Five Statues from Ain Ghazal, Jordan

Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute staff preserve 9000 year old statues unearthed during road construction in Jordan.

Extraordinarily rare plaster statues dating from around 6500 B.C. were discovered in 1985 at the Neolithic site of 'Ain Ghazal, Jordan, on the outskirts of the capitol city Amman. Because of the fragility of the lime plaster, the entire contents of the pit containing the statues were encased in aluminum foil, polyurethane foam, and a wooden crate and sent to the Smithsonian Institution for a seven-year process of laboratory excavation and conservation treatment. The group includes two standing figures measuring around 1 meter in height and three unusual two-headed busts. Filming was done on five occasions from 1990 to 1996 before exhibition of the statues at the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in 1996-1997 and their return to Jordan for display at the Jordanian Archaeological Museum on the Citadel in Amman.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Museum Conservation Institute
• archeology
• preservation
• conservation
• art
• sculpture

[bobdeuel]

Really interesting video, but what is MCI?

[SmithsonianVideos]

@bobdeuel MCI=Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute

[HappyRussians]

@Qulopuaa We do not have any answers about these yet. We're still wondering if it's all about a cult for ancestry or anything else.

[Qulopuaa]

What does a 2 headed statue mean ? marrige?