Ancient proteins reveal secrets of Uvdal Stave Church
A new study published in Scientific Reports shows that hide glue made from calfskin was used as a binder in the paints used to produce Uvdal stave church’s decorations. Surprisingly, tests also uncovered traces of human saliva.
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Zahra Haghighi conducted this study in collaboration with scientists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) and the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen.
Revealing the Past Through Proteins
“Through studying materials made of proteins, such as bones, and materials containing protein residues, like binders in paintings, palaeoproteomics allows us to solve a number of problems in archaeology and art conservation,” Haghighi explains.
This scientific method involves extracting ancient proteins from archaeological samples and trying to understand their origin. Several steps are involved in each analysis, such as sample preparation, data acquisition, and data analysis. “Proteins provide valuable information about the tissue and species from which they derive. Additionally, proteins can survive for longer and in harsher environments than other materials such as DNA. These qualities make proteins a promising source of archaeological information”.
COLLECTING SAMPLES: Zahra Haghighi is collecting samples for palaeoproteomic experiments at the Blombos Cave archaeological site in South Africa. She wears gloves, a hair net, and sleeves to avoid introducing contaminants (such as keratin proteins from hair and skin) to the samples.
Preserving Norway's Cultural Heritage
Haghighi says that these promising results also demonstrate the potential of palaeoproteomics for improving our understanding of the methods used and the resource allocation during the decoration of stave churches in Norway.
“This is especially important because today, only 17 stave churches decorated with distemper paint remain in Norway, meaning that the potential sources to provide relevant information are extremely limited,” Haghighi says.
Uncovering Human saliva proteins from the paint samples
“We examined several hypotheses for the deposition of saliva on the Uvdal painted boards. We believe that saliva proteins originated from an attempt at the time of discovery to remove dust and dirt”, Haghighi says.
She further explains that using one’s own saliva, known as spit or saliva cleaning, was previously one of the most common methods for cleaning a painting's surface in the museums. Our study shows that a high number of modern contaminants such as saliva proteins could potentially hinder future research, highlighting the necessity for careful handling of historical objects.
Understanding cultural properties
“Our shared goal is to preserve cultural heritage for future generations. Achieving this involves enhancing our understanding of cultural properties, including their composition and production techniques. In our paper, we present a tool which allows us to achieve these goals. In addition, we highlight how restoration methods and materials can impact future research and therefore urge art conservators to make informed decisions.” Haghighi concludes.
ZAHRA HAGHIGHI
- Zahra Haghighi is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD fellow based at SapienCE, UiB.
- Haghighi has a background in chemistry, art conservation, and archaeology, she uses scientific approaches to address archaeological questions.
- Her PhD research focuses on studying ancient proteins to understand the use of organic compounds in the past, with a particular emphasis on materials from South Africa and Norway.
ABOUT THE STUDY
- A new study published in Scientific Reports demonstrates that the original binder used in the Uvdal stave church's distemper paints is hide glue made from calfskin.
- Two distemper paint samples taken from decorative boards in Uvdal stave church, Norway, were analysed using palaeoproteomics, with the aim of identifying the composition of the binder and also determining whether any contaminants were present.
- The results point at the use of calfskin to produce hide glue as the original paint binder and are consistent with the instructions of binder production and resource allocation in the historical records of Norway.
- The study was led by Zahra Haghighi in close collaboration with scientists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) and the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen.
