Specimen Preparation: Crow Skull (Updated) 🐦‍⬛

This was the second crow skull I prepared and cleaned, gifted to me by my partner for our anniversary in 2024. Unlike the first specimen, this skull included feathers, and a complete jaw, offering a fuller anatomical structure and greater curatorial potential. Having already gained experience from my first crow skull project in 2022, I was able to refine my techniques with more confidence and efficiency, using the same cleaning methods and equipment while focusing on improved preservation and presentation.

🧰 Materials and Equipment:

• 💀 Crow skull specimen (with complete jaw)

• 🧼 Hot water and soap solutions for degreasing

• 🪥 Toothbrushes and scrubbing tools

• 🧻 Paper towels (for drying and support during cleaning)

• ⏳ Drying time: 24 hours minimum after each clean, scrub and whitening cycle

• 🍶 70% alcohol-water solution for whitening

• 🫙 Soaking containers and cleaning equipment

• 🧤 Rubber gloves and safety equipment

⚙️ Preparation Process:

Step One: Degreasing and Sterilisation

• 🫧 Initial Soaking – Soaked overnight in hot water with soap to remove oils and contaminants

• 🪥 Detailed Scrubbing – Used toothbrushes to carefully clean both skull and jawbone, with extra attention to delicate areas

Step Two: Whitening Process

• 🤍 Alcohol Whitening – Placed in a 70% alcohol-water solution overnight, ensuring an even finish while preserving bone integrity

🖼️ Display Choice – Intentionally left the black vein-like markings to preserve the piece's uniqueness

Common Crow Skull (with jaw) - Anniversary Gift from partner - 04/02/2024

Key Skills Developed:

• 🖼️ Curatorial Practice – Enhanced experience with complete skeletal specimens, improved balance and presentation techniques, and consideration of visual and educational display potential

• 🫙 Preservation & Management – Reinforced degreasing, sterilization, and whitening techniques, care for delicate skeletal elements, and consistent preservation workflows

• 🏛️ Museum-Relevant Skills – Conservation-informed cleaning processes for display specimens, understanding how completeness affects interpretive value, and refined handling techniques for professional collections

• 🧩 Problem-Solving – Adapting methods to protect fragile structures, applying prior experience to solve challenges efficiently, and replicating professional methods across multiple specimens

• 🎨 Professional Skills – Building confidence through technical progression, maintaining patience and precision with fine details, and strengthening organizational and workflow management

This second crow skull represents not just a meaningful gift, but also a milestone in my development as a specimen preparator. By applying the same techniques with greater skill and confidence, I demonstrated progression in both technical cleaning and curatorial decision-making. This project highlights the importance of iterative practice in building professional-level expertise.

💀 See more on my Instagram: @BonesByShannon 🪲

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