ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 814

Based on the evaluation, the conservator along with the museum conservator will decide which
action should be taken; conserving the object, only cleaning, treating, or stabilizing the object
and stopping the deterioration process for storing the object. The objects that are in very bad
conditions are the priority and should be treated urgently. If the object is specified for display,
the conservator should add some touches and project the details of the item. Additionally, they
should make sure all the corrosion and concessions are removed. Usually, the conservation of the
historical objects starts with the simplest methods and tools, and based on the conditions and
the deposits on the materials, the tools can differ. In Dubai Municipality, only in worst cases the
chemical liquids are introduced with the minimum amount.
The first stage, i.e. the simplest stage, is cleaning of the object with brushes to gently remove the
different layers of deposits from the item. This stage might take up to a month or more depending
on the status of the object. A later stage is using cutters with attention under microscopes carefully in order to avoid any damages or scratches from the blades to the object. This stage might take
several months to be completed. In addition, special drilling machines are used for removing the
contaminated layers on the object if needed.
In chemical treatments; cotton swap with little ethanol or methanol will help in softening the deposit layers formed on the objects over thousands of years under the sand. According to the chief
conservator at Dubai Municipality, chemicals are avoided as much as possible; however, there are
some conditions that require a touch of chemical. Bronze items are more likely to get the bronze
diseases. Weak acids are used for these cases such as formic acids and citric acid. These acids are
mixed with water with the amount of 0.5%, and maximum used amount in the water in worst
cases should not get more than 3% acid mixed with distilled water.
After preparing these solutions, the conservators in Dubai Municipality usually examine them by
going through some side objects that are not important or they are the unknown broken pieces
found at the same archaeological site in order to check the effectiveness of the liquid on the object. Additionally, not every object needs treatments as some objects are already stable and does
not need any further actions. They only require documentation and preparation for storage that
should be done with checking of the surrounding environment.
For stabilizing the object and stopping the deterioration process, Benzotriazole (BTA) solution is
used. After adding the solution, a coating layer is added in order to protect the item B72 mixed
with Acetone. This layer is created to prevent any reactions with the surrounding environment.
For cleaning the pottery items usually they are soaked in distilled water for removing the salt
deposit layers; then the amount of the salt in the water is measured. This process is repeated for
several times with changing the water every time, until the amount of salt decreases significantly.
For attaching the different broken pieces, reversible materials should be used, such as Polyvinyl
Acetate. These reversible materials give the opportunity of enhancements in the future when
better materials are suggested for historical objects. Also the possibility of change gives the opportunity in completing some missing parts of an item in the future.
Organic materials are the most complicated materials in conservation. Fabrics, textiles and papers,
they all each require special attention, highly specialized and experienced people in each type are
needed for dealing with them. Materials working environment and all stages are different from
the inorganic materials. In fabrics and textiles, the origin of colors should be considered if they
are natural base. The acids are the common problem for papers. Soaking tables or vacuum tables

812

ZEMCH 2015 | International Conference | Bari - Lecce, Italy