SCIENCE AND ART: A FUTURE FOR STONE,PROCEEDINGS OF THE 13TH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON THE DETERIORATION AND CONSERVATION OF STONE, Edinburgh, England, 6 - 10 September 2016, pp.57-65
Stones used in cultural objects are affected from weathering actions resulting in different
types of deterioration in the long run. Biodeterioration is one of them which is usually
observed following an initial state of deterioration of the stone. There are few investigations
based on a joint interpretation of data that are obtained from various quantification methods
of microorganisms present on stone material, to conduct diagnostic and monitoring studies.
Hence, there is a necessity for developing new techniques in the light of traditional ones. In
this study stones of Nemrut Mount Monument (Adiyaman, Turkey), and Temple of
Augustus (Ankara, Turkey) were selected as cases to develop different types of methods as
FDA hydrolysis; total microflora; MPN, and ATP bioluminescence for the determination of
microbial activity on stones of the monuments. The results showed that the stones of
Temple of Augustus had higher microbial activity than the stones of Nemrut Mount
Monuments. Furthermore, sandstone and limestone of Nemrut Mount Monuments revealed
that only stones having visible biological layers i.e. lichens gave values closer to
intermediate level. Considerable quantity of FDA hydrolyses has revealed the importance
of alga population, however, bacterial and fungal activity was low in the stones of the two
studied historical sites. Although they have different measuring units, applicability and
accuracy of methodologies of these techniques for evaluation of biodeterioration in historic
stones were scientifically proved when results are compared and interpreted together.