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Tag Archives: weathering
Saltforvitring på kulturminner. Om enkel analyse av salt: Lag din egen kjøkkenlab!
Over er det et bilde av noe du har sett tusen ganger før. Halitt! Vanlig koksalt. Natriumklorid. Ganske enkelt bordsalt. Havsalt! Havet inneholder jo noe sånt som 3,5% oppløst salt. Når pyttene i fjæra får stå i fred noen dager og sola skinner fra skyfri himmel, da lurer saltet seg ut. Sjøvannet fordamper og etterlater seg de fineste krystaller av ren halitt. Sånn laget man koksalt i gamle dager, handlet med det, kriget om det. For uten koksalt kan vi ikke leve. Kanskje fyrte man opp under brede kjeler med sjøvann for å få fordampningen til å gå raskere, kanskje kjøpte man salt fra store saltgruver på Kontinentet. Men prinsippet er det samme: Når saltholdig vann fordamper, da får vi krystallinsk salt. Men hva om du ikke visste at de fine krystallene i fjæra er koksalt? Og hva om du fant noe som lignet på disse krystallene på et ødelagt murmaleri eller en steinskulptur fra middelalderen? Hva gjør krystallene forresten der? Var det de som ødela? Hva gjør du da? Continue reading
Nidarosdomen og forvitring – sett fra 17 år tilbake i tid
Ganske tilfeldig kom jeg over en utgammel tekst om Nidarosdomen og forvitring her forleden. Det viste seg snart at det var en omtale av min egen doktoravhandling om temaet fra 1998; stødig ført i pennen av Hans Georg Jürgens og publisert i Universitetsavisa i Trondheim. Så leste jeg gjennom. Og fant ut at det meste har aktualitet den dag i dag. For om man googler “Nidarosdomen og forvitring”, så dukker det fortsatt opp helt tullete skremselsbilder om gigantisk luftforurensning som tærer på nasjonal-helligdommen. Nei, forvitringen på Nidarosdomen er nok mer kompleks enn som så.
Så jeg tillater meg å sitereden 17 år gamle omtalen til Hans Georg Jürgens i sin helhet. Den har tittelen:
“Nidarosdomen skranter… Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Monument conservation, Norway, Old quarries
Tagged forvitring, Nidaros Cathedral, Nidarosdomen, weathering
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Standing at the edge of the abyss: The castle ruin at Cartatscha in Graubünden (Switzerland)
Working as a conservation scientist I care for cultural heritage. My “problem” is that I’m also interested in the history of decay, including catastrophic events; just these phenomena that turn old masonry to rubble. But I’ve never seen it “live” … Continue reading
Posted in Ruins, Switzerland, Weathering history
Tagged Cartatscha, Graubünden, historic photos, ruin, Surselva, Switzerland, weathering
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The Mauerzahn at Grünenfels castle ruin (CH) revisited after massive snowfall
Ten days ago winter arrived in the Swiss Alps with massive snowfall. Subsequent temperature increase and intensive rainfall led to major floods, avalanches and destruction of infrastructure such as villages and roads. Such events sometimes also affect old buildings and … Continue reading
Posted in Ruins, Switzerland, Weathering history
Tagged Graubünden, Grünenfels, ruin, Surselva, Switzerland, weathering
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New York Times: “Egypt or Central Park: Where Does an Ancient Obelisk Belong?”
The issue of bringing Central Park’s Cleopatra’s Needle back to Egypt is still in the media. See this recent video from New York Times on the weathering of the New Kingdom obelisk: …and check out these blog posts of mine … Continue reading
Cooperation with Norwegian conservation company
An agreement of cooperation has been signed with the Norwegian conservation company “Bakken & Magnussen AS” in Trondheim, Norway. The idea is to expand the competence of the conservation company with services related to conservation science and geoarchaeology. Bakken & … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Monument conservation, New projects, Norway
Tagged conservation, Cultural heritage, Norway, ruin, soapstone, weathering
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Cleopatra’s Needle: Egyptian concern about the NYC obelisk
A few days ago Secretary General Zahi Hawass of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities expressed grave concern about the condition of Cleopatra’s Needle of NYC and even threatened to take the obelisk back to Egypt if care is not … Continue reading
A Mauerzahn at Grünenfels castle ruin (CH): Surviving 2011?
Switzerland has a wealth of medieval castle ruins. In the Canton of Graübunden they are particularly numerous with, for example, the valley of Vorderrheintal (Surselva) displaying no less than about 50 ruins. Some are almost gone, others are kept in … Continue reading
Posted in Ruins, Switzerland, Weathering history
Tagged Graubünden, Grünenfels, historic photos, ruin, Surselva, Switzerland, weathering
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Cleopatra’s Needle: Tracing obelisk weathering with old photos
Historic photos are essential for research on monument weathering. With free internet access to archives, such photos are now easier to find than previously. Below, I will show the case of Cleopatra’s Needle, a famous Ancient Egyptian obelisk transferred to … Continue reading
Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Monument conservation, Weathering history
Tagged Alexandria, Ancient Egypt, Aswan, Cleopatra's Needle, granite, Heliopolis, historic photos, London, Luxor, New York, obelisk, Paris, weathering
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Stone weathering at the westernmost coast of Norway
As probably one of only very few monuments globally, the ruined Selja medieval abbey off the westernmost coast of Norway is built from a metamorphic olivine stone (dunite) rich in talc. The combination of a hard olivine matrix and soft … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Monument conservation, New projects, Norway, Ruins, Weathering history
Tagged conservation, historic photos, Norway, olivine, salt, Selja, weathering
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Per Storemyr Geoarchaeology & Conservation 