TY - GEN
T1 - Replications of critical technological processes and the use of replicates as characterization standards
T2 - Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology VIII
AU - Vandiver, Pamela B.
AU - Raftery, Heather
AU - Ratcliffe, Stephanie
AU - Moskalik, Brian T.
AU - Andaloro, Michelle
AU - Sandler, Katelyn
AU - Retamoza, Alicia
PY - 2008/12/1
Y1 - 2008/12/1
N2 - The technology of artifacts is analyzed and reconstructed by comparison with known craft practices, the physical and chemical constraints imposed by the raw materials, and the sequence and steps for processing those materials to achieve certain optical and mechanical properties. Understanding of craft knowledge is best pursued by practice, coupled with technical analysis. Six case studies of hands-on, undergraduate student laboratory projects are presented. The studies include testing parameters for the making of stenciled hand images similar to those at caves such as Gargas from the Upper Paleolithic period in France, the variation in processing required to produce Egyptian blue pigments and objects, controlling composition to form either green or turquoise-blue colors in Islamic lead-containing glazes, optimizing the ratio of various pigments to gum Arabic medium in tomb paintings to evaluate application and durability, molding East Asian gokok beads in imitation of jade, and making and radiographing a mock-up of a damaged statue on the façade at the San Xavier Mission as a standard for comparison with the original. In each case, various parameters are varied to model the appearance, structure and composition of an object, and the students benefited from the experience of developing research questions and from their involvement in original research projects.
AB - The technology of artifacts is analyzed and reconstructed by comparison with known craft practices, the physical and chemical constraints imposed by the raw materials, and the sequence and steps for processing those materials to achieve certain optical and mechanical properties. Understanding of craft knowledge is best pursued by practice, coupled with technical analysis. Six case studies of hands-on, undergraduate student laboratory projects are presented. The studies include testing parameters for the making of stenciled hand images similar to those at caves such as Gargas from the Upper Paleolithic period in France, the variation in processing required to produce Egyptian blue pigments and objects, controlling composition to form either green or turquoise-blue colors in Islamic lead-containing glazes, optimizing the ratio of various pigments to gum Arabic medium in tomb paintings to evaluate application and durability, molding East Asian gokok beads in imitation of jade, and making and radiographing a mock-up of a damaged statue on the façade at the San Xavier Mission as a standard for comparison with the original. In each case, various parameters are varied to model the appearance, structure and composition of an object, and the students benefited from the experience of developing research questions and from their involvement in original research projects.
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M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:62749107999
SN - 9781558999886
T3 - Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings
SP - 353
EP - 372
BT - Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings - Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology VIII
Y2 - 26 November 2007 through 28 November 2007
ER -