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Historic Preservation Home > Syllabi > 400 Level Courses > HISP 471PP-01 Laboratory in Materials Science

UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION

HISP 471 PP (01) Laboratory in Materials Science
Spring Semester 2007

Instructor: Evelyne Godfrey
Time: Tues. 2:00-4:45 PM
Location: Combs Hall 012

Course Description:

The series of lectures in this course will provide an introduction to the chemistry, processing, and properties of the main inorganic materials that archaeologists, conservators, or museum curators are likely to encounter when studying early objects. The first half of the course will focus on silicate materials and pigments: ceramics, glass, faience, minerals, and smelting residues. The classes following Spring Break will introduce the metallurgy of lead, tin, copper, gold, silver, and iron. Throughout, materials science will be discussed in the context of the historical and archaeologically attested processes and applications, rather than modern engineering.

The course has a practical lab component in which exercises will include the production of copper and iron based pigments, and casting of small bronze ingots. Some of the experimental materials produced will be subjected to accelerated corrosion and burial in order to demonstrate how archaeological and historic materials deteriorate over time.

Course Objectives:

  • through both lectures and practical experience, gain a broad understanding of how early objects were made, and what they were made of
  • achieve proficiency in relevant scientific methods and lab procedures
  • produce a portfolio of experimental work
  • become familiar with the relevant subject literature

Required Course Texts:
Julian Henderson, (2000) The Science and Archaeology of Materials (Routledge)
Henry Hodges, (1989) Artifacts (Duckworth)

Course Assessment:

Description

Percentage of Final Grade

Date Due

Mid-ter test

20

21 February

Essay

20

15 March

Portfolio of laboratory experiments

20

19 April

Practical Lab Exam

20

26 April

Final Exam

20

Tues. 1st May

Grade System: A: 94-100; A-: 90-93; B+: 87-89; B: 83-86; B-: 80-82; C+: 77-79; C: 73-76; C-: 70-72; D+: 67-69; D: 60-66; F: 0-59.
N.B.: Late assignments will be marked down by ten (10) points for each day later than the beginning of class on the date due. All course assessment must be completed in order to pass the course.

Contact: My Office Hours are: Every day 11-12PM, and by appointment. Room: Combs 121; Tel: 654-1312; E-mail: egodfrey@umw.edu

Portfolio: The portfolio should contain: a title page and table of contents, followed by numbered pages; lab reports for all of your experimental work, including Health and Safety assessments and MSDS; documentation, e.g. photographic, of the results of your lab work; your reflections on the experiment outcomes and any additional reading you’ve done on the topic, i.e. looking up comparative case-studies in the relevant journals.
Practical Lab Exam: This will involve identification of archaeological and experimental samples in the lab.

COURSE OUTLINE

18 January            Introduction to archaeological materials
Lab intro: Health and Safety, lab equipment and procedures.
Reading for next week: Hodges, Ch. 13

25 January             Atomic structure; pigments, corrosion, minerals
Lab 1: Copper and Iron Corrosion.
Reading for next week:  Henderson, Ch. 5, pp 208-270 and Hodges Ch.  4

1 February            Copper metallurgy
Lab 2: Casting copper and bronze ingots.
Reading for next week: Henderson, Ch. 5, pp 270-296 and Hodges Ch. 5

8 February            Iron metallurgy; Early iron processing
Lab 3: Iron smelting.
Reading for next week: Hodges, Ch. 19

15 February            Metallography
Lab 4: Sampling & Sample Preparation.
Reading for next week:   Henderson, Ch. 2 and Hodges, Ch. 16

22 February            Non-Destructive Testing and Instrumental Analysis

Mid-term Test

Reading for next week: Hodges Ch. 4

1 March            Early smelting residues; Smithing and casting residues
Lab 5: Microscopic Analysis of Historic Glass, Slag, and Metals; Ore and slag identification

SPRING BREAK

15 March            Gold; Casting techniques; gilding and patination of metals
Lab 6: Altering the microstructure of metals.
Reading for next week: Hodges Ch. 6

Essay Due

22 March            Silver, lead & tin chemistry
Lab 7: Casting tin and pewter ingots.
Reading for next week: Henderson, Ch. 4, pp 109-142 and Hodges, Ch. 1 and Ch. 18

29 March            Ceramic chemistry and petrography; Properties of ceramics
Lab 8: Sample preparation and microscopy.
Reading for next week:  Henderson, Ch. 4, pp 142-207 and Hodges, Ch. 3

5 April            Ceramic firing and surface treatments; Enamel and faience
Lab 9: Sample preparation and microscopy.
Reading for next week:  Henderson, Ch. 3 and Hodges, Chapters 2 & 3           

12 April            Chemistry of glass; Early glassmaking recipes
Lab 10: Sample preparation and microscopy.
Reading for next week:  Henderson, Ch. 6 and Hodges, Chapters 7, 15 & 17          

19 April            Chemistry of plaster, mortar, and cement Stone objects
Lab 11: Making bricks, plaster & mortar.

Portfolio Due

26 April            Course review; Lab 12: Practical Exam

1 May                         Final Exam: 3:30-6:00 PM