Old Wood

Drewno zabytkowe stanowi majątek narodowy, i to bardzo często znacznej wartości pieniężnej. Pogarszanie się stanu fizycznego, a więc stanu zachowania drewnianych przedmiotów i obiektów muzealnych, będzie więc równoznaczne z uszczupleniem spuścizny kulturalnej. Aby do tego nie dopuścić i skutecznie przeciwdziałać niebezpieczeństwom, trzeba je dostrzegać i przewidywać, a do tego potrzebna jest ogromna wiedza o procesach zachodzących w drewnie pod wpływem czynników zewnętrznych.
W kontekście powyższego nie dziwią gorzkie słowa wypowiedziane przez jednego ze specjalistów od zagadnień konserwacji: „człowiek jest najgorszym wrogiem dzieł sztuki” (Coremans 1967). W otoczeniu ignorancji lub nieuzasadnionej pewności dokonywane są, nierzadko katastrofalne w skutkach, zabiegi konserwatorskie. Obiekty drewniane są narażane na zmienne warunki klimatyczne, które prowadzą do ich trwałych uszkodzeń. W różnych miejscach i odstępach czasowych zdarzają się te same błędy i niedopatrzenia.

"The traditional date of 1595 BCE for the destruction of Babylon by the Hittite king Mursili I is accepted by most historians for many years despite notable controversies. This pivotal date is considered crucial to the various calculations of the early chronology of the ancient Near East. According to the Venus Tablet (Enuma Anu Enlil 63) which describes the rising and setting of Venus during the reign of Ammisaduqa, there are only four possibilities implying four dates for the destruction of Ur: 1912, 1944, 2004, 2064 BCE. However, a tablet of astronomical omens (Enuma Anu Enlil 20) mentions a lunar eclipse, dated 14/III/48, at the end of the reign of Shulgi and another (Enuma Anu Enlil 21) mentions a lunar eclipse, dated 14/XII/24, at the end of the reign of Ibbi-Sin. Over the period 2200-1850 BCE there are only three pairs of eclipses, spaced by 42 years, matching the description of astronomical omens but only one agreeing with the previous four dates. Despite the excellent agreement the date of 1499 BCE is considered too low compared to Kassite and Hittite chronologies.
The second way to check the date for the fall of Babylon is to rebuild the chronology of this period thanks to synchronisms dated by astronomy from Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian and Israelite chronologies which provide synchronisms that can be dated independently. The Mesopotamian chronology of this period is reconstructed using the number of Assyrian eponyms (one a year) and the length of Babylonian reigns combined with the set of synchronisms among Assyrian and Babylonian kings in Annals. Consequently, the reign of Kassite King Gandash" (1661-1635), obtained from average durations, coincides with the reign of the Assyrian king Samsu-iluna (1654-1616) and Sealand king Ilum-maz-ilî (1664- 1594). In addition, the reign of Kassite King Agum II (1503-1487) and Sealand King Ayadaragalama (1498-1482) are consistent with a fall of Babylon in 1499 BCE. During the reign of Assur-dân I (1179-1133) eponyms began on 1st Nisan instead of 1 Sippu, but Assyrian lunar years without intercalation remained the norm until Tiglath-pileser I. As the Babylonian year began on 1st Nisan (shortly after the spring equinox), Assyrian years coincided with Babylonian lunar years with intercalation, thus the period between Assur-dân I and Tiglath-pileser I was therefore transitional.
Owing to the Babylonian chronology and synchronisms it is possible to date other chronologies (Egyptian, Elamite, Hittite and Mitannian). As lunar day 1, called psdntyw "shining ones", has played a major role in Egyptian religious celebrations, it is regularly quoted in ancient documents, which sometimes also date it in the civil calendar. This double-dating then allows an absolute dating, on condition that provided proper identification of the moon phase for that particular day. Present specialists rely on the work of Parker (in 1950) who defined this day as a first invisibility, that is to say the day (invisible!) just before the first lunar crescent. However in the papyrus Louvre 7848 containing a double date, lunar and civil, in the year 44 of Amasis, the first date (II Shemu 13) is lunar and the second (I Shemu 15) is civil and as the civil date fell on 21 September 558 BCE the lunar date fell on 9 (= 21 – 12) September 558 BCE which was a full moon day according to astronomy, not first invisibility! The lunar calendar at Elephantine with its system of double dates (Egyptian and Babylonian) used by Persians officials and Jewish scribes from 500 to 400 BCE confirms that the Egyptian lunar day 1 was a full moon (see Dating the Reign of Xerxes and Artaxerxes)."

UPS AND DOWNS AT KANESH proposes a revised sequence of Old Assyrian eponyms and establishes a relative and an absolute chronology by way of linking textual evidence, dendrochronology and archaeological stratigraphy. This chronological framework is used to trace broader historical and social developments of political and territorial centralisation in Anatolia, as well as to offer new insights in the social and commercial history of the Old Assyrian trade.
A number of economic and social transformations in Assyrian society over the course of two centuries are identified by way of a statistical and prosopographical analysis. It is shown how the economic system that drove the well-known overland trade of the early Colony Period collapsed in a dramatic fashion after only thirty years (c. 1895-1865 BC), and that a series of changes in administrative organisation were created in immediate response. A primary vehicle in financing the trade – the joint-stock enterprise – was abandoned, and exchange came to be organised by way of venture trade. A distinct community of hybrid Assyrian-Anatolian households grew more prominent as mixed families came to be engaged mainly in local Anatolian trade and agriculture. In turn, a small and wealthy Assyrian elite functioned as permanently settled foreign trading agents, and a distinctive group of itinerant merchants continued to engage in the caravan trade and connect the Anatolian colonies to the mother city of Assur.

Presented in the article are the methods of in-depth studies aiming at improvement of the obtaining of biological residues. This need stems from the fact that the methods of flotation and washing have long been widely and successfully used all over the world, but hardly used at archaeological sites in Ukraine. In this connection, potential archaeological sources are voluntary «depleted». In addition, taking into account that classic archaeological research are carried out by destroying the objects of research, such losses are unrecoverable.
Keywords: methods of archaeological research, flotation, washing, biological samples, natural science methods.