The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training is looking to fund innovative projects that advance the application of science and technology in historic preservation.

The PTT Grants program funds up to $25,000 for projects that develop new technologies or adapt existing technologies to preserve cultural resources.

NCPTT staff are accepting optional pre-proposal abstracts through the Center’s website until Oct. 1. Staff will reply to these abstracts with feedback. Full grant applications may be submitted online until Oct. 15.

Projects may include, but are not limited to:

• Laboratory or field research that explores or assesses novel or adaptive methods
• Training activities, including workshops, and course or curriculum development that promote the use of new or adaptive technologies
• Documentation using new methods
• Manuscript or website development that disseminates innovative preservation technologies
• Meetings that convene experts to discuss the use of technologies to address preservation problems.
• NCPTT does not fund “bricks and mortar” projects or straight-forward documentation projects using well-established methods.

Grants are awarded competitively with a maximum award of $25,000 (including indirect costs). All grants require a one-to-one match of cash or in-kind services. Grants are funded by annual federal appropriation and are subject to availability of funds.

NCPTT funds projects within several overlapping disciplinary areas. These include:

• archaeology
• collections management
• architecture
• engineering
• historic landscapes
• materials research

Although any proposal will be considered that advances NCPTT’s mission, NCPTT will give preference to proposals that advance technologies or methods to:

• conserve cultural resources of the “recent past”
• monitor and evaluate preservation treatments
• investigate minimally invasive techniques to  inventory and assess cultural resources
• protect cultural resources against natural and human threats
• preserve cemeteries and places of worship, and safeguard resources from effects of pollution and climate

The following organizations are eligible to submit proposals:

• U.S. universities and colleges,
• U.S. non-profit organizations: Non-academic museums, research laboratories, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. that are directly associated with educational or research activity
• Government agencies in the U.S.: National Park Service and other federal, state, territorial and local government agencies, as well as Hawaiian Natives, Native American and Alaska Native tribes and their Tribal Historic Preservation Offices. Other organizations can participate only as contractors to eligible U.S. partners. Grants funds support only portions of projects that are undertaken or managed directly by U.S. partners. Grant funds can be used in support of projects outside of the U.S., provided the principal organization conducting the work is an eligible U.S. institution and the project’s results address a national preservation need.

Review Criteria

Reviewers evaluate each project proposal by the following criteria. The successful proposed project should thoroughly:

• Address an identifiable national need in preservation technology
• Present innovate technologies
• Demonstrate a technically sound methodology
• Have a principal investigator well qualified to conduct the proposed work
• Disseminate project results effectively
• Be cost effective given the scope of work and the audience
• Provide a one-to-one match of funding with cash or in-kind services
• Result in tangible grant products that disseminate information beyond traditional ways (e.g. online web based training, webinars, podcasts, videos, DVDs, electronic publishing, etc.).

NCPTT reviews proposals for disciplinary, geographical and institutional distribution. Additionally, a National Park Service grants administrator reviews them for financial and policy matters. Special consideration will be given to proposals that leverage resources through public and private partnerships.

The Grant Application Process

Applicants desiring feedback may submit an optional pre-proposal anytime up to October 1, 2008. The preproposal may not exceed one page in length, and it should be an informal abstract of your project. Provide a brief description that highlights the innovative nature of the project, how it applies to preservation technology, the national need, the time frame, and approximate overall cost.

NCPTT staff will provide timely feedback on the degree of fit between your idea and NCPTT’s mission.
Applicants must submit a PTT Grant application between September 1, 2008 and October 15, 2008. The applicant will provide details on the following:

• Abstract (100 words)
• Description of innovation (100 words)
• Project narrative, which should include a discussion of the technical soundness of the methods (1000 words)
• A bibliography of references cited in the narrative
• Statement about how the project addresses an identifiable national need in preservation technology (250 words)
• A list of project tasks and their schedule (500 words) a dissemination plan (250 words)
• A description of the deliverables (500 words)
• Summary of the expertise and project-related experience of the principal investigator (500 words)
• Summary of the expertise and project-related experience of the research team (1000 words)
• An itemized budget listing the funds requested from NCPTT, as well as the funds provided in cash and in-kind donation from other parties. Applicants will receive notification of their status in early December 2008.

Successful projects can begin in March 1, 2009, pending availability of funding.

Reports are beginning to hit the net about heritage sites that have been damaged or destroyed in the conflict between Georgia and Russia. Here is a rundown of a few of the items being discussed:

In his post Fog of war obscures state of cultural heritage sites in Georgia, Tom Flynn of the artknows blog, recounts what’s at stake–including three sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List and fifteen more on the Tentative List. He references the ICOMOS, (the International Council on Monuments and Sites), website, which states “the entire cultural heritage of Georgia is endangered,” and recounts a preliminary report prepared by ICOMOS Georgia  regarding the shelling of a sixth-century Ateni Sioni Church, where affiliated professionals were working. Casualties in the heritage preservation field are being reported as well. Among the points Flynn presents in his long investigative piece:

• Approximately 345 registered historical monuments and archaeological sites are located within the main conflict zones
• The ICOMOS draft reports concern over news of rockets being fired into the Uphlistsikhe rock-cut city (5th-century BC-7th century), a site on the World Heritage Tentative List
• Reports of looting of the 11th-century Samtavisi Cathedral (another candidate for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List)
• The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) has issued a ‘Watch List’ of “Georgian museums in uncertain conditions situated in regions occupied by the Russian Army.
• The villages of Tamarasheni and Qurta were destroyed and possibly the buildings of the museums as well

Meanwhile, the Russian non-governmental news agency Interfax, based in Moscow, reports that Georgian fire destroyed many cultural monuments in South Ossetia. Among the monuments in question were 19th century cathedrals and architectural memorials dating to the eighth and ninth centuries. The article quotes Alexander Kibovsky, head of Federal Service for law observance supervision in the field of protection of cultural heritage as saying:

“When Georgian forces intruded to South Ossetia all mentioned monuments were destroyed or suffered a great loss because of their barbarian operations.”

The impact of the war on a team of archaeologists from the University of Winchester’s Department of Archaeology is discussed in the post Archaeological excavation affected by war in Georgia from the BAJR Blog. The team was on an expedition with Georgian colleagues to excavate a rural site shortly before the hostilities began. All of the British team, which included 10 students from universities across the UK and seven experienced archaeological and specialist staff, were able to return home the day before the conflict began. The University of Winchester had been forging ties with the Georgian Archaeology Commission to strengthen archaeology courses at Georgian universities. The expedition’s co-director, Dr. Paul Everill is quoted as saying:

Decades of antiquated preservation methods have led to the contamination of American Indian artifacts with toxic metals, potentially damaging the artifacts while posing danger to the conservators working with them.

With a grant from the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, Timberley Roane, associate professor of biology at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, has been researching a means to resolve an environmental quandary involving toxic substances and artifacts such as kachina dolls, pipes, pottery, blankets, mounted animals and ceremonial masks.

“Historically, artifacts might have been treated with a variety of different pesticides to preserve the objects from insects and microbial damage,” Roane said. “Two of the most prevalent pesticides that we’re most concerned with now are mercury and arsenic, as the toxicity of these metals to biological systems is under review.”

Roane, a Lumbee tribe member, collaborated with a Navajo friend who works with the Environmental Protection Agency to conceptualize the use of bacteria as a possible means to extract mercury from these artifacts without damaging them. Due to the presence of mercury, for example, and the risk of dermal or inhalation exposure, some of these artifacts could not be put back into cultural use.

Roane is working with bacteria already living on the artifacts that will allow her to change mercury into a gaseous form that can then be disposed of properly. This builds on her past research that uses naturally occurring bacteria for environmental cleanup.

“With funding from the NCPTT, we’ve been able to isolate mercury-resistant bacteria capable of removing mercury from contaminated media,” she said. “We are very excited by the prospect of being able to remove mercury from treated museum materials, in hopes of mitigating the toxicity of these materials for not only repatriation to tribal members but for anyone who comes in contact with them.”

Traditional methods of removing toxic metals include chemicals, ultraviolet light and heat. These methods can damage materials, which led to Roane’s desire to research less invasive methods to clean collections.

“You have to treat them gently and with respect, especially since some of these materials are considered living by their native peoples,” she said. “New methods like those proposed by the grant procedures offer new hope.”

Roane was granted access to Native American collections at the Arizona State Museum for her research. Dozens of samples have been taken and documented. After the bacteria are grown in the lab they are screened for their ability to turn mercury into a gaseous form. Those bacteria are then tested further.

While much is not known about contamination levels in native artifacts, Roane’s research represents a promising step toward dealing with the contamination from the past while preserving these significant cultural artifacts for the future.

“The start to this project shows a lot of potential,” she said. “We plan to continue our efforts in using bacteria to remove mercury from collections and hope to eventually develop an effective mitigation technology.”

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This newsletter features the NCPTT Grants program–newest grants and call for proposals–with a centerfold pull-out poster. Additionally, a research project about the recovery of waterlogged objects, such as those related to shipwrecks, is featured.