fatemeh alimirzaei

Today, every profession needs a set of ethical principles to improve its performance, which are formulated according to the profession and the field of mission, and their activities. This requires knowing the place of ethics and its indicators in the desired profession. Protection and restoration of historical monuments, as a profession with a wide field of activity and diverse stakeholders, has always sought to create professional ethics to preserve and present cultural and historical heritage. Considering the lack of native models and theories in the field of "Ethics of Conservation and Restoration" and "related norms" in Iran, this article intends to examine the place of ethics in this field, introduce some ethical indicators of preservation and restoration of works.

Conservation means keeping an artefact over time, and the ethics of conservation refers to the honest transmission of artefacts over time. Intervention, reversibility, preventive protection, diversity and cultural ownership, rights of beneficiaries, age and historical value of works, and standard of action as fields that require ethical considerations, which have been taken into consideration in the international documents for protection and restoration of works and codes have been developed for them. These codes and many documents that have been compiled and published in the field of protection can be classified under the four ethical concepts of respect, honesty, trustworthiness (preserving the truth) and loyalty.

Historical relics have different owners and beneficiaries and as a result, numerous challenges arise in the process of their protection and restoration. A scientific and ethical approach based on a kind of consultative approach is needed to face these challenges. The present research examines the issue by investigating the attitudes of conservators of historical relics. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the dominant approaches to conservation from the viewpoint of consultative and collaborative approach, which is carried out based on the criteria and assumptions of such approaches. The present study is an attitudinal descriptive-analytical research with a statistical population comprising three groups of conservators in Iran, who are working at universities, Department of Cultural Heritage, empirical veterans and educated professionals working in the private sector. The sample includes 30 conservators selected through simple random sampling. Open interview was used to collect data and data foundation method was employed for data analysis within the framework of the theoretical foundations of the research. Based on the investigations made, predominant approaches to conservation in Iran include historical/fact-seeking, scientific/object-oriented, artistic/taste-oriented, selective value-oriented and somewhat rule-oriented/authoritarian approaches. These approaches are founded on a theoretical framework of conservation profession, hard science, and individualism, and in part, on micro and macro policies and organizational hierarchy. The findings of this research indicate that the demands and consultative and collaborative role of public beneficiaries in conservation approaches, it is not much considered and as a main component in making decisions and carrying out actions, there is no belief and acceptance towards it.

The conservation of historical artifacts, as a profession that closely linked to the prevailing history and culture in individual and social life, carries a heavy mission and responsibility towards the creators and owners of these artifacts in the past, present, and future. On the other hand, despite the diversity of thoughts, desires, and approaches, it is an activity that must be conducted within a specific scientific and theoretical framework. Conservators, while adhering to this specified framework, must also consider particular ethical considerations. These considerations are crucial not only for maintaining the quality and clarity of conservation activities for the conservators and their audience but also for making them aware of the ethical consequences of their actions and the ethical standards used to evaluate those actions. These ethical considerations have been variously addressed in the theories and documents related to the conservation and restoration field as the profession has evolved. In this research, an attempt is made to provide definitions and basic concepts related to the topic, alongside examples of ethical codes in the conservation profession with an interpretive approach. The aim of this research is to understand the role and function of ethics in conservation and restoration processes and some ethical considerations when dealing with artifacts. To this end, To this end, ethical conduct documents prepared by several conservation institutions, such as the American Institute for Conservation (AIC), the Canadian Association for Conservation (CAC), the International Council of Museums Committee for Conservation (ICOM-CC), the European Confederation of Conservator-Restorers' Organisations (ECCO), and the United Kingdom Institute for Conservation (UKIC), have been examined as case studies. The reviews revealed that these documents strive to define the boundaries of professional conservation, with the primary goal of protecting public assets and gaining public trust and social approval for the profession. Therefore, they focus on the interests of humanity rather than professional interests and develop conservation ethics based on attention to universal values and a focus on cultural values.

In this report we wanted to remind parts of principles and methods of conservation and restoration of pottery objects, and to present reconstruction process of two large pottery Jar (Khomreh) belong to Sassanian period during a written and illustrated report. also, we explained the difference created when choosing materials and methods. The jars were obtained from excavating Varamin Plain by Dr. Morteza Hesari in 2017. They were restored at the conservation pottery workshop of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage & Tourism Research center for conservation and restoration of relics (RCCCR).

The protection of historical monuments has two aspects: one that considers the material features, and the other that considers its spiritual, artistic, historical, and aesthetic values. Therefore, the introduction, documentation and recording various historical works, as a part of the conservation and restoration process, not only promote the understanding and recognition of the values of art and culture, but also aid in their protection and revive. This research aims to address this protective need by introducing the collection of tiles of from the UNESCO World Heritage site of Takht-e Soleiman, as one of the valuable collections of Iranian art, known for its antiquity and diversity. To achieve this goal, a descriptive and analytical method was employed along with the examination and collection of field documentation and library studies. As a result of this study, over 5400 tiles were identified, including all kinds of exquisite luster tiles in diverse shapes and patterns, azure, turquoise, gilded tiles with embossed patterns, geometric tiles, samples of monochromatic tiles, and some brick tiles.

Due to the instability and sometimes sensitivity of archaeological objects, conservation and restoration of them usually require a complex procedure along with basic studies and pathology in the restoration process. Since pottery objects are more stable than other objects, they can be restored after preliminary investigation regarding the level of strength and hardness of surface sediments, if there is no special problem. In this report, we introduce and describe the conservation and restoration process of a number of Zanjan salt men collection pottery, transferred from the Zulfiqari Museum of Zanjan to the pottery department of the Research Center for Conservation of Cultural Relics for conservation and restoration operations. These objects, which were sometimes cleaned and temporarily patched at the excavation site, were thoroughly checked and all connections were opened. The parts were cleaned separately using various mechanical and chemical methods and after finding the correct parts, the connection was made again. Finally, the parts that needed to be reconstructed were reconstructed with plaster following the pattern designed for this collection and considering the basics of restoration.