Manuscrito encontrado junto a los restos de Diego Portales: análisis y conservación

The use of the scientific method in the development of a work methodology became an essential tool for dealing with the challenges posed by a document that was recently found in the inside of the tomb that contains the remains of the body of Diego Portales. This work aimed at the preservation of the document, as well as to discover a text that was probably hidden in the inside of the rolled paper. It’s poor conservation condition and the particular environment in which it was found, constituted decisive factors for the treatment proposal. The document was submitted to an exhaustive visual examination, it was photographed, and then some analyzes were carried out in order to help to better understand the deterioration process of the document, know how to manipulate it in an adequate way and let human eye reach the hidden text. Finally, a conservation storage box was designed and built. The document was placed inside and returned together with a complete visual record.