Back to top: 44. Conservation
44.1: Concepts
The role of conservation within the individual units is of particular importance at Tell Mozan. What matters, in fact, is that conservation should not only be attended to concurrently with the excavations, but should also be part of the excavation strategy ahead of the excavations. This occurs, by necessity, at the level of the individual unit, when we are proceeding on the basis of assumptions as to what may be found in the ground. Conservation concerns should, in other words, contribute to shape these assumptions, and be constantly reviewed (and, as need be, revised) in the measure in which the excavation progresses. All of this occurs, precisely, at the level of the excavation unit.
The record will include observations in line with the categories listed in section N of the Main Roster. These observations are formulated as the excavation progresses, and of course after completion, as one reviews the state of the remains.
Back to top: 44. Conservation
44.2: The built environment and volumetry
In terms of the approach outlined above, architectural conservation is the most neglected. In the tradition of Syro-Mesopotamian archaeology, structures are often protected while in the course of excavation, from one season to the next. However, once publication has taken place, they are abandoned and the consequence is seen in the vast holes that characterize many excavated tells. Protection in itself is of course the first step. But the record of it is just as important, and that is what the UGR is particularly suited for.
Conservation of elements relating to volumetry is even less of a concern. In practice, this refers to the sections, which are seen on the whole as ephemeral in terms of their function. If instead there is a reason to conserve them in ways analogous to the architecture, it is because, in addition to serving as witnesses for scholars, they are the primary means of communicating to casual visitors the way in which conclusions are reached in the archaeological discourse.
Back to top: 44. Conservation