Year of Award
2011
Document Type
Professional Paper
Degree Type
Master of Arts (MA)
Degree Name
Anthropology
Department or School/College
Department of Anthropology
Committee Chair
Kelly J. Dixon
Commitee Members
David B. Bolstad
Keywords
Alfred Lucas, artifacts, Bone conservation, chicken bones, conservation, conservation experiment, isotopic analysis, paraffin, pig bones, preservation
Publisher
University of Montana
Abstract
Fragile bone materials are ubiquitous in archaeological museum and forensic settings. Although there are many chemical and industrial options for conservation, these may adversely affect the bone objects undergoing preservative treatment. Here, paraffin is explored as a biologically friendly alternative to bone material conservation. Modern domestic pig ribs were subjected to paraffin treatment and then to isotopic analysis to quantify and investigate the chemical effects of paraffin. Although the results showed that paraffin had a limited impact, the sample size proved too small to display the definitive parameters of paraffin’s effects. The results were nevertheless compelling enough to warrant more research with a greater sample size.
Recommended Citation
Luksha, Victoria E., "PARAFFIN: AN ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGICAL ALTERNATIVE FOR BONE CONSERVATION" (2011). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 731.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/731
© Copyright 2011 Victoria E. Luksha