Page 188 - Manual for Activities directed at the Underwater Cultural Heritage

 © J. Carpenter / Western Australian Museum. Divers are preparing to acquire corrosion data on the corroding mooring point on the Gosei Maru, Chuuk Lagoon, Federated Sates of Micronesia.
Corrosion data should be acquired as part of the site prospection.The information obtained will allow for the estimation of the artefacts’ conservation needs and thus for the preparation of the conservation programme.
 © Parks Canada. Labelling
of structural elements, Red Bay, Canada. Negligence in labelling, recording and documentation may result in the loss of important contextual information of the archaeological site. Finds shall carry their specific label constantly throughout the project in order to allow for consistent identification.
(see Rule 24), and the transport from the on-
site workshop to the conservation laboratory.
• Artefact treatment, preventive conservation of artefacts and intermediary storage – design of the methodologies and techniques applied
(see Rule 24);
• Long-term storage – long-term archival de-
posit of find archives (see Rules 32 - 34)
• Curative conservation and restoration treat-
ment (see Rule 24)
• Transport from the laboratory to the exhibition
site (museum)
The budget is established based on the conser- vation programme and the necessary equipment is acquired.
The conservation process Before intervention
(a) Prospection and documentation: During pros- pection, underwater archaeologists generally undertake some preparatory dives and sam-
pling to confirm the archaeological importance
of the site. This first prospection allows ar- chaeologists and conservators to obtain a sound understanding of the nature, number
and type of artefacts that are likely to be discovered. At the same time, they also obtain
a good understanding of the whole site and all 187
An underwater excavation should not start until a storage place and the budget for conservation have been decided and secured.
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Conservation and site management