Materials Conservation
The identification of structure and nature of materials primarily used in the manufacture of cultural material from Indigenous Australian and Southern Pacific sources.
Scanning Electron Microscopy was used to identify the crystal like structure of the resinous matter in the Marind Anim collection from Irian Jaya. This identification was supplementary to establishing the chemical composition of this matrix. It confirmed that the material originated from within the object and helped to determine a treatment process. With the addition of the EDS (Energy Dispersive X-Ray Detector) equipment, the mineral content of the material in this collection will now be able to be identified.
A similar project is nearing completion. This project identified the process of polymorphic transformation of triglycerides and fatty acids as the process causing the growth of a bloom on the surface of pottery and other food related artefacts from Papua New Guinea. Minute samples of this bloom were examined under SEM. It established the shapes and physical nature of the growth which once again supported the chemical identification carried out by GC/MS.
The EDS system has also been used by the Materials Conservation Division to identify pigments from painted boards from the Papunya community specifically dating to the early 1970's. Such identification of the pigments can confirm the variety of paints used in this very valuable collection.
Further reading
- COOTE, K and DENES, G., 'Conservation of natural resins from Marind-anim. Parts 1&2', Conference Pre-Prints, Resins Ancient and Modern, SSCR, Aberdeen, (1995) 57-63, 93-99.
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