Master Archaeologist

Chapter 66

The name of the restorer who spoke to Chen Han was Chen Shuren, who was one of the first batch of bamboo slip restoration technicians in the Hubei Jingzhou Cultural Relics Protection Center.

Under the tutelage of Mr. Fang Beisong, an expert in bamboo slip restoration.

Since he started to restore bamboo slips in 2003, he has handled more than [-] bamboo slips. It can be said that most of the unearthed bamboo slips are handled by him personally.

As for his teacher, it was even better.

The dehydration technology and decolorization technology for bamboo slips currently used in China, as well as the cetyl alcohol protective solution used for the preservation of bamboo slips, were all developed by Mr. Fang Beisong.

Now Huaxia's bamboo slip restoration and protection technology is so powerful, Mr. Fang Beisong has contributed a lot.

He is the authority in the restoration of bamboo slips!
And now the deputy director of Jingzhou Cultural Protection Center is Mr. Fang Beisong.

One more thing, Mr. Wu Shunqing, the director of the Jingzhou Cultural Heritage Center, also specialized in lacquered woodware back then, so it can be said that he was half of Mr. Fang Beisong's teacher.

In this way, Mr. Chen Shuren's mastery and his own level of restoration of bamboo slips are naturally unquestionable!
After hearing Ronghua's introduction, Chen Han quickly extended his hand to shake Chen Shuren's hand, and asked humbly, "Mr. Chen, it's an honor to meet you."

"I don't know what you meant when you said that this device is an artifact of our archaeologists?"

Chen Shuren didn't have the style of a bamboo slip restoration master at all, just like an ordinary researcher, without airs at all, he laughed and said:
"This hyperspectral image analysis system is not going to work. This is a spectral imager."

"It's very complicated to explain how it works."

"To put it simply, as long as the unearthed cultural relics are put up, the original color of the cultural relics can be displayed immediately through the computer."

"This benefit alone is very convenient for you archaeologists!"

Chen Han nodded vigorously, and looked at this machine, which looked a bit like a large copier, with bright eyes.

As long as you put the unearthed object on it and scan it, can you see the original color of this cultural relic from the computer?

This is really time-saving and labor-saving for cultural relic restoration work.

But for archaeologists, it is actually more important!

Chen Han immediately understood why this machine was placed in the bamboo slip restoration room.

Because compared with other lacquerware, pottery and bronze ware, it is obvious that the bamboo slips most need this machine.

Especially the bamboo slips unearthed from the water-saturated environment!
In general, there are two types of unearthed bamboo slips.

Bamboo slips unearthed in a dry environment.

Water-saturated environment, that is, the bamboo slips soaked in water when they were unearthed.

The first type of bamboo slips preserved in a dry environment basically shrank to the size of a toothpick due to dehydration when unearthed, and curled into a ball. Technical treatment is required to restore shape.

Naturally, this kind of bamboo slips will not be able to use the spectral imager for a while.

But the water-filled bamboo slips of the second type are different!
Depending on the unearthed environment, some water-saturated bamboo slips were buried in mud, and some may be soaked in the groundwater inside the coffin.

But no matter what kind of environment, this kind of water-saturated bamboo slips did not shrink or shrink!
At least it still looks very complete, the actual bamboo fiber inside has been in a water-filled state for a long time, very fragile, like a strip of soft noodles, exaggerated to say that it will break when touched.

Moreover, it will oxidize rapidly after being unearthed, and it will be as black as carbon, and the characters cannot be read.

After that, more than 20 repair procedures will be performed.

It takes months or even years, after cleaning, bleaching, dehydration and other steps, the bamboo slips will gradually become stronger and restore their original appearance.

But with Spectral Imager it is different!
Although there is no way to speed up the repair speed of the bamboo slips, with the support of this equipment, even the oxidized bamboo slips can be scanned on the device after cleaning the sludge on the surface.

Using the color of the bamboo itself, which is different from the color of the ink, a "color photo" can be scanned directly, and the black text on the photo can be clearly displayed!
In this way, archaeologists can quickly understand what is recorded in the bamboo slips, and can carry out excavation work more quickly!
Just like Chen Han and his team discovered the "Book of Rescue" in Tomb No. 168. As long as the text recorded on it can be scanned, they can compare it with the funerary objects excavated at this stage based on the number of funerary objects recorded in it.

It is easy to know how many things have not been cleaned up, and some things that do not know what they are used for may be able to find the answer from the text.

"Mr. Chen, most of the water-saturated bamboo slips we unearthed from Tomb M-168 are relatively clean, and there is not much silt and attachments on the slips."

Chen Han asked with bright eyes: "Then can we use this device to know the words recorded in the bamboo slips soon?"

Professor Li also walked around the spectral imager a few times with great interest, and said in amazement: "The development of science and technology is really very fast."

"Now it is actually possible to extract the text information on the bamboo slips before they are restored."

Chen Shuren smiled and shook his head: "It's not as good as you think."

"If you want spectral imaging, you must have bamboo slips that are saturated with water, and the slips must be completely free of silt. Otherwise, the text of the imaged pictures may be covered by silt."

"However, the batch of bamboo slips you sent are indeed in good condition. There is less silt on the slips, and they are relatively easy to clean."

"If you act quickly, we will be able to clear out these more than 60 bamboo slips in a few days by working overtime."

Professor Li nodded in understanding: "Then I will trouble you."

Seeing that they had finished their conversation, Rong Hua, who had been standing quietly by the side, immediately answered, "Old Li, you and Lao Chen can toss about the handover of the bamboo slips by yourself."

"I took this student of Lao Kong to visit the workflow of bamboo slip restoration."

With his hands behind his back, Ronghua led Chen Han around the bamboo slips restoration room.

"That, student Chen Han, right?"

"Although it is said that archeology and cultural relics are not separated, it is still difficult for you who study archaeology to get in touch with cultural relics restoration in school."

"Well, you should know about the restoration process of bamboo slips, right?"

Facing the question from the Ronghua semi-examination school, Chen Han nodded quickly: "I know, the big process is divided into three steps: cleaning, decolorization, and dehydration."

"The bamboo slips that have been restored in the end need to be sealed with organic glass before the restoration is complete."

Ronghua nodded in satisfaction.

"It's good to know, come on, let me show you the cleaning of the first part first."

In the middle of speaking, as if he suddenly thought of something, Ronghua touched the pocket of his white coat, took out a mask and handed it to Chen Han.

"Student Chen, the bamboo slips that you found in tomb M-168 are in such a good state of preservation, which is very rare."

"In most cases, the bamboo slips unearthed are often inseparable from the silt."

"How smelly the silt has been for thousands of years, you people who do archaeology should know better than us?"

Ronghua's words immediately brought back a painful memory of Chen Han's internship in his junior year.

The silt buried in the ground and mixed with other organic matter for thousands of years, the smell really makes people think of acid reflux.

In comparison, the smell of human excrement can be regarded as a little fresh.

Chen Han quickly took the mask and put it on his face tightly.

Although the mask cannot completely resist the stench, it is at least better than facing the stench directly.
After putting on the mask, Chen Han followed Ronghua step by step, and walked into a small compartment in the bamboo slip restoration room.

As soon as he entered the door, he smelled a long-lost stench.

The smell is like a mixture of rotting corpses + rotten eggs + socks worn by male sports students for a day + rotten bamboo mats covered in sweat after sleeping in the student dormitory for three years.

This smell broke through the mask easily, and rushed straight into Chen Han's Tianling cover from his nose.

For a moment, he felt like he had lost his sense of smell.

In the cubicle, three or five restorers also wearing dustproof suits and masks were squatting beside several blue boxes that were one meter long, half a meter deep, and half a meter wide.

Without changing his face, he used his hands to carefully peel off the bamboo slips that were inseparable from the silt from the silt.

"These bamboo slips were discovered by the Jinan Institute of Archaeology in Shandong Province when they were rescuing a Han tomb that had been dug by tomb robbers."

"When the local archaeological team arrived there, all the funerary objects in the tomb were stolen."

"When these bamboo slips were discovered, they were all piled up in a corner of the entrance to the tomb."

"Because of its age, it looks like a large group of mud. At that time, archaeologists almost regarded them as mud and cleaned them up."

"Fortunately, during the cleaning process, a sharp-eyed archaeologist found the bamboo slips with handwriting exposed in the mud, so this treasure was not thrown away as garbage."

"After identification, the people from the Jinan Institute of Archeology knew that this lump of silt was the most valuable cultural relic in this Han tomb, the bamboo slips of the Han Dynasty."

"It is estimated that when the tomb robbers robbed the tomb, they didn't pay attention to the mud at all, which made them escape from the hands of the thieves."

"However, to the tomb robbers, these bamboo slips are not very valuable, and it is not easy to get rid of them. I guess even if the tomb robbers know that they are bamboo slips, they may not pay attention to them."

"But for us, these bamboo slips are the most valuable and precious cultural relics in this tomb!"

(End of this chapter)