BARK: Identification, Conservation and Significance of Prehistoric Bark vessels

树的内外树皮，以及由树皮制成的物品，在史前人类的日常生活中发挥着核心作用。他们的研究是了解各自史前社区的技术基础和发展的关键，但由于他们的短暂性质，他们长期以来被低估了。通过跨学科的研究，我们的目标是了解由未经磨练的石灰树皮制成的物品的意义，通过材料分析来识别它们，并为它们的长期保存制定适当的保护方法。史前树皮物体的特征有三个挑战：1)它们的识别。由于缺乏鉴定方法，考古学家和保护人员往往无法识别或明确识别树皮。木材或树皮物体的模糊分类是由于它们的材料特性与其功能之间的相关性而被还原的。2)它们的保护。树皮材料的保护方法通常是从木制品或考古纺织品的方法中采用的。然而，树皮的形态和化学结构与木材不同，其降解途径、对环境变化的反应以及干燥和加固方法的适用性也不同。3)他们的文化历史语境。解释和语境化往往很困难，这不仅是因为识别模糊，还因为缺乏可比较的对象和物种识别。为了应对这些挑战，我们正在召集树类学、考古学和保护领域的研究人员。我们将开发一种用于鉴定石灰树皮的钥匙，可供考古学家和保护人员在野外和实验室使用。我们将研究现代和考古石灰树皮的形态和解剖，无论是保存的还是未经处理的，以确定退化的途径。将研究当前和过去的固结和干燥方法及其效果。这些调查将基于来自坎顿伯尔尼的物品、来自巴登-符腾堡州的新石器时代树皮地板材料和来自萨克森的树皮容器。此外，来自萨克森州新石器时代和青铜时代水井的史前树皮容器的特殊语料库将进行详细的考古研究，以了解这些发现的制造和使用。这些结果将成为对中欧树皮容器及其在各自新石器时代和青铜时代社区物质文化中的作用的背景和比较研究的基础。我们的愿景是，树皮物体将被识别、解释和保存为欧洲史前社会的核心证据。

The inner and outer bark of trees, and objects made from them, played a central role in the daily lives of prehistoric people. Their study is key to understanding the technological foundations and developments of the respective prehistoric communities, but due to their ephemeral nature they have long been underestimated. Through interdisciplinary research, we aim to understand the significance of objects made of unretted lime bark, identify them through material analysis, and develop appropriate conservation methods for their long-term preservation. Three challenges characterise prehistoric bark objects: 1) Their identification. Archaeologists and conservators are often unable to recognise or unambiguously identify bark due to a lack of identification methods. The vague classification as wood or bark objects is reductive for the correlation between their material characteristics and their function. 2) Their conservation. Conservation methods for bark materials are often adopted from those for wooden objects or archaeological textiles. However, the morphological and chemical structure of bark differs from that of wood, as do its degradation pathways, its response to environmental changes and the suitability of drying and consolidation methods. 3) Their cultural-historical contextualisation. Interpretation and contextualisation are often difficult, not only because of vague identification, but also because of the lack of comparative objects and species identification. To address these challenges, we are bringing together researchers from the fields of dendrology, archaeology and conservation. We will develop a key for the identification of lime bark that can be used by archaeologists and conservators in the field and in the laboratory. We will examine the morphology and anatomy of modern and archaeological lime bark, both conserved and untreated, to identify the degradation pathways. Current and past consolidation and drying methods and their effects will be studied. These investigations will be based on objects from Kanton Bern, Neolithic bark floor material from Baden-Württemberg and bark vessels from Saxony. In addition, the exceptional corpus of prehistoric bark vessels from Neolithic and Bronze Age wells in Saxony will be examined in detail archaeologically to understand the manufacture and use of the finds. The results will form the basis for a contextual and comparative study of bark vessels in Central Europe and their role in the material cultures of the respective Neolithic and Bronze Age communities. Our vision is that bark objects will be identified, interpreted and preserved as central evidence of prehistoric societies in Europe.