ConNext-2021

46 TOCOWO: Tomography of Congolese Wooden Objects COAUTHORS: Siska Genbrugge and Hans Beeckman (Royal Museum for Central Africa), Dr. Wannes Hubau and Dr. Jan Van den Bulcke (University of Ghent). KEYWORDS: Wood anatomy, Cultural heritage, Democratic Republic of Congo, Wood identification. The Belgian Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) hosts a large body of wooden objects: more than 55.000 sculptures, musical instruments, equipment, furniture and alike are made of wood or contain wooden elements. Yet for only 6% of this vast collection of objects the wood species has been identified. A positive identification is very important however, as discovering more about the wood species represented in the collection can provide insight into the processes surrounding the making of them, and knowledge about their provenance. Knowing the wood species of an object can also aid the conservators of the museum in determining the best treatment course, considering the specific characteristics of the wood species and its ageing properties. To date, the practice for identifying African wood species remains a destructive one: a sample of wood is removed, and its anatomical features studied microscopically. Such an invasive method permanently removes a part of the object, ranging from 2 mm 3 to 2 cm 3 (see figures, top). The TOCOWO project, which started in September 2020, aims to explore the possibility of X-ray computer tomography as a non-invasive alternative for the identification of wood species. This technique has shown promise in the field of wood biology and allows a view, not only of the surface, but also of the interior of the object. Consequently, any coating the object has been treated with will have no impact on the image obtained with CT scanning and a better understanding of the object’s construction may be gathered. The objective of this project is to result in a reference database of positive identifications of Congolese wood species, as well as in a comprehensive protocol for the use of computer tomography for the purposes of systematically identifying wooden objects. The first efforts of constructing a preliminary database, containing the previously-identified 6% of the museum’s wood collection, already provide new insights into the selection and use of wood species in the multitude of cultural and stylistic groups within the current Democratic Republic of Congo (see figures, bottom). More results will follow, as from February 2021 objects will be scanned at the University of Ghent. dierickx.sofie[at ]gmail.com