[Nhcoll-l] Advice needed on field conservation of sub-fossil bone

[Adrain, Tiffany S]

Hi all,

My archaeological colleagues will be excavating a mastodon in southern Iowa at the end of next month and need some advice on "in the field" conservation. The tusks and bones are currently buried in a mud/clay matrix in a creek (accessible when water level is low) so are waterlogged. Some of the bones are in excellent condition, some are fragile and in danger of falling apart on removal from the creek.

I'd be grateful for advice on:

a) use of adhesives on waterlogged sub-fossil bone - my colleagues have heard that McGean B-15 is useful for stabilizing waterlogged bone during excavation, but it's not an adhesive that I use on the specimens I work with (B-72 being the only adhesive/consolidant I use). We are interested in recommendations for adhesives, how they should be mixed/diluted, and methods of application.

b) plaster-jacketing - my colleagues have used plaster jacketing previously with plaster of Paris and burlap strips, and are considering using pre-plastered strips (e.g., Plaster strips used for modeling). I'm wondering if using these bandages rather than burlap will be strong enough. I would also appreciate advice on drying wet sub-fossil bone that's in a plaster jacket, and whether it's best to let the bone dry slowly in the jacket or remove it from the jacket and place it in a controlled environment tent for slow drying and monitoring.

Thanks for any suggestions and advice,

Tiffany



Tiffany Adrain (pronouns: she/her/hers)
Collections Manager, Paleontology Repository
Instructor, Museum Studies Certificate Program
Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences
University of Iowa
115 Trowbridge Hall
Iowa City, Iowa, 52242

phone: 319 335 1822
fax: 319 335 1821
email: tiffany-adrain at uiowa.edu<mailto:tiffany-adrain at uiowa.edu>
website: <http://www.uiowa.edu/~geology/paleo> https://ees.uiowa.edu/

[cid:23cb8e71-a5b0-4263-a036-e49235650d84][cid:4c4cc90c-f162-4da8-a73e-f388669b52c6]
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20240613/542d229b/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Outlook-yc5ubsoz.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1331 bytes
Desc: Outlook-yc5ubsoz.png
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20240613/542d229b/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Outlook-spn3vco5.png
Type: image/png
Size: 10208 bytes
Desc: Outlook-spn3vco5.png
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20240613/542d229b/attachment-0001.png>