Bit of a stretch for the community, but I figured if anyone can help me it’s probably the people of the archaeology community. Mods strike me down if I hath sinned.
Ok - story first, then I get to what I want to ask for help with.
So as you can see, I have an old cobblestone from a street I used to live above a while back. It was an old part of town with an asphalt road and apparently they had just paved over the original street, which apparently had a set of trolley tracks at one point.
They tore the asphalt up for some construction reason and found the original cobblestone street. The historical society apparently made them halt work and debated, but eventually decided they didn’t have storage space or something because after a couple of weeks of the old street sitting uncovered with a fence around it like an exhibit stuck out of time, the cobbles were in a heap in a dumpster, the ancient rusty tracks were tossed aside and a hole had been dug where they were.
I was upset, to say the least. So of course I picked one out (one I think was touching the rail, thus the rust) and have had it since.
So - this is the part where I ask for help. The grout is solid but every time I move it, a ton of rocks and whatnot fall off. This one was next to the tracks and has a bit of metal rusted to the side that fell off (you can see it in the photo) I’m thinking about using cyanoacrylate glue for that but I’d like to find a way to transport it without more of the old as frig grout disintegrating if I pack it in paper or something to transport it when I move.
I’ve heard hairspray is a thing? Would that be a mistake? Looking for anyone who actually knows preservation techniques, please! Lots of stuff falls off every time I move it.
Edit: I have to move it soon, moving across the country. Once I get there it’ll sit as it has but stuff is going to fall off if I just put it in a bin with paper.
Edit 2: Would Saran-wrapping it while I move, then unwrapping it once I can leave it alone be an option? Afraid it’d be worse than just packing it in moving paper
I'm imagining it suspended in epoxy in a display case, like those people who put food in epoxy and it often stays perfectly preserved for years. (I'm unaware of any that have been going long enough to be called decades.)
Congrats on your find and saving a bit of history.