2004 CONSERVATION Gretchen Meyers, Rollins University, Director of Materials Ann Steiner, Franklin and Marshall College, Director of Research Chris White, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Head Conservator Esther H. Chao, Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Conservator Bridget Marx, Southern Methodist University, Senior Curator Sue Bird, Illustrator Lilly Albritton, SMU, Lab Assistant Week 7: Left to right: Gretchen Meyers, Jess Galloway, Sue Bird, and Chris White in the lab at season's end. The conservation and research lab of the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project is closed for the 2004 season. All of the material that we have conserved, cleaned and studied for the past seven weeks has been boxed up, labeled and returned to our storage facility where it will spend the next nine months. The ever-organized Bridget Marx. Our work with the objects has been considerable this season. 333 new finds entered the lab this season; 316 of them were catalogued and photographed. All objects (catalogued and non-catalogued) were conserved by our conservators, Chris and Esther, so we can rest assured that they are stable for the duration of time they remain in storage. In addition our illustrator, Sue Bird, documented approximately 150 other objects in drawings. Study pottery from the Podere Funghi and examples of Black Glaze, as well as some other important finds from the last few seasons, have been added to our illustration archives for further study and publication. Esther Chao cleaning a find under the microscope.   Illustrator Sue Bird checks the impressive list of illustrations she completed in 2004. Our most important work with objects this season has been study. This is an integral part of the archaeological process, when a scholar or student can assemble a group of artifacts and begin to understand their form, function and meaning, with the objects immediately available. As I have been discussing all season, we have hosted such investigative study of our objects this season-the Black Glaze by Ann Steiner, the ceramics from the Podere Funghi by Franklin and Marshall students and Robert Belanger and the roof tiles from both Poggio Colla and Podere Funghi by me. Kelley Satarino and Liz Bair help with tile study.   A few of the hundreds of conserved and catalogued bucchero finds from 2004 Trench PC 20.   Vessel fragments from PF 15 Feature 2 in the Podere Funghi. However, because we only see our objects for a few weeks each year, our study and care of the objects must be of a different type in the off-season. In this upcoming year, I expect that all the students and scholars working in our lab will reflect upon the observations they made during these past weeks. They will re-examine photographs and drawings. They will read secondary material and published reports of other archaeological sites for comparative material. And then they will compile and write their ideas and interpretations of our objects into reports and articles for publication. Illustrator Sue Bird drawing the smokehole cover from Podere Funghi Kilns 1 and 2. The Mugello Valley Archaeological Project has been active for ten years and a great deal of artifactual material has been deposited in the lab and storage facility. With diligent study, such as we have seen this past successful season, the lab serves as a major research component of the project and complements the process of discovery occurring in the field under the direction of our colleagues. At this stage in the excavation's history we believe that this cooperative effort will produce a clearer understanding of the ancient structures and sites of both the Podere Funghi and Poggio Colla. Gretchen Meyers, Director of Materials and champion of the catalog. Certainly we owe the success of the lab to many people-especially Ann Steiner, our staff of conservators, our illustrator, and our student assistant, Lilly. In addition, the expansive space of our facilities for this year, donated by the Community of Vicchio, made our work possible. Thanks to all. See you in 2005! Lilly Albritton.   Chris White and Gretchen Meyers.   Left to right: Esther Chao, Brad Schneider, Sue Bird, and Lilly Albritton during final trench tours.   Smokehole tile, fragments found in both Kiln 1 and Kiln 2 in the Podere Funghi.   Iron spearhead from Trench PC 20 conserved by Chris White.   Bone from Trench PC 27.   Field Supervisor Ivo van der Graaff studying bucchero from his trench PC 20, and recording coordinates from Site Architect Jess Galloway's survey data.   Greg Warden shooting final photos on Poggio Colla.   Completing illustration and research projects in the lab at the end of the 2004 season, left to right: Ivo van der Graaff, Jess Galloway, Sue Bird, and Josh Moran.   For photographs of key finds from trenches in the recent season, see Finds.     Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 - Final Report   Director, Gregory Warden gwarden@mail.smu.edu Director, Michael Thomas michael.thomas@tufts.edu While the team is in Italy during the summer field season, send e-mail to: mvap3@dada.it To email an individual on the team, put that person's name in the subject heading. Excavation house phone: 055-844-9834, or, when calling from the US: 011-39-55-844-9834. Introduction | 2004 Field Season | Poggio Colla Field School | What’s New | Staff | Students Site History | Directors' Diaries | Student Diaries | Excavation Friends | Facilities | Conservation | Surveys Robert Belanger | Katherine Blanchard | Josh Moran | Caitlin Vacanti | Ivo van der Graaff | Robert Vander Poppen QuickTime VR | Site Set-Up | Dig Daily Life | Excavation Process | Field Manual | Lectures | Season's End Archives | Finds | Research Projects | Publications | Bibliography | Mugello Area | Home