Conservation Practices of Archaeological Metal Finds: Case Studies from Excavation, Museum and Laboratory

A Nine-Year Retrospective on Heritage Science: Deconstructing the Operational Landscapes and Ethical Boundaries of Metal Conservation in Türkiye (2010–2019)
(Miras Biliminde Dokuz Yıllık Bir Retrospektif: Türkiye’de Metal Konservasyonunun Operasyonel Alanları ve Etik Sınırlarının Çözümlenmesi)

Title: Conservation Practices of Archeological Metal Finds: Case Studies from Excavation, Museum and Laboratory (Arkeolojik Metal Buluntuların Konservasyon Uygulamaları: Kazı, Müze ve Laboratuvarlardan Örnek Çalışmalar)

Symposium: Archaeological Conservation: From Small Finds to Site Preservation Symposium 2019

Venue & Host: Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology (JIAA), Kaman, Türkiye

Year: 2019

From Isolated Fieldwork to Systemic Evaluation: A Comprehensive Audit of National Conservation Infrastructures

“True methodological maturity requires evaluating past practices to construct a more resilient future framework. This milestone peer-reviewed paper serves as my first comprehensive Professional Retrospective, gathering data from nine years of intensive laboratory, museum, and field interventions across Türkiye. Delivered at the JIAA in Kaman, this study cross-references major casework—including the Byzantine Golden Horn Chain (2010), the Yenikapı-1 Shipwreck Anchors (2012), the Samsun Museum Arsenical Copper Quadruple Spiral (2016), and the Yevstafiy Sunken Sword (2016)—to map the systemic evolution of Heritage Science.

Moving beyond technical reporting, this paper serves as a rigorous Operational Landscape Audit. It exposes the sharp contrasts and structural disparities between advanced central laboratories and precarious, short-term excavation workshops or under-equipped museum storage areas. By highlighting the transformation of my own early career from ‘intrusive cleaning aesthetics’ to non-destructive diagnostic governance (pXRF, Computed Radiography, and Industrial Micro-CT), this publication functions as a call to action. It openly challenges the administrative ‘production-line’ model that prioritizes the quantity of processed objects over deep, forensic investigation.

Key Highlights & Impact

The Operational Divide: Critically analyzing the field constraints where a lack of permanent in-house conservators in local museums results in the systemic re-oxidation of previously treated materials.
The Diagnostic Evolution: Tracing the practical transition from mechanical scraping to nuclear-level interrogation; highlighting the deployment of advanced 3D scanning, laser cutting, and 3D PLA replication to make ‘invisible’ internal histories visible to the public.
The Material Health Warning: Documenting the profound health hazards and carcinogenic risks (such as upper respiratory tract disorders) that conservators face when handling toxic corrosion layers like arsenical copper or utilizing traditional stabilizers.
The “National Conservation Institute” Manifesto: Officially proposing a national standardized guidebook and the establishment of a centralized Conservation Institute to enforce ethical, operational, and physical unity across all laboratories and excavations in Türkiye.

A Conservator-Restorer is not a cleaner; they are the primary epistemic guardians who define an object’s identity and verify its material truth before any physical change is introduced.

Special Acknowledgements

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Kaman Kalehöyük excavation team and the Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology (JIAA) for their kind invitation and outstanding hospitality. I am also deeply indebted to all the scientists, institutions, and museum experts who collaborated across these diverse metal conservation projects over nearly a decade, turning isolated artifact treatments into a unified source of heritage science data.

Read Paper

Genç, U. (2019). “Conservation Practices of Archaeological Metal Finds: Case Studies From Excavation, Museum and Laboratory”, Archaeological Conservation: From Small Finds to Site Preservation Symposium 2019, July 6-7 2019, the Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology (JIAA) in Kaman, 1-40,