Author Archives: vmuros

Jan 18 2020
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Field Work, Greece

Palace of Nestor Excavations & the Griffin Warrior Tomb

Since the summer of 2017, I’ve been heading down to the SW Peloponnese in Greece to work at the Palace of Nestor Excavations directed by the University of Cinncinati. I was brought on to work on the metals finds discovered in the tomb of the “Griffin Warrior” and those artifacts are pretty spectacular. When people find out I work on archaeological excavations they always ask about finding or working on gold (after I get asked what is the coolest object I’ve ever conserved), and now I can say to them I have actually worked on/found on gold on site.

 

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Photomicrograph showing the engraving of Hathor’s face on the back surface of a gold pendant excavated outside the area of the Palace of Nestor (image taken from the New York Times article on the excavation)

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May 08 2019
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Field Work, Peru

A Day in the Life at Corral Redondo, Peru

I recently wrote a post for the Institute for Field Research’s blog on “Community Collaboration in Archaeology”.  The post (which is also available in Spanish) talks about the ways we collaborated with the communities we lived and worked with during our 2018 season on the  Corral Redondo Project (Proyecto Arqueológico Corral Redondo).  You can find the blog post here: A Day in the Life at Corral Redondo

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Jan 17 2019
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Ecuador, Field Work, Lectures

The Intersection of Preservation, Education and Outreach: Conservation at the Corral Redondo Project

Gave a presentation to the Andean Working Group at UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaeology focusing on conservation and outreach efforts during the first season (2018) at the Corral Redondo Project (Proyecto Arqueologico Corral Redondo).

You can check out the presentation by following this link to view it using Prezi: The Intersection of Preservation, Education and Outreach: Conservation at the Corral Redondo Project

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May 06 2018
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Field Work, Peru

Off to Peru’s South Coast – The Corral Redondo Project

This summer I’ll be heading to the south coast of Peru to work on a brand new excavation at the site of Corral Redondo.  This is the first time I’ll be working on an excavation in Peru and I’m really excited for this new adventure, but also maybe a little nervous.  Of course the exciting part is to get to travel to a new place, experience the culture and life there for several weeks, and to meet and work with new people.  But also the bit of uncertainty about the work and the project and what the day to day will be like can add a little bit of stress to starting a new archaeological project.

 

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Map showing location of site in the south coast area of Peru (Map data ©2018 Google, INEGI Imagery, ©2018 TerraMetrics)

 

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Jun 20 2017
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AIC, Conferences, Conservation Treatments, Research, Uncategorized

45th Annual Meeting – Objects Specialty Group, May 31st, “Carbon Fiber Fabric and Its Potential for Use in Objects Conservation” by Carolyn Riccardelli

Post I wrote for AIC’s blog “Conservators Converse” on a talk given at the 45th Annual Meeting, 2017, held in Chicago, IL.

“In this talk, objects conservator Carolyn Riccardelli introduced us to carbon fiber fabric and shared some of the ways in which this material has been used for the conservation and mounting/display of objects at the Sherman Fairchild Center for Objects Conservation, Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA). “(continue reading)

Jul 10 2015
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Field Work, Greece, Materials Analysis

“Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?” – Identifying mystery fibers in the field

When conservators are working on archaeological excavations, their work often encompasses many different aspects of field conservation.  This can include materials identification and characterization, lifting fragile artifacts and aiding in archaeological research.  No matter what facet of the project they are involved in, the work can be challenging without the comforts of a well-stocked lab and requires lots of problem solving and improvisation. (continue reading)

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May 25 2015
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AIC, Conferences, Documentation, Field Work, Materials Analysis

43rd Annual Meeting – Textiles Specialty Group, May 14th, “Lights, Camera, Archaeology: Documenting Archaeological Textile Impressions with Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI)” by Emily Frank

Post I wrote for AIC’s blog “Conservators Converse” on a talk given at the 43rd Annual Meeting, 2015, in Miami, FL.

“Documenting textile impressions or pseudomorphs on archaeological objects is very challenging. In my own experience, I’ve found trying to photograph textile pseudomorphs, especially when they are poorly preserved, very difficult and involves taking multiple shots with varying light angles, which still often results in poor quality images. This is why Emily Frank‘s paper was of particular interest to me because it provided an alternative to digital photography that would be feasible and more effective in documenting textile impressions: Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI).” (continue reading)

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Mar 29 2014
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Materials Analysis

How do you mount several tiny samples together?…..Very carefully!

We are all aware of how difficult it is to be able to take a sample from an artifact (both permission-wise and logistically) and when we need to, more often than not, the samples we take are extremely small.  Once we have our precious sample, we try to use as many examination and analytical techniques we can that are non-destructive to get the greatest amount of information from that one sample.  We may reach the point, however, where we need to use an analytical technique that may require the sample to be mounted, cut up or consumed, and we need to find ways to have the samples extend as far as possible through all the stages of investigation. (continue reading)

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Jun 29 2012
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Conservation Treatments, Education, Lectures, Materials Analysis, Research

A Day in an Archaeological Conservation Program

I’m a Conservation Specialist for the UCLA/Getty Conservation Program, a graduate conservation training program specializing in the conservation of archaeological and ethnographic materials.  In our 3 year course, we train students in the methods and techniques used for the examination and preservation of objects and have them understand the properties of materials, how they deteriorate and ways to slow down or prevent further deterioration. (continue reading)

 

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Jun 11 2012
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Education, Field Work

Backyard Archaeology at the Villa Ranch House

A blog post written about a class I helped teach on approaches to excavating, stabilizing and lifting wall paintings fragments using replica frescoes. (continue reading)

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