Deconstructing the "Ram"

The final component, the "Ram" itself, proved to be the most difficult to deconstruct.

Woolley had used a combination of copper wires, plastic wood, and cork to reconstruct the "Ram." These materials needed to be removed from the original parts of the animal.

A rigid support was constructed around the body, creating an external jacket of sorts, so that the original pieces of shell and lapis fleece would keep their position. If you look closely, you can see that each piece of the "Ram's" fleece has been numbered.

Once the "Ram" was encased in a supporting structure, Fuller excavated the plastic wood from the belly which revealed the armature attaching the legs and head. The four legs were removed and soaked in a solvent bath in order to free the gold foil from the plastic wood and to pull out the copper wires.

Next, the head was removed so that its parts could be separated. The copper alloy ears were the first to come off. They were then cleaned under a microscope.

Next, Fuller constructed a rigid support around the head, and placed the entire head in a solvent bath to separate the original gold, lapis, and shell parts from Woolley's reconstructed core.

Fourteen gold fragments were freed from Woolley's core which had supported the "Ram's" face.

In addition, its lapis horns and beard, and lapis and shell eyes were detached, and the household screw was removed.