Tracy Ireland

'The Absence of Ghosts': Landscape and Identity in the Archaeology of Australia's Settler Culture

This article is a case study investigating archaeology as a practice embedded in a complex web of culturally constructed codes of meaning or discourses. A distinctive form of discourse concerning the landscape and its role in determining national identity characterizes Australian culture. This discourse has been central to the construction of the idea of the nation and its past: in particular, concepts of the land as hostile and empty, of the bush as the essence of Australia, and of the landscape as feminine. The paper considers the ways in which this landscape discourse has operated within historical archaeological research and heritage management and discusses the implications of these discursive relationships for past and future research.

The Ethics of Cultural Heritage

Debates about the ethics of cultural heritage in the twentieth century were focused on the need to establish standards of professionalism and on the development of the skills and expertise required for rigorously objective conservation. The ethics of cultural heritage have often been conceived of in terms of three types of responsibilities: to the ‘archaeological record’ (or stewardship), to ‘diverse publics’ (or stakeholders) and to the profession and the discipline. This volume builds on recent approaches that move away from treating ethics as responsibilities to external domains and to the discipline and which seek to realign ethics with discussions of theory, practice and methods. The chapters in this collection chart a departure from the tradition of external heritage ethics, to a broader approach underpinned by the turn to human rights, issues of social justice and the political economy of heritage, conceptualising ethical responsibilities not as pertaining to the past but to a future-focused domain of social action.

Effects of Plant Dyes, Watercolors and Acrylic Paints on the Colorfastness of Japanese Tissue Papers

Conservation treatments may cause alterations to the aesthetic qualities and appearance of paper materials, including their color. The scientific evaluation of color change to measure the effects of conservation treatments is therefore valuable information for the conservator weighing the advantages and disadvantages of the various treatments and approaches available. In this study, two Japanese tissue papers (Yukyu-shi and Sekishu Mare) were treated with plant dyes including black tea, henna, fresh and dried Eucalyptus cinerea leaves, as well as selected watercolors and acrylic paints. Paper specimens were subjected to both moist-heat artificial aging and accelerated photo-aging and color changes were measured using spectrophotometry and microfading tests. Color change is here defined as a change in light/dark, red/green, and yellow/blue coordinates in the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) color space of light reflected from a colored surface before and after an intervention such as accelerated aging. The findings of this study show that paper samples treated with plant dyes experienced larger and more perceptible color changes, as measured by spectrophotometry, compared to untreated controls and samples treated with watercolors and acrylic paints. Thus, plant dyes have poor color stability after moist-heat aging when compared with watercolors and acrylic paints. Nevertheless, papers treated with alizarin crimson acrylic paint, dried eucalyptus leaves, and black tea exhibited minimal color change after photo-aging. This study provides paper conservators with a better understanding of toning materials and their color stability when chosen for paper conservation treatment.

‘I Felt Connected to a Past World’: A Survey of Visitors to Colonial Archaeological Sites Conserved In Situ in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract While there is extensive international literature on the technology and techniques of archaeological conservation and preservation in situ, there has been only limited discussion of the meanings of the places created and the responses they evoke in visitors. Experience in Australia and New Zealand over the past decade suggests that the conservation of colonial archaeological remains is today seen as a far more desirable option, whereas previously many would have suggested that this kind of conservation was only appropriate in ‘old world’ places like Greece and Italy; and that the archaeology of the colonial period was not old enough to be of value. This paper discusses a recent survey of visitors to colonial archaeological sites which reveals some of the ways in which these archaeological remains are experienced, valued, and understood, and gives some clues as to why conservation in situ is an expanding genre of heritage in this region. The visitors surveyed value colonial archaeological sites conserved in situ for the link they provide to place, locality, and memory; for the feeling of connection with the past they evoke; and for the experience they provide of intimacy with material relics from the past. This emphasis on the affective qualities of archaeological remains raises some issues in the post-colonial context, as it tends to reinforce received narratives of identity and history, and relies on the ‘European’ antiquarian appreciation of ruins — making the urban environment more like Europe by creating evidence of similar historical layering.

The Ethics of Visibility: Archaeology, Conservation and Memories of Settler Colonialism

The visibility created by archaeology and heritage conservation brings ethical responsibilities derived from how visibility provides the ‘condition of possibility’ for strategies of power and control. But through their material endurance, heritage places also provide opportunities for strategies of resistance and for individuals and groups to seek ethical experiences of reconciliation, recognition and respect in terms of their own particular social justice concerns and identity politics. In settler societies, colonial archaeological remains can be approached as ‘imperial debris’—locations where we can examine the ‘the longevity of structures of dominance and the uneven pace with which people can extricate themselves from the colonial order of things’.

Influence of acidity on the mechanical stability of retouched Japanese tissue papers during the course of artificial ageing

This study investigates the relationship between acidity and the mechanical properties of two Japanese tissue papers (Yukyu-shi and Sekishu Mare), which were treated with a range of plant dyes, watercolours and acrylic paints and then exposed to artificial ageing. Mechanical strength was correlated with the concentration of hydrogen ion (pH) which is an index of the acidic hydrolysis of cellulose in paper structure. In general, the papers treated with plant dyes were more acidic than those treated with watercolours and acrylic paints. Plant-dyed Japanese papers also displayed less folding and tear resistance after ageing and there was a difference in these properties in both of these papers. The untreated Sekishu Mare papers, as well as those treated with watercolours and acrylic paints, exhibited greater tear resistance than the Yukyu-shi papers treated in the same conditions. The Sekishu Mare and Yukyu-shi papers, both untreated and treated with acrylic paints, as well as the Yukyu-shi papers treated with plant dyes, suffered no loss of folding endurance after ageing, which was unexpected considering that the papers were aged for 12 days at 70°C and 65% relative humidity (RH). This study provides paper conservators with a better understanding of toning materials and their impact on the mechanical and chemical stability of papers often chosen for conservation treatments.

Toning Japanese tissue papers: An international survey of paper conservation practitioners

This paper presents the findings of an international online survey designed to understand more about accepted practice in paper conservation around the world. Japanese tissue papers have long been used for repairing old documents; however, their colour needs to be visually adjusted to be in keeping with the tonality of the document being repaired. Despite substantial literature on the dyeing of textiles, few studies have been conducted on the effects of toning materials on Japanese mending papers used for paper conservation purposes. The findings of this study suggest that paper conservators generally rely on personal experience, the information passed on from their colleagues and Japanese paper suppliers, and that they tend to feel confident about their choices, despite the fact that there has been little research on the long-term effects of toning materials on Japanese papers. We suggest that further research into the realities of practice and how different conservation and toning techniques have evolved in specific local, cultural and historical circumstances is a fruitful field for further research.

Commentary: ‘I dwell in Possibility’ — ethical futures for heritage and archaeology

Reflecting on the ethical challenges facing archaeologists working in Africa, and upon similar issues encountered in the Australian context, I consider two forms of ‘possibility’. The first concerns the ‘condition of possibility’ (following Kant and Foucaults concept of the episteme), i.e. the conditions that allow forms of power and authority to exist and produce subjects (in our case archaeology and heritage). The second is the kind of ‘possibility’ referred to in Emily Dickinsons poem — a future oriented opportunity for archaeology to be imaginatively reshaped.