At 09:21 AM 2/27/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Is there a way of removing the dirt from the labels and bottles, without
>removing the labels from the bottles?  A label (or even a partial label) may
>provide information about the bottles.
>
Are the bottles wet/damp or are they from dry contexts?  If dry, I would
suggest merely brushing the dirt off.  If they are wet or damp, the key is
to let the paper labels dry *slowly* while stabilizing them to keep them
from cracking, peeling, and curling up.  One conservationist suggested
gortex for this purpose--cover the label with gortex to force it to dry in
a fixed (and readable) postilion on the bottle.  The ideal would be
something that was see through though, so you could try a plastic wrap--it
will eventually dry, but you risk mildew and mold.  You might also try
using some of the kind of paper that archives use to sandwich and stablize
damaged docuemnts with.  This is a very thin and, therefore, see-through
paper.  I have no idea how well this would work.  In cases like this,
stabilizing the artifact and maintaining artifact integrity takes
precedence over having a clean object.  Think of all the scrubbed pottery
remains that the food analysis folks now wish had been left alone....
 
Mary Ellin D'Agostino
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Mary Ellin D'Agostino
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