INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY
The Institute of Archaeology provides excavation and conservation services following current legislation and market demand. Investment activities, mainly construction and installation, often lead to the violation or destruction of scientifically and conservatively significant relics of the past. In such situations, conservation services request the necessity of conducting archaeological rescue studies. The Institute of Archaeology offers the services of carrying out such studies in accordance with the guidelines of the National Heritage Institute and the relevant Provincial Conservator of Monuments and with the current rigours of the excavation method. The Institute’s research has focused over the past several years on large road investments and historic city centres, primarily Wrocław. The results of these excavations are then subjected to scientific analysis, presented for discussion in the national and international archaeological community and published in regional and global journals and monographs.
The offer of the Laboratory of Archaeometry and Monument Conservation is addressed to other units conducting excavation works, mainly scientific institutions, museums and private companies. Conservation activities are conducted for artefacts made from a variety of raw materials. Due to a large number of finds and often significant chemical activity, it is necessary to protect monuments made of metals and their alloys immediately. These include iron and steel, copper and other historical non-ferrous metals such as tin, lead and silver. The care of other inorganic monuments, such as ceramics and glass, is also significant.
The laboratory is equipped with high-quality apparatus, including a lyophiliser, making it possible to perform modern conservation works on organic relics, including wood, leather, and textiles, mainly freshly excavated ones. Thanks to conservation activities, fragile and delicate monuments, such as fragments of shoes or clothes, have a chance not only to be saved, but also to be properly prepared for further specialised examinations such as microscopic observation. A limitation in conducting conservation works for organic monuments is their size: the maximum is 1.3 m in length/width and 0.35 m in thickness.
