Waterlogged wood

Haralambos Zachariou <harryz [at] lycos__com> writes

>I am a conservator interested in the use of resins as a method of
>treating waterlogged archaeological wood. We have recently
>discovered a number of pieces of such material in a Neolithic
>lakeside site in Greece and I have been considering the option of
>"plastification" on a number of them.  I would therefore appreciate
>it if you would share any information you might have on the subject,
>concerning the use and application of resins and their reaction
>after long periods of time or beyond controlled environments.  I
>would also be interested to know about Laboratories/Institutions
>specialising in such method and possible collaboration.

I have used rosin treatment to preserve wood on a number of
occasions with great success.  The drawbacks are that acetone and
alcohol are rather expensive if you are talking about a large
quantity of wood, and also the fumes are dangerous and explosive.
But if proper facilities are arranged they are very good techniques.
For more detail I suggest you look at
<URL:http://nautarch.tamu.edu/napcrl.htm> On this site you will find
a conservation manual for wet objects that covers the conservation
of wood in great detail. Hope this helps,

Chris Sabick
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 16:50
                   Distributed: Monday, March 3, 2003
                       Message Id: cdl-16-50-001
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