This page intentionally left blank The Conservation of Decorated Surfaces on Earthen Architecture Proceedings from the International Colloquium Organized by the Getty Conservation Institute and the National Park Service Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, USA September 22-25, 2004 Edited by Leslie Rainer and Angelyn Bass Rivera THE GETTY CONSERVATION INSTITUTE Los ANGELES Front cover: View of a traditional dwelling, northern Ghana (photo: Thierry Joffroy, CRATerre-EAG, 1997). Back cover (clockwise from top left): Detail of Babban Gwani, Bauchi, Nigeria (photo: Ishanlosen Odiaua, 2004); painted earthen plaster on the interior of Room 121, Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park (photo: Angelyn Bass Rivera, 1999); detail of a screen wall, Adarko Jachi shrine, Ghana (photo: Thierry Joffroy, CRATerre-EAG); and detail of Banqueting Scene with Dancers (EA37984), wall painting fragment from the Tomb of Nebamun, British Museum (photo: Corinna Kenyon). The Getty Conservation Institute Timothy P. Whalen, Director Jeanne Marie Teutónico, Associate Director, Programs The Getty Conservation Institute works internationally to advance conservation and to enhance and encourage the preservation and understanding of the visual arts in all of their dimensions—objects, collections, architec- ture, and sites. The Institute serves the conservation community through scientific research; education and training; field projects; and the dissemination of the results of both its work and the work of others in the field. In all its endeavors, the Institute is committed to addressing unanswered questions and promoting the highest possible standards of conservation practice. © 2006 J. Paul Getty Trust Getty Publications 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 500 Los Angeles, California 90049-1682 Christopher Hudson, Publisher Mark Greenberg, Editor in Chief Patrick Pardo, Project Editor Leslie Tilley, Manuscript Editor Pamela Heath, Production Coordinator Hespenheide Design, Designer Printed in Singapore by Imago Every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders of the photographs and illustrations in this book to obtain permission to publish. Any omissions will be corrected in future editions if the publisher is contacted in writing. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The conservation of decorated surfaces on earthen architecture / edited by Leslie Rainer, Angelyn Bass Rivera. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN-13: 978-0-89236-850-1 (pbk.) ISBN-IO: 0-89236-850-0 (pbk.) 1. Mural painting and decoration, Ancient—Conservation and restoration. 2. Decoration and ornament, Archi- tectural—Conservation and restoration. 3. Earth construction. 4. Architecture, Ancient. I. Rainer, Leslie H., 1960- II. Rivera, Angelyn Bass. ND2560.C66 2006 751.7'30288—dc22 2005030987 Contents Timothy P. Whalen and Larry T. Wiese vii Foreword Leslie Rainer ix Préface xiii Acknowledgments Delbridge Honanie/Coochsiwukioma xv Opening Dedication PART ONE Archaeological Sites Giacomo Chiari 3 Introduction Alastair Northedge 5 Abbasid Earth Architecture and Decoration at Samarra, Iraq David Singleton, Eric Miller, and Pamela Rose 15 The Taharqo Wall Painting Rescue at Qasr Ibrim, Egypt Archaeological Site Conservation at Mesa Verde National Park Rebecca J. Carr 24 Part I. Surface Finish Preservation: A Summary of Current Work for the Archeological Site Conservation Program of Mesa Verde National Park Larry V. Nordby 36 Part II. Surface Finishes, Decoration, and Social Organization at Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park PART TWO Museum Practice Susan Thomas 51 Introduction IV Angelyn Bass Rivera, Leslie Rainer, and Lydia Vagts 53 Out of Their Native Earth: The History of Excavation and Conservation of Ancient Hopi Murals from Awatovi and Kawaika-a Kathleen M. Garland and Joe C. Rogers 66 Paradise: To Intervene or Not? A Review of Some Past Conservation Approaches for the Treatment of Clay-Based Chinese Wall Paintings and a Set of Seventeenth-Century Chinese Gate Panels Eric Miller 76 The Nebamun Wall Paintings of the British Museum PART THREE Historic Buildings Anthony Crosby 87 Introduction Lisa Shekede and Stephen Rickerby 89 Theory into Practice: Establishing Compatibility in Earth-Based Repair Materials Jun Zheng 99 Choice of Materials for the Conservation of Wall Paintings on Earthen Supports in China Ishanlosen Odiaua no The Preservation of Earth Wall Surface Finishes in Historic Buildings of Northern Nigeria: A Case Study of Babban Gwani, Bauchi, Nigeria PART FOUR Living Traditions George Abungu 121 Introduction Karel A. Bakker and Chris J. van Vuuren 123 Change and Continuity in Ndebele Earthen Architecture: Toward a Model for Conservation of Meaning in Architectural Decoration Sébastien Moriset 136 Asante Shrines, Ghana: Revival of the Bas-Relief Decoration Techniques Pamela Jerome 144 Community Building and Continuity of Tradition: The Decoration of Mud-Brick Surfaces in the Hadhramaut Region of Yemen V Conservation of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Cathedral and Safeguarding the Tradition of Decoration of the Nankani Women Gisèle Taxil 152 Part I. Preservation of the Nankani Tradition of Wall Decoration Ann Bourges 160 Part II. Analytical Research on Nankani Polychrome Decoration Michael Kabotie/Lomawywesa 164 Closing Dedication Angelyn Bass Rivera, Claudia Cancino, 165 Summary Discussion Rebecca J. Can, Kecia Fong, Mary Hardy, and Leslie Rainer Angelyn Bass Rivera 168 Conclusion 169 Bibliography 184 List of Colloquium Participants 187 Contributors This page intentionally left blank Foreword e are delighted to present this most recent volume especially when working in multidisciplinary fields such as the in the Proceedings series of the Getty Conserva- conservation of decorated surfaces on earthen architecture, Wtion Institute. These proceedings are the result of where architectural and wall paintings conservation, archaeol- a four-day colloquium held September 22-25, 2004, that ogy, site management, science, and anthropology converge. focused on the conservation of decorated surfaces on earthen Through collaboration among professionals and dissemina- architecture. The colloquium was co-organized by the Getty tion of information, we can work together to develop success- Conservation Institute (GCI) and the National Park Service ful conservation strategies and plan for the future of our (NPS) and hosted by Mesa Verde National Park, with support diverse cultural heritage. from the US/ICOMOS Specialized Committee on Earthen This volume comprises a selection of the papers pre- Architecture and the Colorado Historical Society. It brings us sented at the colloquium, which brought together fifty-five particular pleasure to introduce this publication on the occa- professionals from eleven countries to discuss the conserva- sion of Mesa Verde's centennial as a national park. tion of wall paintings, decorated plasters, and surface finishes The idea for a colloquium was proposed at the US/ made of earth or on earthen architecture. The program was ICOMOS Earthen Architecture Specialized Committee meet- divided into themes focusing on the conservation of earthen ing in Philadelphia in 2001. The choice of Mesa Verde National architectural finishes at Mesa Verde and other archaeological Park as the colloquium venue was ideal given the extensive sites, in museums and historic buildings, and as living tradi- research and conservation that has been accomplished there tions. Presentations and discussion were followed by site vis- on the twelfth- to fourteenth-century Ancestral Puebloan its in Mesa Verde National Park. The program also included a alcove sites. It followed similar collaborative colloquia orga- public lecture at the Anasazi Heritage Center and a four-day nized by the GCI and the NPS on site reburial, held in 2003, postcolloquium tour to sites in the region with decorated and shelters for archaeological sites, held in 2001. earthen architecture. The GCI and the NPS share a commitment to the con- We are grateful to volume editors Leslie Rainer (GCI) servation of cultural heritage and the dissemination of infor- and Angelyn Bass Rivera (NPS) for the time and energy they mation to the public. The GCI has a long-standing spent preparing these proceedings for publication and for commitment to the conservation of earthen architecture, their work organizing the colloquium. Through these pro- from its work on the Terra Project in collaboration with ceedings, we hope not only to disseminate the information CRATerre-EAG and ICCROM to its field projects in Egypt, shared at the colloquium but also to promote further discus- West Africa, and China, which exhibit wall paintings and dec- sion and research on the conservation of these fragile and orated surfaces on earthen plasters. Likewise, the NPS has car- diverse architectural finishes worldwide. ried out extensive research and conservation of wall paintings and architectural finishes on archaeological and historic sites throughout the United States. Timothy P. Whalen Larry T. Wiese The partnerships established and cultivated through DIRECTOR SUPERINTENDENT these colloquia and other scholarly meetings are invaluable, The Getty Conservation Institute Mesa Verde National Park vii This page intentionally left blank Preface Leslie Rainer or millennia, people in all cultures have decorated the produced them. Because such surfaces are integral to the larger surfaces of domestic, religious, and public buildings. architectural context, their conservation is complicated by the F Among the most significant modes of surface