Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (12.2000(2001))

TELL AMARNA

SYRIA

mortar, both the bottom and the upper
one, has retained its inner cohesiveness and
attachment to the substructure and to the
cubes. The surface was heavily dirtied,
covered in places with remnants of
a secondary, white, probably limewash
layer.
In view of the conditions — the mosaic
floors are on private land, in a cultivated
nut-tree grove, unprotected and difficult to
secure — the only way evidently to protect
and preserve the floors was to remove them
and remount them on a new substructure
for display in museum conditions.
During the 2000 season all the
surviving mosaic floors were removed and
stored after appropriate protective
measures had been taken. The mosaics
were first photographed and drawn, then
divided into over forty bigger and smaller

fragments, to be removed successively
{Fig. 6). The borders of particular pieces
were determined both by the arbitrary
edges of the missing parts and by the
original geometric decoration, this coupled
with the technical possibilities.
After cleaning the surface, two layers of
gauze and a thin linen fabric were glued to
the mosaics with vinyl polyalcohol. Then
the floors were divided into fragments
removing the cubes found at the junctions.
Once the fragments were cut away from
their substratum, the pieces were transfer-
red to wooden boards and turned over in
order for the underside to be cleaned of
mortar. This was done in order to lessen the
weight of particular fragments and to
increase their cohesiveness. This done, the
mosaic fragments were packed in layers of
foam and moved to a storeroom.


Fig. 6. Conservators roll up the mosaic floor from the nave
(Photo T. Waliszewski)

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