Conservation Services
Department of Archaeology  Durham University
South Road  Durham  DH1 3LE  tel 0191 334 1139  fax 0191 334 1101
vicky.garlick@durham.ac.uk  www.dur.ac.uk/archaeological.services
Conservation record: Grampus Heritage
Site code: GHTL-14
Conservator: V. Garlick
SF no: n/a
Context: 104/106
Object: Various
Material: Leather
Date: 15/01/2015
X-radiograph no: n/a
Photography:
Description:
A large number of leather objects and fragments were received in waterlogged condition
to be conserved. The majority of objects are leather fragments and offcuts. There also
appear to be several leather soles, part of a leather purse, several straps and a number of
clippers.
Condition:
The objects arrived in waterlogged condition and had a thin layer of dirt on the surface.
The pieces appeared stable and fragments were not easily detaching. There appeared to
be some staining to several areas on the leather.
Conservation treatment:
- The leather items were placed into net bags with an identification label, the bags
were then sealed and placed in a 20% Polyethylene Glycol (PEG)400 in water
solution for two weeks, stirring the solution occasionally.
- The leather items were then removed from the PEG400 solution and net bags and
were placed between pieces of cardboard. These were then sealed using masking
tape to prevent the leather pieces moving and were placed into the freezer for
two weeks.
- On removal from the freezer the leather items were placed into the freeze-dryer
for two days.
Analysis:
n/a
Storage:
The leather was stored in polythene bags with a piece of plastazote for support and
pierced to allow airflow. The bags were then stored in an archival quality box. They should
be stored in a stable and controlled environment to avoid further deterioration and to
avoid organic growth.
Images:
FRG-A GHTL-14 (104) Purse
FRG-A GHTL-14 (104)
FRG-A GHTL-14 (104) Soles