Technologies for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage

PART I: plant materials in Cultural Heritage - Palaeobotany applies to archaeological sciences - interdisciplinarity and purposes of Archaeobotany - fossils/subfossil plant remains: depositional contexts and fossilization processes - rocks suitable to fossilization of plant remains - conceptual differences between animals and plants in the fossilization process - methods of archaeobotanical research applied to the study of Archaeology, Arts, Architecture and Environmental Sciences - sampling and analytical protocols for the study of plant remains - archaeobotanical techniques during excavation, sampling, coring, consolidation, transportation and storage of plant materials. PART II: plant macro- and microremains: wood, leaves, flowers, seeds and fruits, cuticles, stomatal apparatuses, phytoliths, pollen, spores - wood tissue: anatomical and histological features - wood of Gymnosperms and Dicotyledon Angiosperms: diagnostic sections - Archaeoxilology and Archaeoantrachology: the use of wood in the past - identification techniques for the study of leaves and epidermal tissues - fossil cuticles - Archaeocarpology: analytical methods and case studies -archaeopalynology: analytical techniques and case studies - the role of plant macro- and microremains in the reconstruction of past palaeoenvironments and paleoclimatic conditions.

Basic knowledge of plants and plant materials

Study material provided by the teacher through e-learning portal.

Optional

The exam is divided into two parts: 1) THEORETICAL, the student explains the role of archaeobotany within the study of Cultural Heritage; 2) PRACTICAL, the student identifies different types of fossil plant remains and describes them following the morphological features.

The class is based on presentations and detailed lessons on different fossil plant remains and sampling procedures carried out in laboratory.