Laura D'Alessandro will give a brief presentation on a few of the recent research projects carried out by the conservation staff at the Oriental Institute Conservation Laboratory. SMSI members will then have the opportunity to tour the conservation laboratory of the Oriental Institute and see behind the scenes as objects are prepared for exhibit.

Since the museum galleries will be open until 8:30pm, there will be an opportunity for interested members to sneak a peak at the newly opened East Gallery installation: Empires in the Fertile Crescent - Ancient Assyria, Anatolia and Israel.

Bio History
The Oriental Institute is a research organization, including a museum, devoted to the study of the ancient Near East. The museum houses a world-renowned collection of antiquities from the Near East, a small percentage of which are displayed in its public galleries.

In 1997 the Institute completed a major construction-renovation project which provided the museum with climate-control for its storage and display areas as well as additional space with a new wing. The conservation laboratory, located on the second floor of the new wing, officially opened in its current location in January 1998.

Bio Sketch
Laura D'Alessandro holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classical Civilizations from SUNY at Albany in New York and a Masters level degree in Archaeological and Ethnographic Object Conservation from the London Institute of Archeology, University of London. Her experience in conservation is broad and varied. D'Alessandro set up the first conservation laboratory at St. Mary's City, a 17th-18th century historic site operated by the State of Maryland. She was subsequently awarded a Mellon Advanced Conservation Fellowship in the conservation laboratory at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, and has worked at a variety of sites in New York and Massachusetts as well as in Cyprus, Sicily, and Sri Lanka.

D'Alessandro has served as a guest lecturer for area scientific organizations and has lectured on archaeological conservation for faculty and graduate archaeology students at the University of Chicago. In addition, she has served as a field reviewer for conservation journal submissions and federal granting agencies. For the past 3 years, she has served as a panelist on a federal granting review board in Washington, D.C. D'Alessandro has been employed at the Oriental Institute since 1986, where she currently heads the Oriental Institute's Conservation Laboratory.

Bio Sketch
Alison Whyte received an undergraduate degree in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia and a Master's degree in Ancient Studies from the University of Toronto. She is also a graduate of the Master of Art Conservation Program at Queen's University. In addition to participating on several archaeological excavations in Italy and Cyprus, Alison has completed internships at a variety of museums including The Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto), The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (Ankara), and The Field Museum (Chicago). Alison was selected as the Oriental Institute Museum's 2000-2001 Getty Intern in Advanced Archaeological Conservation and continues to work at this institution as an Assistant Conservator on contract.

SMSI Minutes 16 March 2005
"Microscopy in the Service of Archeological Conservation"
by Laura D'Alessandro and Alison White of the Oriental Institute.

President Bill Mikuska mentioned a letter from the McCrone Research Institute inviting SMSI to continue using their facilities and mentioned a similar invitation from McCrone Associates in Westmont and said that having two locations might make SMSI a stronger and more flexible organization. Those SMSI members who did not receive the McRI letter, please contact the McCrone Research Institute or any SMSI officer and request one.

Laura D'Alessandro in fast-forward mode in order to finish before 8:00 pm, but still in a charming, coherent manner, covered several projects necessary for the reinstallation of exhibits. Microscopes in the conservation lab were set up for SMSI members to view the artifacts:

• Glazed bricks from the Sin Temple facade, Khorsabad, Neo-Assyrian, King Sargon II ca. 721-705 BCE (rm. 7). The following colors were blue which darkens over time due to higher S content: cuprorivaite CaCuSi4O10 tetragonal. applied over a white ground (Egyptian Blue); black, carbon black; red, iron oxide; white, CaSO4; green, atacamite Cu2Cl(OH)3, paratacamite Cu3 (CuZn) (OH)6Cl2, trigonal. Robin Clark found atacamite on Icelandic manuscripts (SMSI meeting: 16 May 2000).
• A Cu object from Tel Asmar, Iraq, early Akkadian with acicular crystals, connellite Cu19Cl4SO4 (OH)32 . 3H2O. This object and the green pigments above, which form in closed environments due to high salt content, self-destruct due to Cl.
• A Megiddo iron 1200-1100 BCE containing Cu and still showing textile flax (transverse location ) with "S" fiber twist. The Cu protected the textile from bacteria. In Hebrew, hill of Megiddo is Armageddon (Rev. 16:16). SMSI members were invited to attend the OI Members Lecture Series at 8:00: "Excavation in the Precinct of the Goddess Mut, Karnak" by William H. Peck.

Respectfully submitted, Stan Schmidt, Acting Recording Secretary