Events

4:45 p.m.–5:45 p.m.

After the field: Cleaning Archeological and Ethnographic Objects

Stright Hall Rooms 226-229

Ms. de Alarcón will give a brief lecture followed by a workshop on basic conservation techniques and the types of activities conservators employ within a museum context. The lecture and workshop will focus on cleaning techniques and how conservators approach the treatment of complex surfaces. Furthermore, there will be a discussion on the risks of cleaning archaeological and ethnographic objects and how surfaces are evaluated prior to cleaning. Attendees will learn how to prepare their own cotton swabs and the basics of solvent and mechanical cleaning.

6:15 p.m.–7:15 p.m.

"Sky Flint:" Maya Stone Tools and Trade

Pratt Hall Auditorium

Dr. Chiarulli will present how the Maya made and used stone tools in ritual as well as everyday activities. Ritual stones included spear points, obsidian blades used in bloodletting and eccentric works of art used by the kings and nobles to reinforce their political boundaries. Stone was used by everyone as in woodcutting, carving, hunting and agriculture. This presentation looks at the sources of the different kinds of stone, techniques used to make stone tools, and uses of the stone tools among the Maya in Northern Belize.

3:45 p.m.–4:45 p.m.

Where It All Starts: Field Conservation in Guatemala

Stright Hall Rooms 327-329

Ms. de Alarcón will present treatments of objects from El Zotz and El Peru Waka’. Both are Lowland Maya sites in Guatemala’s Petén. The talk will look at the role of conservation and conservators in field work and use complex treatments of fragile artifacts as examples. Methods for block lifting, consolidation, and reconstruction will be discussed for a variety of material types. The implications for further research of these materials following treatment and ways of mitigating sample contamination will also be addressed.