Influence of conservation of copper and bronze artefacts on traces of production and use-wear

Although studies of production traces and use-wear in copper and bronze artefacts have been conducted already for a few decades, the influence of the conservation on these items did not receive much scholarly attention. It seems quite surprising, as traceological analyses focus most often on conserv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archaeological and anthropological sciences 2020-07, Vol.12 (7), Article 141
Main Authors: Sych, Dawid, Nowak, Kamil, Maciejewski, Marcin, Miazga, Beata, Baron, Justyna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropology
Archaeology
Chemistry/Food Science
Conservation
Copper
Discovery
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Geography
Life Sciences
Museum collections
Museums
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Summary:Although studies of production traces and use-wear in copper and bronze artefacts have been conducted already for a few decades, the influence of the conservation on these items did not receive much scholarly attention. It seems quite surprising, as traceological analyses focus most often on conserved artefacts from museum collections. In the following article, the authors examine the impact the conservation has on traces of production and use-wear in bronze artefacts coming from three Bronze Age hoards: Karmin IV, Paszowice and Lubnowy Wielkie. All deposits have been analysed both before and after the conservation. Our results show that traces of production and use-wear might either become highlighted or fade in the conservation process. Thus, we should be extremely cautious when examining copper and bronze artefacts for the presence of these traces. The problem is especially critical for items which were not examined directly after the discovery but come from the already conserved museum collections.
ISSN:1866-9557
1866-9565
DOI:10.1007/s12520-020-01115-0