conservation – Archaeology News and Announcements

On April 23, 2024

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Awareness and Preservation Weeks is underway! The weeks kick off in April and continues into May with tours, clean-ups, gravestone conservation demonstrations, and other programs in and about historic cemeteries throughout the state. All programs are free, and most are outdoors. Rhode Island Cemetery Weeks is organized by the Rhode Island Advisory Commission on Historical Cemeteries and Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission in collaboration with many individual and organizational partners.

Here is the schedule for April – check out all the amazing events occuring this month!

4/1 Clean-up | Three burial lots, Cumberland
4/2 Clean-up | Two burial lots, Cumberland
4/3 Clean-up | Two burial lots, Cumberland
4/3 Birds & Burials Tour | Norman Bird Sanctuary, Middletown
4/4 Clean-up | Three burial lots, Cumberland
4/4 Colonial Newport Burial Sites & Stones Presentation | Edward King House, Newport
4/5 Clean-up | Four burial lots, Cumberland
4/5 Clean-up | Three burial lots, Cumberland
4/6 Clean-up | Riverside Cemetery, Burrillville
4/6 Geology tour | Woodland Cemetery, Coventry (rain date 4/13)
4/6 Clean-up | Three burial lots, Cumberland
4/6 Clean-up/Flagging | Isaac Collins Lot, Richmond
4/6 Pokanoket Royal Burial Ground Tour | Burr’s Hill Park, Warren (rain date 4/7)
4/7 Clean-up | Five+ burial lots, Cumberland
4/8 The Poorhouse Graves of Route 37 Panel Discussion| Central Cranston Public Library
4/13 Clean-up | Hopkins/Potter/Marsh Cemetery, Burrillville
4/13 Clean-up, stone cleaning, self-guided tours | Newman Cemetery, East Providence
4/13 Clean-up | Jonathan Foster Ground, Westerly
4/17 Clean-up, stone cleaning, self-guided tours | Newman Cemetery, East Providence
4/20 Clean-up | Old Baptist Church Yard, Exeter
4/20 Clean-up | Governor King/Borden Lot, Johnston
4/20 Arnold Burying Ground and Alice Brayton Tour | Arnold Burying Ground, Newport
4/20 Tour | Hotchkiss Cemetery, North Smithfield
4/20 Clean-up | Tillinghast Cemetery, Providence
4/21 Hike/Clean-up | John Gardner Lot, Exeter
4/23 Birds & Burials Tour | Norman Bird Sanctuary, Middletown
4/24 Living with the Dead in Rhode Island Talk | Central Cranston Public Library
4/27 Flagging | (meet at) Exeter Public Library
4/27 Tour | Hotchkiss Cemetery, North Smithfield
4/27 Tour | Common Burying Ground, Newport
4/27 Clean-up/data verification | North Burial Ground, Providence
4/27 Clean-up | Nicholas Thomas Lot, Scituate
4/27 Clean-up | Mowry Lot at Bryant University, Smithfield
4/27 Clean-up | Brayton Cemetery, Warwick
4/27 Clean-up | Babcock Lot, Westerly
4/28 Walking Tour | Moshassuck Cemetery, Central Falls
4/28 “Zinkies” walking Tour | North Burial Ground
4/28 Walking Tour | River Bend Cemetery, Westerly
4/28 Walking Tour | Precious Blood Cemetery, Woonsocket

There will also be ongoing exhibits:

4/2 – 5/31 Newport Historic Cemeteries Exhibit | Newport Public Library, Newport
4/10 – 5/18 Middletown Historic Cemeteries Exhibit | Middletown Public Library, Middletown

For more information on the event schedule for this year’s Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries Weeks, please visit the calendar!

Providence Preservation Society | Hacking Heritage UnConference

On April 11, 2024

Providence Preservation Society is excited to announce that the 6th Annual Hacking Hertiage UnConference is returning this Saturday, April 13. This one-day, participant-led gathering is open to anyone with an interest in exploring questions about community history, heritage, and preservation together with neighbors. Pop-up conversations invite questions and debate about how and why we protect, interpret, manage, and market our cultural heritage that may be uncomfortable, provocative, critical, or, as one of our steering committee members put it, just plain weird. It is a place to gather and talk together about things like experimental preservation, marginalized stories, historic houses, monuments, sites of conscience, and digital heritage.

Never been to an unconference before? All of the sessions are proposed and led by participants and don’t need to follow any particular format. They can be discussions, but they can also be a space for collaboration on a new project with new partners, or a community art-making workshop. All participants are welcome to submit session proposals in advance or at the event.

April 13 // 9:30 am – 1:00 pm

$10 suggested donation

ARIT Online Lecture | Alevi-Bektashi Digital Archive: A Project of Cultural Preservation

On March 5, 2024

The American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) is hosting an online lecture with Professor Ayfer Karakaya-Stump (History, The College of William and Mary) entitled “Alevi-Bektashi Digital Archive: A Project of Cultural Preservation.”

Professor Karakaya-Stump will discus the Alevi-Bektashi Digital Archive project undertaken in collaboration with Professor Cemal Kafadar, Harvard University. The project aims to document and safeguard the historical and cultural heritage of Alevi-Bektashi communities in Anatolia and the Balkans, making it accessible to a broad audience through a user-friendly digital platform.

March 11, 2024 at 6 pm Istanbul, 10 am EST

For more information on the lecture, as well as ARIT, please follow this link. To register for the online lecture, please click this link here.

ARCE Monthly Update

On February 1, 2024

2024 Annual Meeting: Registration Opens this February

The American Research Center in Egypt has released their monthly update! See more below:

Each year, ARCE hosts the preeminent Egyptological conference in the world. During this annual three-day meeting, scholars and expedition leaders present their research and discuss their latest project developments. Additionally, the meeting brings together hundreds of scholars who present on Egyptian history and heritage, recent fieldwork, technological advances, and much more.

The 2024 Annual Meeting will welcome Egyptologists, members of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, archeologists, and researchers from across the globe to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania from April 19th to the 21st.

Topic Article: “Nefertiti: Egyptian Wife, Mother, Queen and Icon”

“Neferneferuaten Nefertiti was the great royal wife of King Akhenaten and, in contemporary Western culture, is perhaps ancient Egypt’s most famous queen – as the iconic bust in the Berlin Museum evinces. She and Akhenaten produced six daughters, a female royal contingent that enjoyed unusual prominence during Akhenaten’s reign. In fact, Nefertiti holds the position as the Egyptian queen with the most surviving appearances on monuments and other artistic mediums…” (Laura Taronas)

Discover the captivating story of Nefertiti, the enigmatic queen of ancient Egypt! From her undeniable beauty to her influential role alongside King Akhenaten, this historical figure is truly spellbinding.

ARCE Conservation Project Updates

The conservation program at Khonsu Temple commenced its Spring Campaign this January with the target of completing work on the raised portico on the north side of the First Court as well as the roof and staircase.

A project to connect fragments of the granite barque shrine was also initiated after Dr. David Anderson’s work of last year revealed at least 15 joins that could be made from fragmented architectural and decorative elements. In parallel, the construction of the new USAID-funded Talatat magazine has started.

This two-storey structure, occupying approximately 700 m2 in plan, is concealed by a six-metre-high reconstructed section of the mudbrick enclosure wall of Nectanebo I to the west of Khonsu. The building envelope is expected to be completed by Ramadan, with fit-out following at the end of April.

The Osireion project, substantially funded in 2023 by the World Monuments Fund, will continue through 2024 with additional funds from the same source. The focus of the project is physical conservation, site management, and the completion of excavations that revealed in 2023 the remarkable transport ramp north of the main hall that was used for moving monumental blocks down into the construction pit of the structure.

For more information on the ARCE and how to become a member, view their website here.

Italy Conservation Summer Field School: San Gemini Preservation Studies

On January 26, 2024

In Fieldwork Opportunity

The San Gemini Preservation Studies is accepting applications for their summer field school in historic conservation. The deadline to apply is March 15, 2024.

Now in its 25th year, with alumni from over 170 colleges and universities worldwide, SGPS is dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage. They offer students the opportunity to study and travel in Italy where they acquire hands-on experience in restoration and conservation. The following sessions are available for this summer:

Session One (June 3 – 28)

Building Restoration – Touching the Stones Restoration of Traditional Masonry Buildings and Sketching and Analyzing Historic Buildings
(Program includes lectures and restoration field projects*)
Archaeological Ceramics Restoration Analysis and Restoration of Archaeological Ceramics in Italy
(Program includes lectures and restoration workshop*)
Book Bindings Restoration Introduction to the History and Craft of Bookbindings. Introduction to the Preservation and Preventive Conservation of Books
(Program includes lectures and practical workshop*)

Session Two (July 15 – August 9)

Paper Restoration Introduction to the Restoration and Conservation of Paper in Artwork and Archival Documents
(Program includes lectures and restoration workshop*)
Traditional Painting Techniques Traditional Materials, Methods of Painting and Art Restoration Issues
(Program includes lectures and painting workshop)
Preservation Theory and Practice in Italy Restoration Theory, Ethics and Issues (Program includes lectures and discussion)

*Field Projects:

Restoration of Porta Tuderte (also known as the San Giovanni City Gate) (13th century)
Analysis of medieval buildings in San Gemini as part of an urban study of the city
Restoration and conservation of artifacts from the Parco del Colosseo and Museo delle Storie di Bergamo
Restoration of the Historic Archives of the Commune di San Gemini
Archaeological research of the Roman Baths in the Ancient City of Carsulae

Short Intersession Program (June 30 – July 9) dates to be confirmed

Preservation Tour – Italy A ten-day trip visiting Siena, Florence and Rome, places of cultural interest, with emphasis on the urban and historical development of each town, including specialized visits to places of interest to restorers.

SGPS is a program of the International Institute for Restoration and Preservation Studies, based in New York. An academic relationship has been established with West Virginia University that offers our students the opportunity to apply for and receive credits through the WVU Art History Department. They have established cooperation agreements with the Museo della Storie di Bergamo and the Parco del Colosseo to study and conserve artworks and archaeological objects held in their museums, as well as a collaboration with the Historic Archives of the Commune di San Gemini for SGPS participants to study and conserve archival documents.

Their courses are open to students from various disciplines, both undergraduate and graduate. All lessons are taught in English.

To learn more an apply, access the website here.

ARCE Antiquities Endowment Fund Grants | Deadline February 15, 2024

In Funding & Fellowships

Created with resources from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as allocated by the U.S. Congress, ARCE’s Antiquities Endowment Fund (AEF) sustains an ongoing grants program to support the conservation, preservation and documentation of Egypt’s cultural heritage and the dissemination of knowledge about that heritage.

The Antiquities Endowment Fund awards one-year and three-year grants for discrete and highly focused professional projects that serve the conservation, preservation and documentation needs of Egyptian antiquities that are more than 100 years old. Projects may involve the actual conservation or protection of sites, buildings or objects; the participation of conservators or other appropriate specialists in antiquities projects; the training of conservators and students; or the production of publications and presentations that disseminate knowledge about Egypt’s cultural heritage.

Read more about the Antiquities Endowment Fund (AEF) projects, here. To find 2024 funding opportunities and apply, follow this link.

View the 2022 RI Heritage Festival Online!

The Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission has uploaded the full schedule of the 2022 Rhode Island Heritage Festival. Their digital events can be found through this youtube link, and are open to all viewers.

Updates from the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission

In Funding & Fellowships, News and Events

The Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission’s monthly bulletin is now available. The information below can be found on this bulletin; to sign up for a monthly e-newsletter and stay updated by the RH-PCH’s work, click this link.

Historic Preservation CAMP in Warwick

This October, dozens of Rhode Island Historic District Commission members and staff, as well as RIHPHC and Statewide Planning staff went to CAMP in Warwick. The Commission Assistance and Mentoring Program (CAMP) was presented by preservation planners Amber Stimpson and Chris Skelly on behalf of the National Association of Preservation Commissions (NAPC).

They met in Warwick’s Sawtooth Building—also known as the Apponaug Mill—for presentations on Preservation Planning, Alternative Materials, Secretary’s Standards and Local Guidelines, Public Outreach and Community Engagement, the Role of the Commissioner, and Violations and Enforcement.

Attendees were engaged and inspired—and they fulfilled their new 3-hour training requirement for members of municipal land use boards.

Prudent Stewardship

RIHPHC staff members Roberta Randall and Elizabeth Totten recently inspected the Sandy Point Lighthouse, which has been transferred from federal ownership to the Prudence Conservancy. This non-profit organization has managed the lighthouse in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard since 2001. The Conservancy plans to clean the lighthouse to remove biological growth and staining in anticipation of opening the building for tours led by the Prudence Island Historical & Preservation Society next summer.

The oldest extant lighthouse in Rhode Island, Sandy Point Lighthouse was constructed in 1823 in Newport Harbor and moved to Prudence Island in 1851. This two-story, tapered octagonal lighthouse is constructed of smoothly-faced granite blocks painted white and is capped by a rare “bird cage” lantern. The interior features a cut granite winder stair leading to the cast-iron balcony.

Three cheers for this historic lighthouse as it begins its third century!

Writer Grant and Fellowship Opportunities

There are many opportunities to secure funding for your preservation project:

Rhode Island Matching Grants for Historic Preservation (letter of inquiry due 12/4/23)
Save America’s Treasures Grants (application due 12/19/23)
Champlin Capital Grants (app due 1/15/24)
Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections (app due 1/12/24)
Van Beuren Charitable Foundation Grants (app due 1/16/24)
Landmarks of American History and Culture (app due 2/14/24)

More December updates can be found on their website.

Italian Conservation Field School