Conservation

Conservación y protección de platas

Estimated timeframe: 2022-2025

Project leaders: Nayra García-Patrón Santos (coord.) Raquel Acaz Mendive, Bárbara Culubret Worms.

Collaborators: Dr. Emilio Cano, Dr. Marc Gener-Moret y Blanca Ramírez Barat CENIM- CSIC

Technological and symbolic study of Miraveche-Monte Bernorio daggers

Estimated timeframe: 2021–2024

Project leader: Susana de Luis Mariño

Participants: Bárbara Culubret Worms, Margarita Arroyo Macarro (Conservation Department)

Daggers of the Miraveche-Monte Bernorio type, consisting of dagger, sheath and baldric, are almost exclusively limited to the northern central plateau of the Iberian Peninsula and were produced between the fifth and third centuries BC. These pieces, nearly fifty of which have been found to date, have been extensively studied from a territorial, chronological, typological and symbolic perspective. However, technological studies are rarer, despite the fact that these pieces are a paradigmatic example of specialised polymetallic weapons technology in the Iron Age.

This particular study focuses on the pieces held at the MAN, which will be thoroughly documented and analysed by different methods (binocular microscopy, X-ray fluorescence, X-ray) to obtain information about their metal composition and structure with the aim of reconstructing their chaîne opératoire, learning more about their social aspects, and determining applicable conservation strategies. To this end, we have enlisted the aid of independent researcher Dr Marc Gener-Moret (CENIM-CSIC) and are working in cooperation with the Protohistory and Colonisations Department (v2. Conservation Department).

MAN Preventive Conservation Plan

Estimated timeframe: Ongoing

Lead researcher: Nayra García-Patrón, Mario Francisco Freire y Bárbara Culubret

Participants: Raquel Acaz, Belén González

The aims of the Preventive Conservation Plan for the MAN collections are as follows:

• To identify risks and agents of deterioration and act accordingly, implementing coordinated and effective strategies to safeguard the cultural assets that make up the museum’s collections and prevent or mitigate future deterioration and loss
• To create the necessary infrastructure for continuing our normal preventive conservation work

Continuity: Preventive conservation at the museum is not a project that has an end date; a PCP must have long-term validity, entailing coordinated, systematic efforts rather than sporadic preventive interventions.

Conservation and restoration of the MAN’s collection of medieval fabrics

Timeframe: 2017–2019

Project leader: Silvia Montero Redondo

This programme aims to conduct a systematic and exhaustive inspection to determine the condition of the pieces in the collection, in order to facilitate their study and ensure their proper conservation by minimising the risk of deterioration. After analysing the constituent materials and manufacturing techniques, characterising all signs of deterioration and alteration detected, and determining the material’s stability, we will consolidate the material by applying remedial conservation and/or restoration treatments. At the same time, we will plan, design and establish an adequate storage and exhibition system to guarantee their proper conservation in the museum’s storage facilities.

COREMANS project

Estimated timeframe: : 2012

Participant: Durgha Orozco Delgado

This joint project aims to update conservation and restoration methods and criteria for different types of cultural heritage (stone, metal, mural paintings, textiles, paper, parchment, etc.). Led by the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute (IPCE), the project involves professionals in different fields from every region of Spain, coordinated by the Network of Heritage Institutes and Conservation and Restoration Centres. The MAN restorers are participating as experts in archaeological metals.