Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Tuesday June 11

After a beautiful night of sleep after about 15 hours of straight traveling, we woke up to an amazing view and an even more amazing breakfast. Perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs, nutella on Italian bread, cereal that does not come close to coco puffs, and fruit were all stacked in the kitchen where we congregated to fill our plates and our stomachs. Nothing could be compared to sitting on the porch in the sun looking at the amazing view of Belmonte while sipping a cup of coffee.

When we finished we congregated in the classroom to get down to business and discuss the coming weeks in more detail. Roberto Nardi started off by discussing the site in Sardinia where we are flying June 12th to start field work in the villa. The Roman villa of Sant'Imbenia is located on the northwestern side of the island.

We then discussed how we were going to prepare a video throughout the trip that would be used by the CCA (Centro di Conservazione Archeologica) to promote, educate, and explain what we did in the program. Jumping right into it, each student on the trip was interviewed and taped on their initial expectations for the trip and  why they came.

During this interview process, Andreina, Roberto's wife and fellow conservator, gave a hands on demonstration of the technique used to clean marbles and that was being used on opus sectile, a form of mosaic decoration, that are from the villa we are going to be working on in Sardinia. The process was broken down into first mixing a solution of 30 g ammonium carbonate, 25 g EDTR, and an antibacterial. To this a fine paper pulp is mixed in. The marble then has a thin piece of tissue paper applied to the surface of the marble with a wetted brush. After, the solution and wood pulp mixture is evenly applied and covering it all with a sheet of plastic to prevent evaporation. After 15 minutes, this is then removed, washed with the solution and a toothbrush and sponged off. Using a sharp scalpel, any additional accretions on the surface are then carefully scraped off the surface of the marble.

 
 


Just as our stomachs started to growl, a lunch of fried rice balls, deviled eggs, tuna pasta,  melon and prosciutto, and tomatoes and mozzarella were loaded on to our plates. We went back to work immediately after to discuss where in the villa we are working and the plans for treatment. We wrapped up the work day by watching a video on a previous treatment done by the cca on prehistoric sculptures found at monte prima. The comparison between our sites and other like it in other countries is vital in Gaining context clues and finding possible answers to the questions surrounding the site in Sardinia.

With the little time left between class and dinner, the entire group decided to go for a walk around the convent. On the walk we took in the perfectly picturesque scenery of the region including sheep and lambs, horses, lttle houses stuck on the side of the hills, and sweet Italian women with dogs. The perfect end to this perfect day was a dinner of bean soup with homemade pasta, sausage, salad, rosemary potatoes, cheese, and a fruit pastry.




No comments:

Post a Comment