Curating Time: Material Life-Cycles and 3D Digital Interrogations in Holistic Museum Display
Title: A Holistic Approach Design in Museums: Exhibiting Historical Artifacts via Their Processes of Change (Müzelerde Bütüncül Yaklaşım Denemesi: Tarihi Objelerin Değişim Süreçleriyle Sergilenmesi)
Publication: Proceedings of the 33rd International Symposium on Archaeometry (Arkeometri Sonuçları Toplantısı), Vol. 2, Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism, General Directorate of Cultural Assets and Museums Publications, pp. 305-321.
Year: 2018 (Symposium: 2017)
Traditional museology often showcases archaeological finds as static, frozen antiquities, keeping their complex biographical journeys and degradation cycles hidden in archives. This comprehensive study introduces a Holistic Exhibition Methodology designed to visualize the raw trajectory of time and material transformation directly to the public.
Operating as the principal investigator, I selected three complex case studies to pioneer this interactive display philosophy:
    1. The Yenikapı-1 (YK-1) Iron Anchor: Utilizing computed radiography to safely remove and reassemble the original marine concretion crust, creating a side-by-side display of the conserved anchor, its original ‘shell,’ and a 5-axis CNC-machined polyurethane model representing its original 10th-century form.
    2. The Yevstafiy Hussar Sword (1770): Implementing gradual chemical impregnation (Paraloid B-72 via Dowanol) on the waterlogged wooden scabbard, and using 3D computed tomography slices to laser-cut a metallic plexiglass replica blade, bringing a ‘virtually unsheathed’ sunken weapon back to life.
    3. The İkiztepe Four-Armed Spiral: Bridging molecular diagnostics (Raman Spectroscopy detecting arsenical copper) with textile forensics (microscopic analysis identifying Early Bronze Age linen) to print dual 3D PLA replicas—one replicating the pristine copper origin wrapped in woven linen, and the other simulating the corroded burial state.

This research successfully demonstrates that the conservator’s role is not just to repair, but to decode and represent the artifact’s authentic historical transformation.
Key Highlights & Impact
  • The Tri-Fold Narrative: Transitioning museum displays from single-artifact staging to a multi-layered exhibition that presents the original state, the excavation state, and the conserved state simultaneously.
  • Advanced Radiographic Mapping: Partnering with TAEK-CNAEM (Doç. Dr. Şinasi Ekinci) to deploy 50-micrometer high-resolution computed radiography (CR) systems to detect hidden fractures beneath dense corrosion crusts.
  • Preventing Material Distortion: Setting a strict ethical protocol stating that replicas created for public education must remain distinct in texture and composition to prevent misleading perceptions or historical forgery.
  • Interdisciplinary Governance: Coordinating cross-institutional research streams involving atomic energy centers, textile engineering faculties (Marmara University), and maritime museums to synthesize archaeological data into public knowledge.

True success in conservation should not be measured by how many objects pass through our hands, but by how much of their transformation story we prevent from being lost to time.

Special Acknowledgements

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my dedicated colleagues Fatih Şahin and Ebru Aksel Arnavutoğlu for their exceptional contributions to 3D modeling and digitalization (pp. 7-8). Special thanks also to Doç. Dr. Şinasi Ekinci (TAEK-CNAEM) for radiographic imaging (pp. 6, 8), Physicist Meral Avcıoğlu for Raman Spectroscopy diagnostics (pp. 6, 8), and Prof. Dr. Mehmet Akalın, Lec. Meral Özomay, and Expert Abdulkadir Pars (Marmara University) for their precise textile forensic investigations.

Bildiri Metni

Genç, U. (2018). “Müzelerde Bütüncül Yaklaşım Denemesi: Tarihi Objelerin Değişim Süreçleriyle Sergilenmesi”, 33. Arkeometri Sonuçları Toplantısı, (22-26 Mayıs 2017, Uludağ Üniversitesi, Bursa), Kültür Varlıkları ve Müzeler Genel Müdürlüğü Yayınları, 2, 305-321.

Author’s Editorial Notes
  • Note 1 (Terminological Clarifications): Please note that during the final editorial process, certain technical terms in the published text were inadvertently modified by the editor (e.g., the unintended use of “plastic” instead of polymer specifications, and “arsenic” instead of precise arsenical copper terminology). The author maintains the original scientific definitions as presented in the initial manuscript.
  • Note 2 (Manuscript Modifications): Due to editorial layout restrictions, the abstract section and the final four figures (along with their corresponding in-text citations) were omitted from the final printed version. The complete, unrestricted dataset and the original visual catalogue remain archived in the author’s primary research repository.
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