26 Mesopotamia as a colourful place

6:01 How they saw colour

12:00 How we know about colour

14:47 Materials and colour

16:56 Sources of pigments

21:56 Experimental archaeology

23:33 The meaning of colours

Music by Ruba Hillawi

Website: http://wedgepod.org

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSM7ZlAAgOXv4fbTDRyrWgw

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @wedge_pod

Patreon: http://Patreon.com/WedgePod

Thin End of the Wedge - 18. Carmen Gütschow: Archaeological conservation

Transcript

Jon Taylor00:00:13.740

Hello, and welcome to the Thin End of the Wedge. The podcast where experts from around the world share new and interesting stories about life in the ancient Middle East. My name is Jon. Each episode, I talk to friends and colleagues, and get them to explain their work in a way we can all understand..

Jon Taylor00:00:31.890

This episode, we take our first look at the wonderful world of archaeological conservation.