Basic Artifact Conservation and Lab Management

Abstract

While remedial artifact conservation is the province of specialist conservators, it is useful for archaeologists to be aware of the fundamental principles of artifact conservation. This chapter introduces the factors that affect the preservation of materials, the proper ways to handle artifacts, and the environmental conditions that are important for designing storage and curatorial systems that protect the integrity of the artifacts and their documentation. It briefly reviews basic artifact cleaning and refitting of pottery and concludes with a section on conservation and curatorial ethics.