From: Pam Niedermayer (pam@pinehill.com)
Date: 07/28/03-12:43:33 PM Z
Sure sounds like blood was the solvent. This is very cool (I'm an
archaeology buff), thanks for the reference.
Pam
Clay wrote:
>FYI
>
>(c) Associated Press 2003
>
>Leading French paleo-curator Janko Youssef announced today that the earliest
>known date of the so-called "New Gum" process has now been moved back
>approximately 31,000 years. Spectrographic analysis of cave paintings at
>Lascaux has determined that these are actually the earliest known examples
>of gum-dichromate printing. X-ray diffraction results confirm the presence
>of trace amounts of ammonium dichromate, gum arabic, and an unidentified
>brown organic pigment. Art historians have generally credited Mongo Ponton
>with the first use of the gum-dichromate technique, but will now have to
>assign credit to a Cro-Magnon man named Wug (no last name recorded).
>Researchers expressed amazement that not only was this the earliest known
>example of this process, but tangential evidence such as image clarity,
>gradation and quality seems to indicate that Wug used the dry dichromate
>technique, with another organic material containing human DNA material
>apparently used as a heat-releasable adhesive in the gum coating. It is
>still not known how Wug was able to develop the gum layer due to its
>position on the cave wall, but a general consensus seems to be emerging that
>it involved Wug and some of his friends using a spraying technique with hot
>water development (most agree that the water temperature was approximately
>98.6 degrees F.) A representative image is located here:
>
>http://colophon.com/gallery/minsky/caves.htm
>
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>
>
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>Is Stuart Melvin a member of this list? If so, please elaborate on your
>process.
>
>
>I find this "top secret, wait and see at APIS" hype really annoying. It's
>very frustrating to read second hand reports heaping praise upon this guy's
>(Melvin) work with no details, no published reports, etc.... Does this guy
>really exist? Why the silence? If I, an overworked car salesman in rural
>Wyoming with precious little spare time, can post countless contributions to
>the alt-photo list, why can't this so-called gum guru write a single word?
>
>
>>From what I've read of Stuart Melvin (View Camera magazine a few years ago)
>he hasn't done anything that hasn't been done a hundred years ago. So
>what's new? Let's hear it!
>
>
>I regret not attending APIS. I would have loved to have been there, but I
>had to work.
>
>
>Best regards,
>Dave in Big Wonderful Wyoming
>
>
>
>
>>Also just for clarity's sake, Stuart doesn't claim to have invented the
>>dry dichromate technique. It was also in some of the old literature,
>>from what he (Stuart) says. None of the things he is doing is new, in
>>and of itself, but I believe, (and I'm putting words in his mouth) that
>>he just wanted to show us his combination of procedures that he has
>>found to be pretty bomb-proof.( if such a state of grace exists in gum!)
>>
>>
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