Papers by Duygu Camurcuoglu
The Ur of Chaldees Project: A Virtual Vision of Woolley’s Excavations at Ur
Cyclododecane reinvestigated: an experimental study on using Cyclododecane to secure unstable ceramic surfaces prior to transportation
Conservation news: UKIC, Jan 1, 2005
The move of the British Museum's ancient Egyptian ceramic collection to an upgraded storage facil... more The move of the British Museum's ancient Egyptian ceramic collection to an upgraded storage facility led to an investigative study on methods for stabilizing unstable low-fired pottery (severe delamination, flaking and powdering due to soluble salts) prior to their transfer. The results of testing carried out for this purpose using the temporary consolidant Cyclododecane (CDD) are discussed. Basic information is given on the chemical and physical characteristics of CDD, including factors which influence its rate of sublimation and the issue of residues. Experimental work was designed to determine the following: the most effective and gentle application method of CDD; whether or not the sublimation process itself provoked loss of unstable surfaces; and the success of a test application on a vessel representative of the types of problems evident in the collection. CDD was applied on samples as both a hot-melt and solvent-diluted solution using aerosol spray, different sized brushes, and glass pipettes. Observations are given on the resultant protective layers and the rate of sublimation of the various combinations of application technique and dilution. Based on this preliminary testing, a vessel was successfully stabilized using the hot-melt CDD applied with brushes (the gentlest technique) and safely moved off a high shelf in a cramped storage area without loss of material.
The conservation of an Anglo-Saxon composite stave-made vessel from Ringlemere, Kent
Journal of the …, Jan 1, 2010
The treatment of wet archaeological composite artefacts can be a difficult process. It was furthe... more The treatment of wet archaeological composite artefacts can be a difficult process. It was further complicated in this case study by the methods and materials used in the construction of the object, a wooden stave vessel. In this vessel, a number of individual wooden staves were held in a cylindrical configuration by metal bands. As the wood and metal deteriorated in the ground, the object became very unstable. This article describes innovative techniques used to overcome the problems faced in supporting this fragile and degraded object during the conservation process of block excavation, dehydration and consolidation. Through careful conservation, examination and analysis were able to reveal significant information about the typology and construction of this rare object.
Copper smelting & alloying by Duygu Camurcuoglu
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2017
The scholarly quest for the origins of metallurgy has focused on a broad region from the Balkans ... more The scholarly quest for the origins of metallurgy has focused on a broad region from the Balkans to Central Asia, with different scholars advocating a single origin and multiple origins, respectively. One particular find has been controversially discussed as the potentially earliest known example of copper smelting in western Eurasia, a copper 'slag' piece from the Late Neolithic to Chalcolithic site of Catalhoyuk in central Turkey. Here we present a new assessment of metal making at Çatalhoyük based on the re-analysis of minerals, mineral artefacts and high-temperature materials excavated in the 1960s by J. Mellaart and first analysed by Neuninger, Pittioni and Siegl in 1964. This paper focuses on copper-based minerals, the alleged piece of metallurgical slag, and copper metal beads, and their contextual relationship to each other. It is based on new microstructural, compositional and isotopic analyses, and a careful re-examination of the fieldwork documentation and analytical data related to the c. 8500 years old high-temperature debris at Çatalhoyük. We re-interpret the sample identified earlier as metallurgical slag as incidentally fired green pigment, which was originally deposited in a burial and later affected by a destructive fire that also charred the bones of the interred body. We also reconfirm the contemporary metal beads as made from native metal. Our results provide a new and conclusive explanation of the previously contentious find, and reposition Çatalh€ oyük in a new narrative of the multiple origins of metallurgy in the Old World.
Uploads
Papers by Duygu Camurcuoglu
Copper smelting & alloying by Duygu Camurcuoglu