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2010
CONSERVATION & MAGAZZINO
Gretchen Meyers, Franklin & Marshall College: Director of
Materials
Ann Steiner, Franklin & Marshall College: Director of Research
Chris White, Director of Conservation
JoAnn Boscarino, Illustrator
Laura
Hovenac, Laboratory Fellow
Matt Naiman, Laboratory Fellow
Angela Trentacoste, Laboratory Fellow
Erin
Anderson, Conservation Intern
Nicole Ledoux, Conservation Intern
Magazzino
and Conservation -- Opening Report
Director
of Research: Dr. Ann Steiner, Franklin and Marshall College
Director
of Research Ann Steiner
The 2010
season in the lab started with a bang, both because of a smooth
end to the 2009 season and because our staff includes dedicated
returning personnel. Laura Hovenac, undertaking a lab/museum
internship for her graduate program at Florida State University,
will continue in her key role managing finds and context information
as they come in from the field. Matt Naiman, F&M ’12,
returns as a lab fellow and is in addition taking on the responsibilities
of objects photographer. Ann Steiner, Director of Research,
and Gretchen Meyers, Director of Materials, are orchestrating
several research projects for which Laura and Matt play key support
roles.
Laboratory
Fellows Matt Naiman and Laura Hovenac
A major
focus for 2010 is to complete documentation of bucchero pottery
for a major study and publication by our colleague Phil Perkins
of The Open University (UK). Phil continues to excavate
new material, while preparing to publish material unearthed since
work began at Poggio Colla in 1994. Completion of profile
drawings by JoAnn Boscarino and study photographs by Matt Naiman
are helping move this massive project along.
Director
of Materials Gretchen Meyers
Two other
projects focus on the preparation of publication of the Podere
Funghi excavations, completed in 2007. Ceramic material
from the midden has been the subject of several prior research
projects. Taking priority this season is a study of midden roof
tiles. Laura Hovenac and Matt Naiman, under the direction
of Gretchen Meyers, surveyed the tiles from the midden, noting
diagnostic features. Currently underway is an analysis
by Matt Naiman of the proportion of roof tiles to other ceramics
in the midden in comparison to the relative proportions in the
architectural contexts at the site. Preliminary results
have not revealed firing or other production errors to suggest
that tiles were manufactured in nearby kilns, yet there is a
substantial amount of tile present. What is apparently
the earliest tile thus far recorded from the Podere Funghi comes
from the midden.
Cassie
Holtman, F&M ’12, is working with Gretchen Meyers to
carry forward her work on weaving tools at Poggio Colla.
Documentation of spindle whorls, loom weights and spools excavated
in the past two seasons, including recording of weight and dimensions
as well as profile drawings by JoAnn Bosacarino, is complete,
and analysis of the archaeological contexts for weaving tools
in now underway. Cassie and Matt Naiman will study
the ceramic evidence that accompanies evidence for weaving, both
to provide dates and for help understand the nature of use-contexts.
Illustrator JoAnn Boscarino
Finally,
we are very lucky to have Angela Trentacoste, a Ph.D. candidate
at the University of Sheffield and a Poggio Colla alumna from
the 2005 and 2006 seasons, returning to study the animal remains
that have been excavated throughout the history of the site.
Her analysis of excavated bones and teeth will contribute a vital
perspective on the usage of space on the site and the social
context of human-animal interaction throughout Poggio Colla’s
history.
Laboratory
Fellow Angela Trentacoste
Conservation
of this season’s finds is being coordinated this season
by Ariel O’Connor and Alison Lewis. They are joined by
two conservation interns, Erin Anderson and Nicole Ledoux. In
addition, to daily conservation, they have worked on pithos reconstruction
and the reconditioning of excavated metals.
Conservation
Intern Nicole Ledoux
Conservation Intern Erin Anderson
After
the mid-season break, student research projects will bring field
school participants into the lab during their “lab days,”
during which they will search for material found in prior seasons
that corresponds to what is emerging in their 2010 trenches.
Each student research paper will have a special focus on one
category of ceramics, roof tile, weaving tools, or metal finds.
Research in the lab and assistance from staff will allow them
to find links to other areas of the site that produced similar
finds to help understand the nature of the areas where they are
digging.
Lynn
Makowsky is a Keeper of Collections, Mediterranean Section at
the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
She will be working on the paleoethnobotany samples from previous
seasons and will be collecting samples from this season's excavations.
Magazzino
and Conservation -- Final Report
Director
of Research: Dr. Ann Steiner, Franklin and Marshall College
Lab
Team: Matt Naiman, Ann Steiner, Angela Trentacoste, Gretchen
Meyers, and Laura Hovenac
Guardia
and Selve Labs
After
our midseason break, the Selve and Guardia labs moved into overdrive
as the material from the 2010 season began to make its way from
the hill down for processing, while staff continued to attend
to longer term projects from prior seasons.
Guardia:
Conservation and Drawing
JoAnn
Boscarino completed her goal of drawing weaving implements and
turned the drafting table over to Fiametta Calosi, who started
work on drawing material from our bronze deposit.
This vast undertaking will extend far into next season, along
with the drawing of bucchero pottery.
Lynn
Makowsky floating paleobotanical samples
Lynn Makowsky
of the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania arrived
to carry on with flotation for our ongoing paleoethnobotany program.
This generous donation of professional time from the University
Museum, ongoing now for at least ten years, promises to yield
an impressive record as we work toward publication of the site.
Regular soil sampling is part of the excavation protocol, and
Lynn has now processed a great portion of the samples for analysis.
Head
Conservator Allison Lewis
Our head
conservator for part II of the season, Allison Lewis, arrived
after the long break. She found the enormous “pithos
project,” which occupied the interns for much of the first
part of the season, in a happy stage, with joins identified and
careful notes for a successor to reassemble the vessel if that
becomes a priority. The completed project occupied no fewer
that 17 storage cassette, and it is a model of careful record
keeping to aid future work on our numerous storage vessels.
Conservation
and Illustration Team: Nicole Ledoux, Erin, Anderson, Fiammetta
Calosi, and Allison Lewis
As it
turned out, the end of the season saw another influx of pithoi
from several trenches in the last days of excavation. Conservation
staff supervised field school students for a marathon morning
session of washing so that next season’s team can begin
again with the exciting process of assessing our pithoi.
The amount of material presents exciting ideas for research and
exciting challenges for our own storage of storage vessels!
Lab
Fellow Laura Hovenac
In the
Selve lab, the post break weeks saw the inauguration of student
research projects that brought them into the lab for several
sessions as they tracked down comparanda and consulted past trench
notebooks to work out their own mini-publication of their 2010
trenches. Laura Hovenac developed a comprehensive plan
for these research sessions, so that we could focus attention
on supporting small groups of students while keeping everyone
busy with different aspects of their project. The result
was that students could connect their understanding of the 2010
season’s discoveries with the longer history of the site
and couls at the same time profit from experience and knowledge
of the lab staff.
Our numerous
research projects went forward. Gretchen Meyers and Cassie Holtmann
worked out an assessment of contexts for weaving tools;
Matthew Naiman and Ann Steiner completed their analysis of the
black glaze pottery from the Podere Funghi. Angela Trentacosta
was analyzing bones until the last moment before finds
were transported into their winter storage homes.
Angela
Trentacoste analyzing bones from Poggio Colla
One large
documentation project was completed in 2010, the scanning and
indexing of over ten years of archaeological drawings.
With help from field school students, we now have a searchable
database of drawings for use at the site and in libraries.
The season
ended with a feeling of accomplishment—we achieved our
key objectives and look forward to resuming work next season.
In fact, we can’t wait.
Jess
Galloway, Gretchen Meyers, Ann Steiner and Michael Thomas at
PC 41
Conservation
staff and Lynn Makowsky on site
Gretchen
Meyers with her family: Matt and Daphne Coonan
Trench
PC 40 students and staff work on field notebooks
Students
and staff research their trench finds in the lab
Matt
Naiman assists student David Edelman with his research project
Finds from 2009 Poggio Colla trenches
Fiammetta
Calosi illustrating a loom weight
Gretchen Meyers and Ann Steiner study a Poggio Colla pithos in
the museum magazzino
 Research
For photographs
of key finds from trenches in the recent season, see Finds.
For information
on the Conservation Lab, see below. For additional information
on the lab and magazzino, visit the Labs
page listed under Facilities.
About
the Conservation Lab
In the
conservation lab, conservators and assistant conservators clean,
conserve, and label finds. Conservation involves the repair,
consolidation, and preservation of material remains. In special
cases, our conservators will come up to the site and assist in
the removal of fragile remains. Conservation work requires expertise
in art history, science, and studio art, and an understanding
of archaeological methodology.
2007
Conservation and Illustration lab and staff:
Josiah Wagener, Allison Lewis, Wendy Walker, and Anne Hooton
Puzzle: a table of pot sherds to be matched up and joined
Conservation
tools and chemicals used in cleaning and joining finds
Axe from Poggio Colla trench being cleaned in conservation lab
Chris White joins and restores fragments of a bucchero oinochoe
Chris White with his portable conservation lab
Anna Serotta and Chris White lifting bowl from Trench PC 28 for
transport to the lab
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