Methods & Aims in Archaeology

by W. M. Flinders Petrie

It sometimes happens that ivories in wet soil get concreted crystalline carbonate of lime upon them, which is much harder than the ivory. This being crystalline is not saturated with wax when the ivory is so treated. Hence after waxing the ivory the surface should be cleaned with benzol or ether on cotton-wool, and then painted with nitric acid to dissolve the crystalline lime. Even strong nitric acid will only dull the surface of waxed ivory, and not remove any perceptible amount, while it dissolves the concretion rapidly. Probably the darkening of the ivory caused by soaking in wax can be mainly removed by heating fuller’s earth to over boiling-point, and then rapidly packing the ivory in the earth and pressing it: the heat would melt the wax on the surface, it will be absorbed by the earth, and the face of the ivory will be left dry of wax. The ivories from Nineveh were solidified with gelatine; but that would probably break up very tender ivories by the amount of water. In case however of much salt in ivory the best way to treat it is to drop it in stiff hot gelatine, cool it, and let it lie in the consolidated mass for a week or two, for the salt to dialyse out. Another way, if the mass is not much cut into hollows, is to lash the ivory closely with thread or fine twine, and then soak it in water to remove the salt; the twine prevents it falling to pieces, and it can be dipped in wax when dry, and the twine removed.

Papyri.

Papyri require most careful treatment at every stage. They are often found in a very fragile state, and if the roll has to be carried without special packing in wool it is best to wrap it in a damp handkerchief at once. For unrolling rolls, or flattening out crushed papyri, damping is needful. There is no need to steam them, as has been done in museums. By dipping a towel or handkerchief in water, and wringing it as dry as possible, there is enough moisture to penetrate to a papyrus closely wrapped in it. If there were many turns then carbolised water would be best, so as to avoid any decomposing during a long penetration of the damp. Usually a single night is enough for damping through half a dozen folds or turns, enough to render the papyrus quite pliable. It can then be unrolled, or uncreased with the fingers; and as each inch of it is laid flat it should be secured by turning down newspaper or blotting-paper over it and sliding a board or book over the flattened part. After leaving it between a dozen leaves of paper to absorb the moisture for some days under pressure it is dry and firm. Small pieces can well be carried in books, and larger sheets in piles of paper between boards. When the papyrus is too rotted to be damped, as the crossed layers of it would part, then it can only be cut to pieces with a sharp penknife at every fold and turn; and each piece fastened down on a sheet at once in place. This was the only possible way to open the great Ptolemaic revenue papyrus over 40 feet long; even a single turn of the roll needed to be cut into dozens of pieces.

For fastening down papyrus it is fatal to gum or paste it on to a sheet of card, as the gradual contraction of the gum will break up the layers of the papyrus. The safest way of all for very rotted papyri is to rub a sheet of glass with beeswax, lay the papyrus on it, and press with a warm hand until it sticks to the wax; then cover with another sheet of glass. For ordinary firm papyri minute spots of paste, as small as possible, should be put at every inch or two round the edges, and farther apart in the middle; then a sheet of thin soft paper should be pressed on it, to serve as a backing. Thus there is no wide space pasted which can contract in future; and even if the papyrus has to be remounted the paper can be torn to pieces behind it. The sheet of mounting paper should be fixed under glass. But it is a mistake to attach card to glass round the edges, as it bags away by damp and warping, and leaves a large air space, which is very detrimental. It is best to place the mounting paper between two sheets of glass; or, for the sake of lightness and safety, the back may be of thin picture-back-board, well baked dry, and free from cracks and knots. For fastening the edges thin leather or linen may be glued around.

Dealing with carbonised papyri is an art in itself. So far as field work goes the main work is to remove the earth entirely from the top of the papyrus, so as to leave no weight upon it: then under-cut, and take out the whole lump, with a block of earth under it. The papyri must then, in the house, be carefully separated, one document from another, by splitting apart and lifting with an ivory paper knife or blunt table knife, the lighter the better, so as to feel the way with it. Each separate roll should then be wrapped in soft paper (never cotton-wool) and packed a few together, in small tin boxes. Thus they will travel safely and without loss. The museum work is outside of our scope; but broadly the Neapolitan plan of holding the pieces in place with adhesive paper on the back is not so good as separate treatment of each piece, laying it down in position on a sheet of glass with small touches of paste, or perhaps pressing it on to waxed glass like the rotted papyri. Burnt papyri are read by the difference of reflection of the surface, and hence must be viewed with light from behind the eye, or light reflected by a mirror placed almost between the eye and the papyrus.

Bead-work.

Bead-work is often found in a state in which it cannot be moved owing to rotting of the threads. Elaborate decoration with the winged scarab, four genii, inscriptions, etc., is found on mummies of about the XXVth Dynasty. But, if the threads are decayed, the beads are merely lying in position, and will fall away if the mummy be tilted or shaken. In such a case I have opened the wooden coffin very gently, cutting out the pegs by which it was fastened. Having melted a pot of wax on a stove in the tomb, I then dashed spoonfuls of it over the beads; it needs to be thrown sharply, so as to splash out, or it runs off all in one line. The wax must be only just barely liquid, or it will penetrate to below the beads. When a sheet of wax is thus put over all the beads, the sheet may be lifted up, and the pattern is seen in a clean condition, reversed on the under side. The sheet can then be fixed with more wax into a tray of wood, so as to keep it safely. If any of the beads are not firm they can be heated and pressed farther into the wax. Strings of beads are seldom found with the thread strong enough to hold together. The earth should be loosened with a penknife, and blown away, so as to disclose as long a line as possible, then the order of the beads should be noted for restringing them, in the original pattern. The tracing out and noting of a string of beads in a grave may often occupy an hour or two hours, keeping the face close to the ground so as to blew the dust away exactly, without disturbing the beads.

Stucco.

Stucco on wood we have already noticed, under the preservation of wood. However firm the stucco may seem at first, the gradual contraction of the wood will make it fall away; but when once saturated with paraffin wax, this movement is stopped, and the stucco is held on to the basis.

Stucco on mud bricks is a difficult material to preserve. Three instances may be given of dealing with it. Where the coat was a mere whitewash on mud plastering, as at Tell el Amarna ([Fig. 49]), I removed the bricks behind it by cutting them gently to pieces with a chisel; thus the coat of mud plaster was left standing up a foot or more in air, although it was entirely friable owing to white ants having eaten out the straw from it. Then placing a box lid covered with sheets of paper against the face, it was firmly grasped behind, and turned over with the lid to support it, face down. Lying on the box lid it was taken to the house; a frame of parallel bars of wood was made, each an inch wide and an inch apart; each bar was coated with mud-and-sand mortar, and then the frame was pressed gently on the back of the fresco, and puddled in with mortar between the bars. On then reversing the frame and box lid, the fresco was left resting on the frame, with a bedding which was perfectly true, and incapable of warping or contraction. To pack this a sheet of cotton wool was placed on the face, a thin board cut to size placed over this, and string lashed tightly round the face board and notches in the ends of the frame bars. In this state it travelled quite safely, although the material was so tender that a finger would push through it anywhere; this was illustrated by a museum attendant at Cairo, when ordered to carry one of the frames of fresco.