David, Here are a few off the top of my head. Vacuam packing means encapsulating an object (usually food) between two plastic sheets and evacuating the air until it pulls tight over the form - then the plastic is heat sealed. First concern would be whether the fragile bone could sustain the pressure when the plastic pulls tight over the artifact - and the pressure on it would be long-term. I would also worry about potential modification of the surface topology and information by such close and tight contact with plastic. Second concern is the quality of the plastic - if it outgasses or had residual acids or decomposition products that could interact with the inherent moisture in the bone - then it is in very intimate contact with the bone surface with a large reaction surface. Third concern is accessibility - an encapsulated bone would not be very accessible for close examination / measurement / sampling. And to remove it would involve physically cutting away the plastic till you break into the cavity around the artifact - the bone could well be damaged from attempts to remove it. As in all things dealing with preservation / conservation I would suggest running some controlled tests before subjecting a whole collection to this technique. Cheers! Dave David Harvey Senior Conservator Los Angeles, CA On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 2:05 PM, David K. Wade <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hello All! I could use your assistance here....As an archaeology > repository, we > often receive recovered animal bone as part of an accession, in vast > quantities. > Often, these specimens are articulated and fragile. We are visiting with > the idea > of vacuum packing some of these items and are coming up with a long list > of > 'pros', but very few 'cons'. Can anyone offer up some insight to us what > we may > be overlooking? It would be most appreciated! > > Thanks. > > David K. Wade > Billings Curation Center > Billings, Montana > > www.mt.blm.gov/bcc > > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed > information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message > to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to > [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). > ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).