Charlotte Parent writes:
>I would love to hear from people who care for collections that include
>archaeological foodstuff (bog butter?), or who have worked on excavations
>where food was >found. What challenges did you face in the preservation of
>archaeological dairy/food and how did you address them?
Your ongoing storage plan relies on your preservation goals - in no particular
order - will the dairy be regularly accessed by researchers or have samples
taken? How important is it for you to keep the ceramic and dairy together, or
exactly as it is now without disturbing the way it was placed in the vessel? Do
you know whether the item was permanently frozen year round or was it in an
upper layer which might possibly have undergone freeze-thaw? If so was it then
mostly in wet or dry surroundings? Is your dairy exposed much to the air, or is
just a small amount accessible through a narrow neck vessel?
Within a freezer room, an organic object will continue to lose moisture. And,
if you are needing to bring it out to room temperature to take samples or allow
research, the transition to room temperature will need to be managed. We use
plastic bags or film as a barrier to prevent condensation on the object which
occurs immediately you take it out of the frozen store, and to reduce moisture
loss while it is in storage. What type of plastics or barriers or oxygen
reduction you choose will depend on your budget and how long you are proposing
to store the object. In clear plastic, the object may be inspected or even
partially studied in the freezer room without removing it.
I would discuss this with your curator, and your research community, to
determine the goals for preserving this object. And develop a back-up plan for
what happens if/when the power fails and the freezer stops working. Feel free
to contact me offline if you have further questions.
Lizzie Meek
Programme Manager
Antarctic Heritage Trust
New Zealand
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