I made these artifacts. Is it still conservation?

[Dennis Piechota]

Three-quarter views of three of the Great Island Shell Midden Profiles

The center sample measures 40 cm ht. x 11 cm width x 10 cm depth

Climate change is destroying our shorelines. Increasingly violent storm surges couple with sea level rise to accelerate erosion faster than we imagined possible. And archaeological sites that existed for a millenium wash into the sea. 

This summer I began archiving samples from endangered sites as an act of conservation. From Great Island off Wellfleet, Massachusetts I made the above objects. As part of a team of archaeologists and graduate students excavating under an NPS grant I sampled four cliff side shell middens, infused the shell and sandy soil with a consolidant and sliced them to create these standing monopeds to preserve features that will soon be gone. They will be maintained as part of the permanent collection and treated separately from similar samples taken for analytical purposes. They have a presence that reminds us of what is lost.

But is it still an act of conservation when the conservator makes the artifact?

Left: View of ladder anchored at cliff top prior to collecting Great Island 

midden profile recorded as WGI 2.4

Right: At the eroding cliff face removing midden profile WGI 2.2 

Photo by John Steinberg

Location of several of the cliff face midden profiles shown above

Dennis

 

Dennis Piechota

Archaeological Conservator

Fiske Center for Archaeological Research
UMass Boston
Office: 617-287-6829

ALTCONS Group Admin

an Alternative Conservation Discussion