Data-base as by-product of European projcets activity: The EFESTUS case

In the framework of the EFESTUS project financially supported by the European Commission (INCOMED contract No. ICA3-CT-2002-10030) and aimed to find tailored strategies for the conservation of archaeological value bronze artefacts from Mediterranean Countries, an Anglo-Arabic integrated information system has been developed. The system allows communication based on a web site, the control and the exchange of information within the partners and European and Mediterranean Museum and Conservation Institutions and includes also a digital Atlas with detailed physical-chemical information on the representative Cu-based artifacts related to the burial conditions, degradation mechanism and conservation methods. The main objective of the Anglo-Arabic web site is the dissemination of the project results in order to spread the range of advantages offered by the knowledge of the Cu-base degradation mechanisms, by the identification of the chemical and metallurgical features of the Cu-base ancient alloys and by the employment of the traditional or innovative conservation methodologies and products. The main EFESTUS Partners effort has been aimed for producing data sheets published in the EFESTUS Anglo-Arabic web site for presenting the EFESTUS project results and in particular the main chemical and metallurgical features as well as the nature of the corrosion products and of the archaeological soils. In these data sheets, the most significant results achieved in the framework of the Work Packages and information concerning the Mediterranean Cu-based archaeological artefacts found during the archaeological excavation of the selected archaeological contexts are reported and described with some information concerning the archaeological sites and the main soil chemical-physical parameters. Furthermore, the data sheets describe the main chemical, micro-chemical, micro-structural and metallurgical features of the bronze objects. Furthermore, the data sheets will be used for producing a Mediterranean Atlas where are clearly identified the best practises for the cleaning and the conservation of the Mediterranean copper based artefacts in order to ensure them a long-life and a sustainable management as well as to avoid a further degradation.