Abstract:

Leather, which has existed in human life since the beginning of history, is one of the raw materials with a long history. Its unique physical properties have made it ideal for the production of various products. All of the leather obtained from animals consists of the protein collagen. Despite the structural strength and flexibility of this animal product, environmental factors (light, heat, relative humidity, atmospheric pollutants), biological factors (bacteria, fungi, insects, molds), natural disasters, etc. The skin is subject to aging and deterioration for reasons. Defining the features of historical leather creates challenges for archaeologists and conservation scientists. Conservators characterize the skin object, usually based on a visual assessment focusing on changes in texture, color, flexibility, and shape of the sample to be analyzed. However, tanning, use, and deterioration of the skin can change the appearance of many animal skins. Despite this change, using various archeometric analysis methods; tannin, hair root pattern, collagen fiber structure can be defined. In addition, the type of the object in which the leather is used gives guiding information about the leather. In the protection of cultural heritage; science and technology, characterization, diagnosis of materials that make up the cultural object, the development of new conservation techniques, and the creation of appropriate environmental conditions within the scope of preventive protection play an important role. The aim of the study is to provice researchers working in the field of skin restoration; with necessary information about the definition of the skin, obtaining information about the status of the work, making the diagnosis, and determining the protection methods to be applied to the work. Studies on this subject were reviowed, and researches were conducted about proper archeometrical analysis to be employed to answer questions, including quality and deetails of the work, and material and technique used to produce it. Archaeometry analysis is not what a conservatory is supposed to do. However, a conservatory needs to know which archeometric analysis to use to make a decision about the work and evaluate the results.

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