Abstract: From a material perspective, there were two types of materials involved in the studies of cultural heritage artifacts: The first type is the ancient materials themselves, on which the value of the cultural heritage artifacts depends, and the other type is the modern materials (conservation materials) used to help ancient materials retain some of the original properties, such as structure, shape, color, and mechanical performance. While conservation materials aim to preserve ancient materials, the characterization of ancient materials plays a key role in informing the development of conservation materials. In this talk, Xiao will use ancient Chinese lime-based building materials as an example to illustrate how the two types of materials are studied/developed simultaneously for Dazu Rock Carvings, a World Heritage Site located in Chongqing, China. Xiao will dive deep into the characterization of Dazu Rock Art’s lime mortar material and the development of lime-based grouting materials for long-term preservation.

Xiao Ma is a Full Professor at The School of History of Science and Scientific Archaeology at the University of Science and Technology of China. He holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), an M.S. in Materials Engineering from Purdue University, and a B.S. from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. His research mainly focuses on cultural heritage conservation science, including technological history studies of ancient building materials, the development of conservation materials for ancient building materials, as well as degradation mechanisms of cultural heritage materials. Xiao has worked in esteemed conservation and scientific research institutions such as Getty Conservation Institute, the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum Conservation Institute, National Gallery of Art, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He has been honored with awards such as the Ralph C. Altman Award, R.E. Taylor Best Poster Award, Martin J. Aitken Best Poster Award, and Sidney S. Williston Memorial Fund Award, etc. His work in cultural heritage conservation science has been published in top journals including Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Analytical Chemistry, Construction and Building Materials, etc. He has been sponsored by various funding agencies, such as Ministry of Science and Technology, National Cultural Heritage Administration, National Natural Science Foundation of China, etc.

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