Heritage Materials Research Articles

Cause-and-effect Analysis of Anthropogenic and Natural Aspects in the Process of Assessing the Material Heritage Resource in Underground Mining Adaptation Planning

The ongoing energy transformation requires legal and economic intervention by the Polish government to phase out unprofitable mining enterprises, especially in the coal mining sector. The poorly executed process mentioned above may lead not only to environmental degradation but also to social problems (rupture of interpersonal relationships, elimination of traditions, eradication of cultural behaviors). Therefore, an effective solution to this problem may be the adaptation of the aforementioned facilities for tourism purposes. These facilities have significant potential related to mining heritage and geodiversity. The article defines basic criteria related to mining heritage and examines the cause-and-effect relationships using the DEMATEL method. The outcome of this process will be an attempt to develop requirements for anthropogenic intervention in underground excavations in interaction with the preservation of cultural, material, and geodiversity heritage (master plan).

Spatial Remodeling of Industrial Heritage from the Perspective of Urban Renewal: A Case Study of Coal Mine Site in Jiaozuo City

Resource-oriented cities are faced with the problems of the decline of traditional industries, exhaustion of resources, and wastage of space. Faced with these problems, urban renewal has become an important role and is widely used in the reuse of old and abandoned spaces. As a historical witness of the industrial revolution and urbanization process, coal mine industrial heritage not only has the value of material heritage but also carries rich historical and cultural information. However, with the adjustment of industrial structure, much coal mine industrial heritage has gradually lost its original production function and become neglected idle space in cities, and industrial buildings and equipment in these spaces have been abandoned or dismantled. The study takes the Wangfeng Mine site in Jiaozuo City, Henan Province as an example, combined with the urban development history and current situation of Jiaozuo city, it discusses the remodeling strategy of industrial heritage space from the perspective of urban renewal. Firstly, through case analysis, historical data sorting, and field research, the study integrated the historical development context of the Jiaozuo coal mine site and its impact on the urban spatial pattern, secondly, discussed the practical problems in the reuse process of industrial sites, and finally proposed specific spatial remodeling strategies based on the conjugation theory. This included determining how to deal with the three pairs of conjugated relations between protection and development, function and ecology, and history and modernity so as to make the spatial remodeling strategy of industrial sites more scientific and sustainable. To promote the sustainable and healthy development of urban industrial heritage space.

A Review of Non-Destructive Raman Spectroscopy and Chemometric Techniques in the Analysis of Cultural Heritage.

Today, there is an increasing concern and effort for protection, conservation, and restoration of cultural heritage materials. Non-invasive analytical methodologies such as Raman spectroscopy offers various advantages such as high speed, robust identification, low cost, and in-site analysis. Previous contributions highlighted the potential of Raman spectroscopy combined with multivariate statistics for identification and quality evaluation of cultural heritage materials such as paints, fiber, dyes, woods, stones, inks, and textile materials. Especially, application of chemometrics and multivariate statistics algorithms opens new horizons for scientists and inspectors. In conclusion, the paper provided an overview of the state-of-the-art uses of multivariate statistically equipped Raman spectroscopy methods for evaluation of cultural heritage and art materials with illustrations from previous research studies.

Design preferences for contemporary Chinese-style wooden furniture: Insights from conjoint analysis

Chinese wooden furniture occupies a central role in the nation’s cultural and historical heritage, serving not only as practical household items for period classification, but also as symbols of social status and artistic achievement. Recently, a new wave of Chinese-style furniture that blends traditional design elements with modern aesthetics has gained considerable market attention and recognition. This paper utilizes Conjoint Analysis to thoroughly investigate and assess consumer preferences and the visual appeal of contemporary Chinese-style furniture, leveraging a combination of user experience surveys and eye-tracking technology. This study suggests a sustained social interest in the materiality of Chinese heritage, emphasizing its relevance in today’s culture. The findings show that in subjective evaluations, consumers prioritize material selection. Eye-tracking data reveals that “material,” particularly “redwood,” demands more intensive cognitive processing during the fixation stage. However, “decoration type” plays a dominant role in visual searches across multiple stages, indicating that consumers employ varied cognitive strategies when interacting with different product attributes. Additionally, consumers’ focus on backrests and pattern craftsmanship offers valuable insights into future market trends.

Time, Materiality, and History in UK-Based Interfaith Solidarity Work

In this paper, building upon ethnographic fieldwork conducted among members of one initiative of Jewish-Muslim dialogue in the UK, I discuss how my interlocutors thematize the temporal dimension of anti-minority discrimination and perceive remaining historical material heritage associated with it. Using the example of problematic artifacts pertaining to mediaeval Lincoln, such as the so-called “shrine of Little Hugh,” I discuss how in engaging the memory of traumatic past events in Jewish history activists of inter-faith dialogue reflect on their current conditions of minoritization and attempt a projection of their communities’ lives in the UK in the future. I also borrow insight from the presentist theoretical framework in anthropology of time to highlight the impact my interlocutors’ life histories have had on the way they relate to and conceptualize their own and other minoritized groups’ histories and imagine their personal and collective futures based on their experiences in the present. I suggest that in these reflections, narratives of positive historical trajectories in the minority experience sit alongside an anticipation of multiple possible futures, some inflected with anxiety about a repetition of difficult pasts, others imbued with a vision connecting the past, present and future of minoritized communities into a common presence.

Radiation protection and natural building materials in cultural heritage

IntroductionBuildings that constitute cultural heritage and that are the identity of a defined geographical area are increasingly being restored to offer the community historical places to enjoy. Often the restoration preserves the original structure and building materials, which are usually natural stones. In this study, a radioprotection protocol dedicated to this kind of built environment was proposed and validated.MethodsAfter identifying the two predominant types of building material stones (Rosso ammonitico and Pietra Serena), radiometric measurements for natural gamma-emitting radionuclides (Ra-226, Th-232, and K-40) and measurements of the emanation coefficient and calculation of the exhalation rate of radon gas were carried out.ResultsThe two types of stone have a content of natural radionuclides that do not exceed the levels recommended by the regulations. The difference between the two types of stone is of an order of magnitude indicating that the red ammonite has a greater radiological impact than the pietra serena.DiscussionThe results, in addition to ensuring the radioprotection of the population, highlighted the need to increase the number of this kind of investigations to implement scientific knowledge and serve the stakeholders involved.

The Past Is Not What It Used to Be: Contemporary Myths, Cold War Nostalgia and Abandoned Soviet Nuclear Bases

This article delves into the contemporary social perception of the three abandoned Soviet Cold War tactical nuclear bases in Poland, focusing on often overlooked phenomena in archaeological studies such as the contemporary myths (folk tales, contemporary legends, modern folklore, etc.) and nostalgia that have emerged around these sites. While contemporary myths and nostalgia are distinct phenomena with different outcomes, they share a common feature: a mythologized approach to the past. Established historical and archaeological narratives, derived from detailed studies, often coexist with alternative versions of the past inspired by folk imagination. This article aims to highlight their cultural value as an integral part of local identity, actively shaping the perception of material heritage. Contemporary myths offer insight into another layer of collective perception of the past, while nostalgia delves into the emotional aspects of human existence, coping with transience and searching for meaning.

Congress Review: Hazardous Heritage: Working With and Around Dangerous Materials in Cultural Heritage, 23 to 24.10.2023, Antwerp, Belgium

This conference review offers an overview of the two-day event titled “Hazardous Heritage: Working With and Around Dangerous Materials in Cultural Heritage,” which took place in Antwerp in October 2023. The report outlines the format and objectives of the conference, providing insight into the various sessions, presentations, and discussions that occurred. It highlights the keynote speeches delivered by experts in the field and covers the two field trips that took place.

Heritage Making in Former Socialist Towns in Hungary

AbstractCentral and Eastern European countries generally view their socialist heritage as an unwanted, unpleasant burden. The new identity-building processes after the regime change were initially dominated by efforts to rewrite, suppress, or erase the socialist past, while for Western tourists the consumption of key attractions and sites of the built heritage represents a particular form of heritage tourism through which they can experience a slice of an “exotic” past beyond the Iron Curtain. At the national and local levels, there is a vast dissonance between the material heritage of socialism and the identity and aspirations of post-socialist communities, which is even more evident in the case of newly-built, former socialist towns. Through the example of Tiszaújváros and Dunaújváros, my study primarily examines the institutional strategies chosen by these towns to address their socialist heritage. What principles prevailed in the compilation of the local collection of values? What kind of representation of the past do local museums offer, what role does the ethnographic heritage of the annexed villages play in museum presentation and collection, and how are local/regional traditions integrated into the town's image? Finally, through a specific community of memory, a Facebook page, I examine how the recent past appears in individual and collective – often nostalgic – memory, what values the community associates with the town, and how all these relate to the heritagization practices of the local elite.

Muslim Tatars in the Kama area sketches by K.F. Goon

The subject of the research in the article is the visual materials of the 1862-1863, reflecting the features of the costume complex of the Volga-Ural Tatars and its images depending on the time, theoretical and practical knowledge about the peoples living in a certain region and the representation of material heritage, through the socio-cultural perception of the artist K.F. Gun. Based on the results of the work, it was revealed that the artist executed the images in urban and rural settlements, designated class differences through the features of the costume complex - the materials used, multi-part headdresses and their differences from each other, decorative elements and ornaments. He was the first to distinguish between the differences in clothing that existed in private and public spaces, and actualized it in the images he created where the characteristic features of gender and age differences were revealed by the pictures of the costumes. However, it is necessary to highlight the controversial points in the images that were found in the works of K.F. Gun – atypical headdresses, analogues of which have not survived in museums or private collections; errors in administrative-territorial division, when the artist sketched the same people in different provinces, according to his signatures; confusion in peoples, for example - the ambiguous costume complex of the starokryashen Tatars (the Baptized Tatars), closer to the clothing of the Votyaks (Udmurts).

Use of Computerised X-ray Tomography in the Study of the Fabrication Methods and Conservation of Ceramics, Glass and Stone Building Materials

This work will review and discuss the use of computerised X-ray tomography (CXT) for analysing ancient, manufactured items, like stone building materials, glass and ceramics. It will consider particular techniques required, and/or of benefit, for CXT of heritage materials, such as special precautions during the experimentation to ensure there is no damage to the materials, special imaging methods such as elemental-specific imaging, and sample-specific image analysis requirements. This study shows how the knowledge of internal features, particularly pores, discerned from CXT can be used to reverse engineer the artefact fabrication process. CXT can be used to obtain information on both the raw materials (such as types and impurities) and fabrication techniques used. These abilities can then be used to establish technological evolution and the incidence of ancient behaviours like recycling and allow the linking of particular items to specific production sites. It will also be seen how CXT can aid the development of effective conservation techniques. This work will also consider how conclusions drawn from CXT data can be amended or augmented by the use of complementary non-destructive characterisation methods, such as gas overcondensation.

Multi-spectroscopic characterization system for cultural heritage materials analysis (SYSPECTRAL): Conception and example

A comprehensive understanding of chemical composition of cultural heritage materials usually requires several complementary analytical techniques. Given the fragility and value of artworks, minimizing or avoiding sampling and performing in situ analysis under ambient light is an important goal. This article outlines a novel prototype designed to merge LIBS, laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (LIF), Raman spectroscopy using a single pulsed laser, and reflectance spectroscopy in a multi-spectroscopic characterization system for cultural heritage analysis (SYSPECTRAL). The aim is to analyze cultural heritage materials in their original place, obtaining both elemental and molecular information at such same point that is not always insured with several separated experimental settings. The SYSPECTRAL system focuses on compactness, mobility, and ease of operation. Software designed for the prototype controls multi-spectroscopic measurements, allows for image capture, precise localization, and data acquisition. Reflectance spectra examined the material and colors at the surface, and the LIBS-LIF-Raman package examines the stratigraphic structure of a multi-layered painted sample.

Using Heritage Materials to Inspire New Understanding in Solid State Chemistry

Using Heritage Materials to Inspire New Understanding in Solid State Chemistry

A Closer Look at Heritage Systems from Medieval Colors to Modern and Contemporary Artworks

This microreview, conducted by interdisciplinary teams, examines complex heritage material systems, such as medieval colors and modern and contemporary artworks. Our multi-analytical approach, a significant aspect of our research, is a means to this end. The conservation of works of art is our shared goal, as it ensures their accessibility and the transfer of cultural heritage to future generations. We seek to interpret the damage, usefulness, and innovation of the experimental design in this context. As Jan Wouters rightly points out, “The terminology used nowadays to describe the potential damage to objects caused by analysis should be refined beyond the destructiveness/non-invasiveness polarization. A terminology should include at least degree level intervention (low, medium, high), usefulness, and innovation”. Complementing micro- or sub-micro-sampling with the appropriate analytical methods is crucial, as exemplified in medieval, modern, and contemporary collections studies. Finally, a novel perspective for exploring the information contained in the multiscale heterogeneity of organic historical materials is envisaged, and it includes UV/Visible photoluminescence spectral imaging using a low-intensity ultraviolet synchrotron beam.

Clothing of the Kazan tatars in the artworks of M.K. Tilke: revisiting the representation of a visual source

An artwork as a scientific unit in the study of the works of M.K. Tilke is an important source category when studying the material aspects of the Tatar heritage. The goal of the research is to study, systematize and introduce visual sources that reproduce the costume complex of the Tatars into scientific circulation. During the research the following tasks were solved: certain types of clothing reproduced in sketches were identified and described; graphic, written sources and surviving material heritage in museum collections were analyzed. The method of historical and ethnographic research was used. The conclusions: each of the artist’s artworks is ethnographically accurate, since the main goal was to reveal the uniqueness, significance and features of the costume complex. Participation in scientific expeditions, consistent study and comparison of graphic, written sources and preserved material heritage in museum collections revealed an accurate reproduction of the cut features. As a researcher, he tried to draw parallels with other peoples, those close in culture, or simply those in interaction with the Tatars. Turning to early historical and ethnographic sources, M. Tilke tried to identify the general and specific in the details of the Tatar women's and men's costume complex.

Rediscovering the shtetl in the late Soviet period: the Leningrad Jewish Independent Movement of the 1980s and the re-establishment of Jewish studies

ABSTRACT Beginning in the early 1980s, Leningrad-based Jewish intellectuals began to explore the settlements of the former Pale of Settlement in search of their ethnic and religious identity. Starting in 1982, Ilya Dvorkin, a physicist by training, together with a few friends, undertook several such shtetl expeditions to the Belarusian and Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republics. They visited the hometowns of their ancestors and explored important sites of Hasidism. Based on interviews and extensive archival material, this article investigates Jewish encounters with the abandoned material heritage of the shtetl and confrontations with the immaterial narratives of the past.

Exploring Existentialist Design in Digital Humanities

This paper examines the application of existentialist philosophical and hermeneutic principles to user experience design within the Digital Humanities Laboratory at the National Library of Norway (NLN). Over the past decade, the NLN DH Lab has evolved from organizing workshops on Jupyter Notebook tools to developing user-friendly applications tailored to streamline computer-mediated research on cultural heritage materials. Drawing from existentialist and hermeneutic philosophy, the paper explores how one these applications. “Kollokasjoner” (“Collocations”) 1) accommodates subjectivity, 2) embraces fluidity and multiplicity of meanings, and 3) facilitates independent interpretation and engagement with cultural heritage artifacts, or epistemic objects, visualizing layers of meaning in a simple and easy-to-understand way.

Embodiments of conservation: conflictual agencies in and out of the museum

ABSTRACT This paper examines the ways in which conservation may shape, influence, or even manipulate the authenticity and materiality of cultural heritage, cultural identity, and value. In this regard, the application of the term “embodiment” encompasses the choice of conservation strategies and the values and goals attached to them. I argue that embodiments may carry and refer to historical, political, economic, and ethical contexts and controversies. Therefore, two case studies will be discussed: These are the conservation approach and program for the Shōsō-in, the eighth-century treasure house of the Tōdai-ji Temple in Nara, Japan, and the 2022 introduction of crypto-conservation by the Saar Historical Museum in Saarbrücken, Germany. The paper particularly highlights embodiments that perform the preservation of cultural heritage beyond Western practices. To this end, it also introduces the African artist initiatives Looty and Milele Museum, both of which expand the perspective towards conservation and restitution.

“Junk” and Priceless China: A Chronology of Cataloguing at the Museum of Anthropology

This paper considers how knowledge has been organized around museum objects at the Museum of Anthropology (MOA), in what is known as British Columbia1. We trace the practice of cataloguing material heritage at this museum, through close examination of catalogue records and interviews with past and present MOA staff, reading from the first attempts at standardizing object nomenclatures in the journals of private collectors, to the contemporary practices associated with object documentation in the digital age. Through a critical cataloguing perspective; this paper plots the creation and use of museum record keeping systems in the particular milieu of Western Canada. This paper is part of a larger research project, “The Work of Repair,” which investigates museum documentation histories across Canada.

Autofluorescence for the Visualization of Microorganisms in Biodeteriorated Materials in the Context of Cultural Heritage.

Microorganisms, including fungi, bacteria, cyanobacteria, and algae, frequently colonize the surfaces of cultural heritage materials. These biological agents can cause biodeterioration through various mechanisms, resulting in aesthetic alteration, physical disruption, or compromise of mechanical integrity. To assess the presence and diversity of microorganisms, a combination of microscopy techniques is commonly used in conjunction with results from both culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. However, microbial populations are often underestimated. To address this issue, microorganisms can be detected by their intrinsic fluorescence, which can be observed via fluorescence microscopy. This approach facilitates the mapping of the spatial arrangement of microorganisms and the understanding of colonization patterns, thereby complementing established imaging techniques and providing insight into the interactions of microbial communities with the substrate. Given the limited research in this area, we examine the potential of microorganism autofluorescence as a molecular tool for investigating biodeterioration in artistic and architectural heritage, with a particular focus on paper and stone materials. Identifying and understanding the diverse microbiota that may be present is crucial for developing tailored and effective preventive measures and conservation treatments, as some of the species discovered may pose significant risks to both artifacts and human health.