Field Reports from the end of the 1998 Field Season CONSERVATOR'S REPORT Conservator Ellen Salzman Assistant Conservators Mina Gregory and Andrew Fearon The charcoal lifted last week from Trench 8 has proved to be quite interesting. Though there was less burned wood than expected, a copper alloy stud was found in situ in the wood. This stud probably has an iron shaft, though this portion cannot presently be seen. An x-radiograph would help to elucidate this question, however, the lack of time remaining in the season may delay the examination process. This stud appears similar in size, shape and material to another one from Trench 1 that was excavated earlier in the season. Andrew Fearon (left) and Ellen Salzman (right) work on the copper alloy stud and burned wood removed from Unit 8. The majority of this week has been dedicated to cleaning smaller finds. A large number of black glaze sherds have been found, all of which require immediate cleaning of the glaze areas for long-term stability. Just as we were beginning to complain about cleaning the plethora of undecorated, poorly preserved black glaze sherds, Abbi Holt and Laura Proud found a treat for us. Yesterday, a bucket-full of black glaze sherds from Trench 8 arrived in the Casa di Giotto. As we started cleaning, the surfaces of the sherds were unveiled, revealing several images from what appear to be fragments of a red figure kylix. Although the surface appears more intact than the usual black glaze from the site, the glaze on the red figure sherds is still quite fragile and flakes easily. The cleaning process is slow and the glaze will probably require a fair amount of consolidation. At the moment, we are swamped in our efforts to finish treating as many objects as possible before we leave next week, hence our brevity. Below are photographs of the conservators and their projects during the last week of the 1998 field season: Conservator Ellen Salzman and Assistant Andrew Fearon in the lab.   Wood find with bronze nail (left) and nail removed (right) from Unit PC 8 after conservation.   Conservator Ellen Salzman joining fragments of a pithos. Field Reports from the end of the 1998 Field Season Director's Diary Units PC 1 & 13 Unit PC 6 Unit PC 8 Units PC 10 & 11 Unit PC 12 Unit PF 1 See the 1998 Annual Report for the season summary by Professor Gregory Warden.