Archaeological Discussion Group

Dear ADG Members,

I am going to be participating in a field project in northern Ethiopia (in Shire, Tigray region) later this fall and am starting to put together my conservation supply list.  This is my first time working in this area and was wondering how easy it is to purchase solvents when I'm there, for example if they're available at a hardware store.  I'm specifically interested in acetone so I can make some B72 for ceramic reconstruction. Has anyone on the list worked in the region and can provide some info on how easy it is to get solvents there or what you did to get solvents for making adhesives and consolidants?

My back-up plan is to buy 100% acetone-based nail polish remover and bring it with me, but if I can get some acetone when I'm there, I'd rather do that instead.

thanks so much!
Vanessa

------------------------------
Vanessa Muros
Director, Experimental and Archaeological Sciences Lab (EASL)
UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
vmuros@ucla.edu
------------------------------

Hi Vanessa!
How exciting! Ethiopia is a dream of mine to visit.

You are well experienced at overseas work so forgive me if I repeat anything you know, but I had a lot of success in Sudan through our fixer at a university medical supply shop. I have also had success at paint suppliers, nail salons and by visiting the local universities. Universities were willing to give me some of their old supply of harder to find solvents under the table. I really have not had success in African countries outside of Namibia and South Africa at finding any in hardware stores. Do you have time to hunt around in Addis Ababa? Trying to contact people ahead of time seems impossible and even making the contacts on the ground took a few days if they needed to order some.

How do you plan to travel with acetone? Are you shipping it before hand? How much do you think you need? With other recent field work, I took acetone in the field the first year at great expense and effort, but it proved too much of a headache so I opted for only water based solutions or temporary binds until we transported them to the controlled lab. It is just getting too restrictive and expensive to work with highly flammable or hazardous solvents in the field. I think conservators will have to find more ways to compromise. 

Because the quality of these sources for acetone or other solvents may be slightly compromised, I tend to only use B-72 sporadically on special cases as it is sensitive to impurities. It of course depends on what you are joining, but I prefer to use Mowitol B-60H for ceramic pot joins. I felt like it held up best in the uncontrolled storage of Sudan's summer heat, provided solid joins for the long transportation needed, took ethanol which was a bit easier to transport and source than acetone and was a bit more forgiving overall. Maybe you are working with a museum environment though?

Would getting some across the border in Eritrea be an option? I am not familiar with it, but perhaps you have people on the project traveling between there?

It looks like there was some wall painting conservation done (attached). It may be worth contacting them for sources if you have not already?

Best wishes for a successful trip! 

Susanne

------------------------------
Susanne Rawson FAIC
Senior Conservator
Global Artifact Preservation Services
Greenville NC
http://www.artifactpreservation.com
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-24-2019 18:25
From: Vanessa Muros
Subject: purchasing solvents in Ethiopia

Dear ADG Members,

I am going to be participating in a field project in northern Ethiopia (in Shire, Tigray region) later this fall and am starting to put together my conservation supply list.  This is my first time working in this area and was wondering how easy it is to purchase solvents when I'm there, for example if they're available at a hardware store.  I'm specifically interested in acetone so I can make some B72 for ceramic reconstruction. Has anyone on the list worked in the region and can provide some info on how easy it is to get solvents there or what you did to get solvents for making adhesives and consolidants?

My back-up plan is to buy 100% acetone-based nail polish remover and bring it with me, but if I can get some acetone when I'm there, I'd rather do that instead.

thanks so much!
Vanessa

------------------------------
Vanessa Muros
Director, Experimental and Archaeological Sciences Lab (EASL)
UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
vmuros@ucla.edu
------------------------------

Original Message------

Hi Vanessa!
How exciting! Ethiopia is a dream of mine to visit.

You are well experienced at overseas work so forgive me if I repeat anything you know, but I had a lot of success in Sudan through our fixer at a university medical supply shop. I have also had success at paint suppliers, nail salons and by visiting the local universities. Universities were willing to give me some of their old supply of harder to find solvents under the table. I really have not had success in African countries outside of Namibia and South Africa at finding any in hardware stores. Do you have time to hunt around in Addis Ababa? Trying to contact people ahead of time seems impossible and even making the contacts on the ground took a few days if they needed to order some.

How do you plan to travel with acetone? Are you shipping it before hand? How much do you think you need? With other recent field work, I took acetone in the field the first year at great expense and effort, but it proved too much of a headache so I opted for only water based solutions or temporary binds until we transported them to the controlled lab. It is just getting too restrictive and expensive to work with highly flammable or hazardous solvents in the field. I think conservators will have to find more ways to compromise. 

Because the quality of these sources for acetone or other solvents may be slightly compromised, I tend to only use B-72 sporadically on special cases as it is sensitive to impurities. It of course depends on what you are joining, but I prefer to use Mowitol B-60H for ceramic pot joins. I felt like it held up best in the uncontrolled storage of Sudan's summer heat, provided solid joins for the long transportation needed, took ethanol which was a bit easier to transport and source than acetone and was a bit more forgiving overall. Maybe you are working with a museum environment though?

Would getting some across the border in Eritrea be an option? I am not familiar with it, but perhaps you have people on the project traveling between there?

It looks like there was some wall painting conservation done (attached). It may be worth contacting them for sources if you have not already?

Best wishes for a successful trip! 

Susanne

------------------------------
Susanne Rawson FAIC
Senior Conservator
Global Artifact Preservation Services
Greenville NC
http://www.artifactpreservation.com
------------------------------

Hi Suzanne, 
Your post is full of useful information -I was wondering if you could give a little more about how you use B-60H? I've tried PVB a bit for ceramics reconstruction but had problems with its lack of tack -it was difficult to use on ceramics which couldn't be taped, for example. And as a side note, when we were struggling with this an intern experimented with a mix of PVB and B72 and published this nice MRS paper (attached).

Kathy

------------------------------
Kathy Hall
Senior Conservator
INSTAP Study Center for East Crete
Crete
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-29-2019 17:06
From: Susanne Rawson
Subject: purchasing solvents in Ethiopia

Hi Vanessa!
How exciting! Ethiopia is a dream of mine to visit.

You are well experienced at overseas work so forgive me if I repeat anything you know, but I had a lot of success in Sudan through our fixer at a university medical supply shop. I have also had success at paint suppliers, nail salons and by visiting the local universities. Universities were willing to give me some of their old supply of harder to find solvents under the table. I really have not had success in African countries outside of Namibia and South Africa at finding any in hardware stores. Do you have time to hunt around in Addis Ababa? Trying to contact people ahead of time seems impossible and even making the contacts on the ground took a few days if they needed to order some.

How do you plan to travel with acetone? Are you shipping it before hand? How much do you think you need? With other recent field work, I took acetone in the field the first year at great expense and effort, but it proved too much of a headache so I opted for only water based solutions or temporary binds until we transported them to the controlled lab. It is just getting too restrictive and expensive to work with highly flammable or hazardous solvents in the field. I think conservators will have to find more ways to compromise.

Because the quality of these sources for acetone or other solvents may be slightly compromised, I tend to only use B-72 sporadically on special cases as it is sensitive to impurities. It of course depends on what you are joining, but I prefer to use Mowitol B-60H for ceramic pot joins. I felt like it held up best in the uncontrolled storage of Sudan's summer heat, provided solid joins for the long transportation needed, took ethanol which was a bit easier to transport and source than acetone and was a bit more forgiving overall. Maybe you are working with a museum environment though?

Would getting some across the border in Eritrea be an option? I am not familiar with it, but perhaps you have people on the project traveling between there?

It looks like there was some wall painting conservation done (attached). It may be worth contacting them for sources if you have not already?

Best wishes for a successful trip!

Susanne

------------------------------
Susanne Rawson FAIC
Senior Conservator
Global Artifact Preservation Services
Greenville NC
http://www.artifactpreservation.com

Original Message:
Sent: 09-24-2019 18:25
From: Vanessa Muros
Subject: purchasing solvents in Ethiopia

Dear ADG Members,

I am going to be participating in a field project in northern Ethiopia (in Shire, Tigray region) later this fall and am starting to put together my conservation supply list.  This is my first time working in this area and was wondering how easy it is to purchase solvents when I'm there, for example if they're available at a hardware store.  I'm specifically interested in acetone so I can make some B72 for ceramic reconstruction. Has anyone on the list worked in the region and can provide some info on how easy it is to get solvents there or what you did to get solvents for making adhesives and consolidants?

My back-up plan is to buy 100% acetone-based nail polish remover and bring it with me, but if I can get some acetone when I'm there, I'd rather do that instead.

thanks so much!
Vanessa

------------------------------
Vanessa Muros
Director, Experimental and Archaeological Sciences Lab (EASL)
UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
vmuros@ucla.edu
------------------------------