Permits

Following receipt of the above, SAHRA addressed a letter to UP dated 6 September 2010
wherein the following concerns were raised by Permit Committee:
1 It is unclear whether the permit is to conserve unstable ceramics or to undertake
materials research on the fabric of the vessels. If the interest is in materials
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analysis, then the applicant may consider undertaking preliminary studies on
sherds rather than whole vessels.
2. Much of the application is phrased in terms of 'conservation', yet on page eight of
the proposal the applicant states that "this study will hinge upon the value of
conservation as a scientific tool, rather than the need for conservation in
archaeological collections." If there is indeed no need for conservation, we could
not possibly issue a permit for it
3. In order to do justice to the application, the Permit Committee requested the
following:
a. A detailed conservation assessment of each object, preferably compiled by a
specialist archaeological conservator, identifying particular threats to the stability
of each object. The documents submitted are inadequate. They note a number of
points of description, but do not detail how these may threaten the stability of the
objects.
b. Detailed protocols for each of the proposed treatments. By this is meant a step
by step description of each technique describing exactly what will be done, the
chemicals used and so on. The vague allusions in the current proposal are
inadequate.
c. A careful record of all interventions must be made and a description of each
intervention be given in addition to tick boxes (which do not specify the tools,
materials and methods used).