ABSTRACT
During the recent excavation1 of an Early Bronze Age burial cairn in Crawley Edge, County Durham, the top of an urn is exposed (plate 1.1a). Its texture is that of sticky porridge. The conservator is called in and the whole but badly damaged urn is carefully lifted as a block complete with its contents and surrounding deposit (plate 1.1b). In the conservation laboratory the whole package is x-rayed, revealing that no bones or artefacts are present within the urn. The packing is then partially removed and the conservator, together with the excavator, undertakes a micro-excavation of the urn, its contents, and its surrounding deposit. As each piece of pottery is exposed it is cleaned and consolidated with a water-miscible synthetic resin. All details observed, tests made, and treatments given are recorded; in this instance no evidence for the original contents of the urn is found. For accurate publication drawing, the pottery fragments are reconstructed over a clay core. Later, for display in the local museum, the missing gaps in the fabric are filled and toned in to enable the public to appreciate this rare example of Bronze Age pottery from the north-east of England (plate 1.1c).
