Articles

Accelerated ageing of paper: effect of lignin content and humidity on tensile properties

Paper degradation menaces the useful lifetime of books, manuscripts, and works on paper during storage, circulation, and display in libraries, archives, and museums. Severe damages such as embrittlement, decay...

Authors: Edyta Małachowska, Marcin Dubowik, Piotr Boruszewski and Piotr Przybysz

A pioneer of acrylic painting: new insights into Carmen Herrera’s studio practice

Carmen Herrera, born on May 30th, 1915, is a Cuban American abstract minimalist artist, whose first solo show was held at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, in 2016–2017. On this occasion, a scienti...

Authors: Federica Pozzi, Elena Basso, Silvia A. Centeno, Isabelle Duvernois and Julie Arslanoglu

Factorial experimentation on photodegradation of historical paper by polychromatic visible radiation

Quantification of the degradation behaviour of heritage objects is essential to manage the rate of degradation and hence optimise their lifetime. In this research, a 2³ full factorial experiment was carried out t...

Authors: Yun Liu, Tom Fearn and Matija Strlič

Correction to: Restoring scratched cine-film via reducing light scattering

Authors: Qingmeng Xu, Feifan Xu and Daodao Hu

Correction to: Visualizing the cultural landscape gene of traditional settlements in China: a semiotic perspective

Authors: Zui Hu, Josef Strobl, Qingwen Min, Min Tan and Fulong Chen

Study on the causes of secondary cracks of the eave wall mural of Daxiong Hall at Fengguo Temple in Yixian, Liaoning, China

Built in Kaitai 9 years after the beginning of the Liao Dynasty (1020 A.D.), the Daxiong Hall of Fengguo Temple (Yixian County, Liaoning Province) is one of China’s largest existing ancient single-eave wooden ...

Authors: Cheng Liu, Yuan He, Qian Li and Fei Wang

Comparative analysis of information tendency and application features for projection mapping technologies at cultural heritage sites

With the rapid development of interactive technologies using projection mapping (PJM), these digital technologies have introduced new interpretative possibilities for the presentation of cultural heritage site...

Authors: Hengyi Li and Hiromu Ito

Beneficial effect of gelatin on iron gall ink corrosion

Iron gall Inks corrosion causes paper degradation (browning, embrittlement) and treatments were developed to tackle this issue. They often include resizing with gelatin to reinforce the paper and its cellulosi...

Authors: Alice Gimat, Anne Michelin, Pascale Massiani and Véronique Rouchon

The spatiotemporal evolution of ancient cities from the late Yangshao to Xia and Shang Dynasties in the Central Plains, China

The Central Plains has a long history, rich culture, unique geographical advantages, and profound cultural heritage. The occurrence of ancient cities in the Central Plains marks the formation of Chinese state-...

Authors: Lijie Yan, Ruixia Yang, Peng Lu, Fei Teng, Xia Wang, Li Zhang, Panpan Chen, Xiang Li, Lanbo Guo and Dong Zhao

A new reinforcement method for the conservation of fragile, double-sided, printed paper cultural relics

Paper cultural relics such as double-sided printed newspapers and periodicals represent modern cultural heritage. Severe damage such as embrittlement, decay, and dreg generally occur to paper; hence, it urgent...

Authors: Jiaojiao Liu, Huiping Xing, Juanli Wang, Jing Cao, Xiaolian Chao, Zhihui Jia and Yuhu Li

Nano-materials enhanced protectants for natural stone surfaces

Most heritage buildings and monuments are constructed out of natural stones which suffer irrevocable degradation when undergoing wet weathering, bowing, and dissolution in outdoor conditions. Self-cleaning tre...

Authors: Zaixin Xie, Zhuoqi Duan, Zhanqiang Zhao, Ruheng Li, Bao Zhou, Dequan Yang and Yongmao Hu

Temporal and spatial distribution of ancient sites in Shaanxi Province using geographic information systems (GIS)

Revealing the evolutionary history of the relationship between humans and Earth will help us understand the spatial and temporal distribution of ancient cultural sites (referred to as ancient sites). This rese...

Authors: Litao Zhu, Zhengwei Li, Huimin Su and Xing Wang

Exploring spatiotemporal changes in cities and villages through remote sensing using multibranch networks

With the rapid development of the social economy, monumental changes have taken place in the urban and rural environments. Urban and rural areas play a vital role in the interactions between humans and society...

Authors: Zhao Mengqi and Tian Yan

Dutch or Iranian? Technical study of a seventeenth-century painting on paper from Gesina Ter Bosch’s scrapbook

A scrapbook compiled between 1660 and 1687 by Gesina ter Borch (1631–1690), a female artist from the small town of Zwolle in the Netherlands, contains an intriguing painting on paper of a full-length portrait ...

Authors: Amélie Couvrat Desvergnes, Leila Sauvage, Jan de Hond, Paolo D’Imporzano and Matthias Alfeld

Unique traditional villages on the Loess Plateau of China: historic evolution and challenges to sustainable development of silo-caves

Silo-cave is a unique human habitation form on the Loess Plateau in northern China, which consists of an excavated 6–7 m deep pit as the courtyard and cave dwellings in the surrounding four walls. This archite...

Authors: Li Zhang, Peng Lu, Raymond Lau, Lijie Yan, Xiang Li, Ruixia Yang, Ho Hon Leung, Panpan Chen and Xia Wang

Characterization and identification of Chinese historical rubbings preserved in Wuyuan Museum by Pyrolysis–Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry

For conservation and restoration purposes, the precious historical rubbings preserved in Wuyuan Museum were studied by multi-analytical techniques including ¹⁴C radiocarbon dating, scanning electron microscopy (S...

Authors: Na Yao, Xiangsheng Zhan, Qinglin Ma and Shuya Wei

Polychrome arhat figures dated from the Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE) at the Lingyan Temple, Changqing, Shandong, China

Scientific analysis revealed the materials and techniques used in the process of making polychrome sculptures providing a solid foundation for the protection and restoration of the painted statues. In addition...

Authors: Yongdong Tong, Youzhen Cai, Xuening Wang, Zhimin Li, Austin Nevin and Qinglin Ma

Visualizing the cultural landscape gene of traditional settlements in China: a semiotic perspective

China has a deep traditional culture and a long history, and is rich in traditional settlements (designated as “Famous Historic-Cultural Villages/Towns”, “Chinese Traditional Villages” by Chinese Government). ...

Authors: Zui Hu, Josef Strobl, Qingwen Min, Min Tan and Fulong Chen

Emergent heritage: the digital conservation of archaeological sites in reservoirs and the case of the Dolmen de Guadalperal (Spain)

The dolmen of Guadalperal (Spain) became well known in 2019 when the waters of the reservoir in which it had long been submerged became so depleted as to leave it above water and highly visible. This gave rise...

Authors: Enrique Cerrillo-Cuenca, José Juan de Sanjosé Blasco, Primitiva Bueno-Ramírez, Juan Antonio Pérez-Álvarez, Rodrigo de Balbín Behrmann and Manuel Sánchez-Fernández

Modelling medieval masonry construction: taxa-specific and habitat-contingent Bayesian techniques for the interpretation of radiocarbon data from Mortar-Entrapped Relict Limekiln Fuels

Using data from simulated and actual case studies, this paper assesses the accuracy and precision of Bayesian estimates for the constructional date of medieval masonry buildings, generated from the radiocarbon...

Authors: Mark Thacker

Analysis of red chalk drawings from the workshop of Giovanni Battista Piranesi using fiber optics reflectance spectroscopy

The viability of fiber optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) for the differentiation of red chalk drawing media was investigated, focusing on the group of drawings from the workshop of Giovanni Battista Piran...

Authors: Maria Krämer, Ute Henniges, Irene Brückle, Laura Lenfant and Kirsten Drüppel

Analyses and findings of unusual substitute materials in a raincoat from WWII

Due to the coating materials used, historic raincoats are vulnerable to degradation and rarely survive long periods of time. The investigated raincoat dating from 1943 is no exception—the coating is unusually ...

Authors: Clara Bratt Lauridsen, Theis Brock-Nannestad and Kim Pilkjær Simonsen

Regularity in distribution, and control, of pests in the hall of mental cultivation, the Forbidden City, Beijing, China

Pests can seriously threaten the safety of organic relics and historic buildings. Every year, the Palace Museum spends a large of money and time preventing and controlling pests, but there is still no a better...

Authors: Guoqing Zhang, An Gu and Le Wei

Artificial lightning strike tests and coupled electrical–thermal analysis on roofing glazed tiles of ancient buildings

Lightning strike is one of the natural disasters to the roof components of ancient buildings. To investigate the causes and damage effects of lightning strikes on the roofing glazed tiles of ancient buildings,...

Authors: Jingxiao Li, Zhiling Fang, Lin Fu, Shangchen Fu, Lihua Shi, Yun Li and Peidong Huo

A multi-analytical approach for the identification of the natural resin from the Ming tomb in Shaanxi, China

Several well-preserved polychrome lacquered coffins were found in Zhang Dong family’s tombs in Shaanxi, China, rare in the history of archaeological excavation. In the lacquered coffins, a large amount of dark...

Authors: Lang Guo, Yaxu Zhang, Liqin Wang, Xing Zhao, Fuwei Yang, Meiman Peng, Jinyi Guo, Kun Li and Xiaomeng Wang

3D modelling of an Asbad (Persian windmill): a link between vernacular architecture and mechanical system with a focus on Nehbandan windmill

Asbads (Persian windmills) present a multifaceted view of using heritage science. These mills are no longer in use due to advances in technology and the advent of new grinding systems. Windmills show perfect h...

Authors: Mahsa Zarrabi and Nima Valibeig

A multi-scalar investigation of the colouring materials used in textile wrappings of Egyptian votive animal mummies

Commonly exhibited in museum galleries, animal mummies have been the focus of interest of both visitors and researchers alike. The study of these animal remains not only provides new insights into embalming te...

Authors: Diego Tamburini, Joanne Dyer, Marie Vandenbeusch, Matilde Borla, Debora Angelici, Maurizio Aceto, Cinzia Oliva, Federica Facchetti, Sara Aicardi, Patrizia Davit and Monica Gulmini

Reflectance transformation imaging for documenting changes through treatment of Joseon dynasty coins

We present reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) as a documentation tool for visualizing and recording the treatment of coins. RTI—a computational photograph technique that calculates light positions—allows...

Authors: Jihyun Min, Sanghoon Jeong, Kangwoo Park, Yeonghwan Choi, Daewon Lee, Jaehong Ahn, Donghwan Har and Sangdoo Ahn

Corrosion of Longquan celadons in the marine environment: study on the celadons from the Dalian Island shipwreck of the Yuan Dynasty

The Dalian ( ) Island shipwreck of the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368 CE) was located in the sea area of Pingtan ( ), Fujian ( ...

Authors: Yan He, Weidong Li, Jianan Li, Changsong Xu and Xiaoke Lu

The influence of light and relative humidity on the formation of epsomite in cadmium yellow and French ultramarine modern oil paints

The effect of relative humidity (RH) and light on the development of epsomite (MgSO₄·7H₂O) in Winsor & Newton cadmium yellow (CY) and French ultramarine (FU) artists’ oil colour paints was investigated. Tube pain...

Authors: Jessie Harrison, Judith Lee, Bronwyn Ormsby and David J. Payne

Study on the linear absent section ratio (L-ASR) of earthen sites and anthropogenic influence from the perspective of population density

Having extremely high artistic, scientific and social values, earthen sites are widely distributed in China and are important human cultural relic resources. Due to accumulated natural erosions (from rain and ...

Authors: Yumin Du, Wenwu Chen, Kai Cui, Wenqiang Dong, Shuai Zhang and Qiyong Zhang

Discovering the evolution of Jacques-Louis David’s portrait of Antoine-Laurent and Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze Lavoisier

Jacques-Louis David’s (1748–1825) iconic portrait of Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794) and Marie-Anne Lavoisier (Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze, 1758–1836) has come to epitomize a modern couple born of the Enlig...

Authors: Silvia A. Centeno, Dorothy Mahon, Federico Carò and David Pullins

Rationality in pier geometry of Kintaikyo Bridge from viewpoint of river engineering

The Kintaikyo Bridge, with its elegant wooden arches, has a unique pier shape and continues to be loved by residents and visitors alike. Although this bridge is an active footbridge and an important landscape ...

Authors: Hirokazu Sato

Monitoring and assessment of endangered UNESCO World Heritage Sites using space technology: a case study of East Rennell, Solomon Islands

Space technology offers effective tools to monitor the status of World Natural Heritage sites. East Rennell Island, which covers approximately 37,000 hectares (ha) and a marine area extending three nautical mi...

Authors: Sijia Huo, Mengmeng Wang, Guolong Chen, Huiqin Shu and Ruixia Yang

Towards building a Cathodoluminescence (CL) database for pigments: characterization of white pigments

Paintings and painted surfaces are considered to be extremely complex due to their multitude of materials and thus form the basis for particularly intricate Cultural Heritage studies. The combination of Scanni...

Authors: E. Palamara, P. P. Das, S. Nicolopoulos, L. Tormo Cifuentes, E. Kouloumpi, A. Terlixi and N. Zacharias

Investigation and analysis of groundwater-derived damage to the Shahe ancient bridge site in Xi’an, China

Earthen cultural ruins and their subsurface environments act as carriers or support for aboveground cultural heritage artefacts, and groundwater has been identified as the most important factor accelerating th...

Authors: Jing Cao, Bingjie Mai, Hua Chen, Yuhu Li and Juanli Wang

Provenance of Zhou Dynasty bronze vessels unearthed from Zongyang County, Anhui Province, China: determined by lead isotopes and trace elements

Thirteen Zhou Dynasty bronze vessels and two slags from Zongyang County along the north bank of the Yangtze River in Anhui were analyzed by LA-MC-ICP-MS and EDXRF. The results of lead isotope analysis showed t...

Authors: Yanjie Wang, Guofeng Wei, Qiang Li, Xiaoping Zheng and Danchun Wang

Characterization of Korean handmade papers collected in a Hanji reference book

Korean hand papermaking is a renowned cultural tradition in the Korean peninsula. It is still practiced while scientific analysis of paper itself from a large data set is rare. In this study, a set of more tha...

Authors: Bin Han, Léon-Bavi Vilmont, Hyoung-Jin Kim, Bertrand Lavédrine, Shouji Sakamoto and Michel Sablier

Combination of HBIM and UAV photogrammetry for modelling and documentation of forgotten heritage. Case study: Isabel II dam in Níjar (Almería, Spain)

The Isabel II dam is a monumental hydraulic structure built in the middle of the nineteenth century in Spain. In this study, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry was used as a data acquisition techniqu...

Authors: Patricio Martínez-Carricondo, Fernando Carvajal-Ramírez, Lourdes Yero-Paneque and Francisco Agüera-Vega

Virtual cleaning of works of art using deep convolutional neural networks

A varnish layer that is applied to a painting, generally to protect it, yellows over time, deteriorating the original look of the painting. This prompts conservators to undertake a cleaning process to remove t...

Authors: Morteza Maali Amiri and David W Messinger

The color change analysis of historic wooden remains after fire-suppression by fluorinated chemical gases

Many wooden Chinese historic buildings are destroyed due to the ravages of frequent fire disasters. The fire risk of historic buildings are highly enlarged since a long-time weathered wooden structures in the ...

Authors: Wei Ke, Wanyu Yang, Biao Zhou, Kai Wang, Jiazhi Sun, Xukun Sun, Min Xu, Qingqing Chen, Bo Qiu, Wei Wang and Xuan Wang

The Network Initiative for Conservation Science (NICS): a model of collaboration and resource sharing among neighbor museums

Authors: Federica Pozzi and Elena Basso

Metadata schema and ontology for capturing and processing of 3D cultural heritage objects

Motivated by the increased use of 3D acquisition of objects by cultural heritage institutions, we were investigating ontologies and metadata schemes for the acquisition process to provide details about the 3D ...

Authors: Timo Homburg, Anja Cramer, Laura Raddatz and Hubert Mara

Interdisciplinary approach to studying written nomadic sources in the context of modern historiology

This article uses an interdisciplinary approach to analyze textual sources from nomadic civilization. Linguistic analysis has been increasingly used due to the emergence of a huge array of autochthonous and au...

Authors: Akmaral Ibrayeva, Assemgul Temirkhanova, Zaure Kartova, Tlegen Sadykov, Nurbolat Abuov and Anatoliy Pleshakov

The story of the “Qiulai” qin unraveled by radiocarbon dating, Chinese inscriptions and material characterization

An ancient table zither qin, an emblematic stringed instrument of traditional Chinese music, has been rediscovered in the museum collection of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (inv.4224, CNAM collec...

Authors: Marie-Gabrielle Durier, Alexandre Girard-Muscagorry, Christine Hatté, Tiphaine Fabris, Cyrille Foasso, Witold Nowik and Stéphane Vaiedelich

Materials and techniques used for the “Vienna Moamin”: multianalytical investigation of a book about hunting with falcons from the thirteenth century

A multianalytical approach was used to characterize the materials in the “Vienna Moamin”, an outstanding richly illustrated manuscript from the late thirteenth century, which was made in Italy and is now kept ...

Authors: Wilfried Vetter, Bernadette Frühmann, Federica Cappa and Manfred Schreiner

Ancient mural classification methods based on a multichannel separable network

Ancient murals are of high artistic value and boast rich content. The accurate classification of murals is a challenging task for researchers and can be arduous even for experienced researchers. The image clas...

Authors: Jianfang Cao, Yiming Jia, Huiming Chen, Minmin Yan and Zeyu Chen

Joint development of cultural heritage protection and tourism: the case of Mount Lushan cultural landscape heritage site

The joint development of cultural heritage protection and tourism is an essential part of sustainable heritage tourism. Mount Lushan in China is such a site which in the past has had shortcomings in heritage p...

Authors: Cai Zhenrao, Fang Chaoyang, Zhang Qian and Chen Fulong

Effects of yellow natural dyes on handmade Daqian paper

Natural yellow plant dyes and traditional medicines were used widely on historical papers in ancient China for religious reasons and conservation considerations. This study aims to evaluate some traditional ye...

Authors: Yanbing Luo and Xiujuan Zhang

Analytical investigation of the feather decoration technique of a seventeenth to eighteenth century Chinese imperial hanging screen

Decoration with feathers is a universal phenomenon in human history. Objects decorated with feathers were regarded as fine artworks and hence were enormously prized. In ancient China, dotting a surface with bl...

Authors: An Gu, Na Wang, Yan-ju Kong, Jia-yu Hou, Gen Li and Yong Lei