Conservation and restoration of archaeological textiles from the disturbed Altai burial mounds of the early Iron age

The article deals with the experience of scientific-restoration laboratory “Ostrov Krym” of the conservation and restoration of archaeological textiles from disturbed mounds of the IV?III centuries BC, located in the Kazakh Altai. The specialists of the laboratory participate in field works, carrying out the extraction of large blocks/monoliths with findings, using methods of forming blocks developed in practice. Two methods are considered aimed on conservation of textiles recovered from excavation blocks, depending on their content. The first method is a sequential splitting of the block into its components with random set of fragments of organic material. The process of stratification of the conglomerate as well as the stabilization of the separated fragments and their identification is described. During the reconstruction of the textiles the well-preserved analogs of synchronous Altai burial mounds located on the territory of Russia and Mongolia have been used. Examples of reconstruction the pieces of felt are represented. The second method consists in preservation of the blocks without dissection. It is applied in case of their content has been considered as specific independent complex. The process of conservation is shown by the case-study of the fifth set, extracted from the excavation with the remains of the horse in the wet state. Conservation of dissimilar materials (fabric, felt, vegetable stuffing pillows, a tree with the metallic remains) in the form of conglomerate has been carried out similarly to the conservation of wet archaeological wood. The block stabilization has been made in the wet state with a gradual replacement of the soil solution by consolidator.