»despite applying the [...] recommended resin solution«

The restoration history of bronzes from the Heraion of Samos from 1910 to 1939

Abstract

Original title: »trotz aller Bepinselung mit der [...] empfohlenen Harzlösung«. Restaurierungsgeschichte der Bronzen aus dem samischen Heraion von 1910 bis 1939

This study focuses on the development of bronze conservation techniques at German excavations of the Heraion of Samos from 1910 to 1939. The extremely heterogeneous soil conditions of the periodically flooded temenos, which moreover lies very close to the sea, led to a variety of forms of corrosion and sometimes to serious material damage, which made satisfactory preservation of the finds difficult from the very start. While keeping in touch with the antiquities department and the conservation laboratory on the Museum Island of Berlin, the responsible archaeologists sought practical, efficient methods that could be used at excavation sites. These methods were initially applied exclusively by the archaeologists responsible for restoration, but later excavation photographers and other helpers came to be entrusted with these tasks.