Uncovering

The crate that arrived at the laboratory in 1986 contained large, well-preserved pieces that clearly belonged to individual statues. But there were also hundreds of plaster fragments that could not be easily identified or joined with a particular statue. How could the conservators keep track of these many pieces and figure out their original placement?
 First, conservators stretched a string grid over the crate. As plaster fragments were separated from the earth inside the crate, they were labeled by their grid location and outlined on Polaroid photographs. The conservators described each fragment in a notebook.

 After conservators recorded information, they removed fragments and earth from the crate, exposing the large pieces. This photograph shows the crate in May 1990.

Eight months later, in January 1991, with additional fragments and earth removed, this is how the crate looked.

 A year and a half later, in July 1992, the largest pieces were almost completely exposed and ready to be lifted out of the crate.

Eventually, the crate was emptied of all earth and plaster fragments.

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