I know it sounds ridiculous to you, but in archaeology we think a lot about future research with hypothetical methods, so we set aside areas and samples and try to anticipate how our current analysis capabilities affect future opportunities. Conservators spend even more time thinking about their methods and how to make them as reversible and low-impact as possible.
I’m not particularly worried about the cornstarch and more about the pigment, since we were specifically talking about analysing colour. Honestly, I don’t think that they were coloured or that someone will test for that in the future, but the point is, we don’t know.
Maybe, maybe not. I know that adding to all that on purpose isn’t going to help.
As for the tunnel, as I said in another place, at this point I think going ahead with it is the least damaging option for the site.
