[Bonetools] doubt in taphonomy

[h13017cho at helka.iif.hu]

Dear Marina,
      To my mind the vanish is like the end point of a taphonomic process 
unless conditions in storage areexteme and the causes further degradation 
to the artifact.. It is VERY annoying to encounter such treatment. It was 
done commonly with the best intentions on many older collections. In 
Hungary it is also very common to put inventory numbers on the only 
'smooth surface' (read best preserved surface) of bone tools and then - just 
to make sure the 'reading' becomes impossible- a dash of varnish is 
slapped on top of that. As far as I know there is noway of removing the 
varnish without destoying the bone/antler surface beneath. 
     Does anyone out there knowof ways of at least removing a 
small portionof this horrible stuff without causing further damage?

Alice
Dr.Alice M.Choyke
Aquincum Museum
H-1131 Budapest
Zahony u. 4
Hungary
Telephone: (36-1 240-4268)
H13017cho at helka.iif.hu
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