Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (15.2003(2004))

ALEXANDRIA

EGYPT

drying each cut part with electric heaters.
Once this was completed, each section was
placed between wooden supports, separat-
ed from them with a layer of foam. The
wooden supports were wired together and
pulled out from the 8-meter trench on lines.
In an on-site field conservation lab, the
mosaic sections were laid face down and
the remnants of the bedding, consisting of
lime mortar and original floor substruc-
ture, were removed {Fig. 3). Cubes that
had stuck loosely and had been displaced
along the line of the crack were removed,
cleaned and secured back in place. The
cleaned back of the mosaic sections was
then sprayed with an impregnating 7%
solution of Primal AC 33 of Italian man-
ufacture. Everything was prepared for
introducing a new lime bedding, consol-

idating the separate parts, securing the
tesserae along the division lines and
placing the reconstructed floor in its new
place of exposition.
The last step of the work in the trench
was to cut out the emblema with the
figural representation. The surface was
cleaned mechanically and with a 5%
ammonia-water solution. The face of the
mosaic was stuck with cotton gauze using
Glutofix 600 methylcellulose adhesive of
Italian manufacture. The ceramic tray
supporting the emblema was cut away
from the bedding. It turned out that the
layer of tesserae in mortar bedding no
longer adhered to the ceramic support,
which subsequently broke into smaller
pieces. The coherent emblema was laid face
down and protected with foam and pieces


Fig. 1. Mosaic floor after preliminary cleaning of the surface
(Photo J. Lis)

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