ÇATALHÖYÜK 2005 ARCHIVE REPORT

SUPPORT TEAMS

Conservation

Duygu Camurcuoglu Cleere & Margrethe Felter,

with a contribution by Ina M. St. George

Team: Duygu Camurcuoglu Cleere (previously *IoA), Mags Felter, Dominica D’arcangelo, Christie Pohl, Amy Drago, Glykeria Gkika, Jackie Zak (all currently IoA)
      
* Institute of Archaeology

Abstract

Site and artefacts conservation at Çatalhöyük was successfully carried out during the 2005 excavation season with the collaboration of conservation students, specialist teams and excavators.  The main activities of the 2005 season were the careful excavation, lifting and treatment of a large number of horn cores, bucrania and other animal bones for laboratory analysis by the faunal team.  By undertaking the methodology which was developed in the 2004 season, we were able to achieve successful results.

A significant discovery in the 2005 season was that of the first full Bucranium found by the current team. The bucranium was found in Building 52 in the 4040 area and as the excavations continued, a bench was exposed with horn cores set along one edge. This suite of artefacts was conserved and preserved in situ for eventual display when the 4040 area  is covered in  the near future.

Work was also conducted on a  variety of small finds (horn core, animal bone, human bone, ceramic, clay, metal, glass, stone, wall painting) of which two important objects of the season, a clay stamp seal representing a bear and a ‘mother goddess’ figurine.

A thorough sampling program was designed for the newly excavated wall plaster. The intention for the program is to relate the painting and plastering of walls to other features in the building such as platforms, ovens, basins, and niches. This goal was carried out with systematic sampling of cross sections and dispersions as well as excavation of painted layers of wall plaster.  This report summarizes the methodology and observations of wall plaster investigation program in the 2005 season.  Presented here are details of the documentation protocol, preliminary sample observations, and results of controlled excavation of painted layers in Building 55.

Özet

2005 sezonunda Çatalhöyük’ deki bina ve eser konservasyonu, öğrencilerin, uzmanların ve arkeologların katkısıyla başarılı bir şekilde sürdürüldü. Bu sezonun ana aktivitesi, zooarkeoloji ekibi tarafindan analize edilen çok sayıdaki hayvan kemiği, bukrania ve boynuzların dikkatli bir şekilde kaldırılıp, korunması işlemini kapsadı. 2004 sezonunda geliştirilen yöntemleri kullanarak, başarılı sonuçlar elde edildi.

2005 sezonunun en önemli buluntusu, ilk tüm bukranium’du. Bukranium ve hemen yanındaki sekiden çıkan boynuzlar, 4040 alanındaki Bina 52’de bulundu. Bu eserler, daha ilerki senelerde 4040 alanında sergilenmeleri amacıyla in situ olarak korundu.
Konservasyon çalışmaları değişik bir çok eserin (boynuz, hayvan kemiği, insan kemiği , seramik, kil, metal, cam, taş ve duvar resmi) koruma işlemlerini de kapsadı. Sezonun önemli iki buluntusu, üzerinde bir ayı betimlemesi olan kil mühür ile ana tanrıça figürini idi.

Excavation and treatment of fragile and complex materials
The main activities of the 2005 season were the careful excavation, lifting and treatment of a large number of horn cores, bucrania and other animal bones. (Duygu Cleere, Mags Felter, Dominica D’arcangelo, Amy Drago, Glykeria Gkika, Christie Pohl). Like the previous years, the Faunal Remains team wanted these to be removed from the site in such a condition that they could be measured and studied in the lab. By undertaking the methodology which was developed in the 2004 season, we were able to achieve successful results.

A significant discovery in the 2005 season was that of the first full Bucranium at Çatalhöyük. The bucranium was found during the excavations of the Building 52 in the 4040 area of Çatalhöyük (ses  Figs. 5, 38 & 40).  Initially, 12 burnt horn cores that had collapsed on top of each other were excavated and lifted with the joint effort of the Faunal Remains and the Conservation teams (Mags Felter, Christie Pohl). As the excavations continued, a bench was exposed with horn cores set along the edge of the room. Right next to it a very large bull head, lightly plastered, had been set into a niche. The base of the niche had been painted. Since this was a remarkable find, it was decided that it was to be preserved in situ and put on display, as the aim is to cover the 4040 area with a shelter in the near future. Even though the finds were consolidated with 25% Primal AC-33 (acrylic emulsion) in deionised water, they needed to be protected against the environment until the shelter could be constructed. It was decided that a wooden structure (2.20m x 1.90m, pine wood) which would be filled with clean sand, was the best option to cover the room (Fig. 117). Local carpenters were employed to build the structure. Firstly the floor was covered with a geotextile layer in order to protect it against any physical damage which may be caused by the structure. Once the structure was built, the surfaces of the bucranium and the horn cores were covered with aluminium foil as well as supported around with the small sized sand bags. Aluminium foil is easily obtainable and being inert and easy to use, it eliminates the risk of the long term effects of some conservation materials. The structure was filled with clean sand before its lid was attached. Finally, the wood was varnished to make it more durable against the climates and the whole structure was sealed along its base with the Polyurethane foam.

It is recommended that this room is not re-exposed until a shelter is built over the 4040 area since the wooden structure will create a micro environment for the finds inside and any interference may affect the condition of the finds as it will disturb the stable environment in the room (Fig.118).

Conservation of small finds
The work on the variety of small finds (horn core, animal bone, human bone, ceramic, clay, metal, glass, stone, wall painting) was undertaken in the lab throughout the 2005 season (Duygu Cleere, Mags Felter, Dominica D’arcangelo, Amy Drago, Glykeria Gkika, Christie Pohl). Two important objects of the season, a clay stamp seal representing a bear (see Fig.2) and the mother goddess figurine, required careful cleaning in order to reveal as much of the original shape as possible.

An important treatment of the 2005 season was the conservation and the mounting of a wall painting to be displayed in Konya Archaeological Museum. This wall painting was discovered in the South Area (Building 2, Space 117) in 2003, in a niche on one of the walls which was slowly collapsing, but was lifted in two parts and semi conserved during the 2004 season.  The upper part was highly damaged, so it was decided that even after conservation, it was not sound enough for the mounting process. The lower part was stronger and therefore it was considered to be able to withstand the mounting. After more stabilisation and aesthetic preparation, the wall painting was ready to be mounted (Fig.119).

The main aim of the mounting process was to use local materials which would be compatible with the object. Plaster supported with wooden planks was used as a backing material, by using a barrier layer of glass microballoons and 20% Paraloid B72 in Acetone applied on the back of the wall painting. The whole treatment was set in a painted wooden frame and the wall painting was displayed recessed in the plaster in order to represent the niche where it was found. Once the mount was ready, an illustration of the upper part of the wall painting was made by John Swogger in order to inform the visitors that the wall painting has an upper part (Fig. 120). An information text was also included, explaining about the wall painting and its conservation.

In addition, several horn cores and a variety of pots from the 2004 season were retrieved from the finds and the pottery labs in order to complete their treatments.

Conservation materials
During the 2004 season, investigations were carried out into the use of cyclododecane as a support material for lifting fragile objects from the field.  Further work was undertaken this season and we found that, although cyclododecane was extremely useful as a temporary support, sublimation times tended to be quite long (2-3 weeks before complete sublimation) requiring careful scheduling of further work.  Cyclododecane was therefore used more sparingly this season and only in cases where this was thought to be the best option.

Plastered and painted surfaces
When the extensive consolidation work undertaken during the 2004 season was re-assessed (4040 Area and Building 17), it was clear that an effective stabilisation of plastered surfaces may only be achievable by carrying out a continuous treatment every year. However, discussion took place of how treatment might cause hardening of the plaster layers and thus might affect the ability of the team to explore plaster layers to reveal paint and pigment if present. For this reason, the conservation team was asked to look at the different strategies for revealing paint in excavated plaster walls. After undertaking some experimental work in the 4040 area and in Building 17 (Dominica D’arcangelo, Amy Drago, Glykeria Gkika, Jackie Zak), some investigative work was done, with the following objectives:

 - to identify particular walls to leave unconsolidated;

 - to propose a strategy for local workers to remove plaster on these walls while searching for pigment which may compose a wall painting;

 - to suggest a way of documenting this process.

There were several considerations involved with employing local workers in the search for paint within the wall plaster.  It was likely that the workers would require clarification and details about the task that would require specialist knowledge. Because paint has never been systematically pursued by the conservation team it was felt that the workers should be supervised by a specialist (an excavator or a conservator) with experience of chasing possible paint and pigment layers. However, there was a concern that the supervision of this work would have taken up too much time both for the excavators and the available conservators. Therefore, it was agreed that Ina St George who has been working on the investigation of paint and pigment layers at Çatalhöyük for the last three years, would be the person to supervise the project. (The details of this project can be seen in the report written below by Ina St George.)

Whilst some plastered walls were chosen not to be consolidated so that paint layers could be chased, the rest was stabilised and covered with acid free tissue and geotextile before they could be reburied.

Re-assessment of the condition of Building 5 (Christie Pohl)
During the 2004 season, Trinidad Rico developed and implemented a monitoring regime for tracking the condition of Building 5.  Digital images of the walls were taken in 2004 and a condition key was created using various colours overlaid in Photoshop to indicate problematic or damaged areas.  During the 2005 season, the condition of the building was re-evaluated using Rico’s regime and the overall system was assessed in terms of its efficiency and potential for use on other Çatalhöyük structures.

Overall the building is in relatively stable condition, considering the climatic fluctuations it endures.  The extensive consolidation and conservation treatments which the building has received over the past several years have significantly helped with its maintenance and survival.  Some of the most common issues from the 2004 evaluation included animal activity of various sorts, crumbling areas, selected cracks and areas containing multiple cracks.  These four categories were also the most noticeable and frequent problems throughout the 2005 assessment.  The conclusion is that the monitoring regime is a successful way of assessing the condition of Building 5.  Future assessments should include a new set of photographs, taken of the same specified areas, with new coloured overlays added to these digital images in Photoshop. 

There are, however, several suggestions for change and things which could be done to better maintain the structure during each season and throughout the course of the year. 

The building should be dry cleaned twice yearly to remove any excess dirt, crumbled material and any dead insects or animals.

It may be helpful to have a ladder which can be lifted in and out of the building for those who need to access the inside. This would eliminate the current need to step directly on the mud brick and plaster walls. 
The shallow walls of the bins in the southwest corner are crumbling somewhat and should be consolidated again in the near future. 

One of the Tyvek targets for performing the wall leaning measurements is missing off the top of wall 230 North. This should be replaced if continuous and accurate wall leaning measurements are going to be taken each year. 

There was one set of data from the 2003 season regarding temperature and RH levels inside of Building 5.  It does not appear that these are being monitored currently, nor could any data be found from the 2004 season on the central database.  It would be wise and beneficial to be consistent in the monitoring of temperature and RH levels in order to have a record of the fluctuations which are occurring and possibly having a detrimental effect on the building. 

Regarding the monitoring regime, it was sometimes difficult to replicate the exact colours used by Rico on the overlays indicating problematic or damaged areas.  In order to facilitate smoother condition assessments in the future, it may be beneficial to change some of the colours in the condition key to solid, primary colours.  This would be especially helpful for future individuals who do not have in-depth knowledge of Photoshop or its capabilities.       

Environmental assessment of the finds lab and the experimental house
We set up dataloggers in and outside the finds lab, as well as in the Experimental House which will monitor the RH and the temperature levels for a year. We aim to retrieve the results in the 2006 season to assess the environmental conditions in those areas.

Conservation advice
During the season, we collaborated with the Human Remains team in order to determine the best way to lift and preserve friable human bones. The future advantages and disadvantages of bone consolidation were discussed. It was agreed that every burial may present different conditions and the necessary consolidation treatment would be undertaken depending on the discussion between the conservators and the human remains specialists.  We also discussed the need to improve the storage of the human remains archive, for example through the use of made-to-measure wooden boxes which would be able to provide more support than the current storage crates.  This will need to be discussed further in the 2006 season.

Documentation of conservation
All artefacts were photographed before and after treatment, registered on the conservation photo log and passed to the media team for inclusion in the Çatalhöyük image database. The development of the conservation database is planned to continue throughout the year as we will collaborate with the Database team. It was also discussed that the conservation database should be made available for other conservators and archaeological specialists outside Çatalhöyük . The inclusion of student research projects, dissertation and portfolio reports which are related to work undertaken at Çatalhöyük will need to be discussed with the Conservation Department at the Institute of Archaeology.

Reflexive Conservation
Whilst Jackie Zak’s PhD research on the interaction between archaeologists and conservators has continued (see separate report), Glykeria Gkika (MA in Principles of Conservation, UCL) carried out her dissertation research which examined a comparison of approaches to the provision of on site conservation and their effects on various aspects of the excavation. Her research involved distributing a questionnaire to the excavators working on site, talking to some of the people and observing the effects of full-time conservation on the professional relationship between archaeologists and conservators, on the condition of the excavated material, the research goals of the project and the success of the excavation.

Sourcing conservation materials
At the beginning of the season, we undertook a complete inventory of all items in the lab. This enabled us to compile a list of most used items and to highlight materials which need to be ordered for the 2006 season. We also started acquiring a number of conservation materials locally and from Istanbul which proved to be more efficient both in terms of resources and transportation. We were able to find the majority of the most used materials and this will reduce the need for bringing large amounts of these from the UK in the future.