Waterlogged Organic Artefacts

Guidelines on their Recovery, Analysis and Conservation

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The preservation of waterlogged organic materials has transformed our understanding of the historic environment. Their study involves the collaboration of many different disciplines from within the heritage sector. This guidance is aimed at anyone planning for or working with waterlogged organic artefacts, including archaeological curators, archaeologists and specialists (finds specialists, environmental archaeologists and conservators).

This guidance will help the reader appreciate the information and research potential waterlogged organic artefacts can offer. It will briefly describe material conditions and commonly applied conservation techniques, in order for people less familiar with these situations to make the right decisions when commissioning work. For practitioners in the field, it contains useful advice on lifting, storage and packaging. The chapter on analytical techniques highlights areas for further research. Case studies and specialist views are provided to illustrate the principles with real-life scenarios.

This guidance should be used in conjunction with other Historic England publications, as some of their content is also relevant to waterlogged organic materials, eg Guidelines on the X-Radiography of Archaeological Metalwork (Fell et al 2006), Waterlogged Wood (Historic England 2018b) and Environmental Archaeology (English Heritage 2011). This is the second revised version to reflect organisational changes.

Contents

  • Introduction
  • Project planning stages
  • Material conditions
  • Lifting, handling and processing
  • Documentation, examination and analysis
  • Conservation
  • Case studies
  • Where to get advice
  • References
  • Glossary
  • Appendix

Waterlogged

Please click on the gallery images to enlarge.

Bespoke packaging for textiles (©York Archaeological Trust) A Medieval barrel at Nantwich containing a multitude of organic artefacts (© Earthworks Archaeology) A typical marine environment: A deadeye with remains of rope from the Swash Channel Wreck Bone, that has become extremely soft due to the acidic soil at Star Carr (note: the pictures depict the same bone being flexed) (© York University) Bone, that has become extremely soft due to the acidic soil at Star Carr (note: the pictures depict the same bone being flexed) (© York University) Direct lifting (left) and passive lifting (right) of a textile fragment Roman hobnailed sole (Carlisle) X-ray of Roman hobnailed sole to record condition and nailing pattern Laser scanning and polynomial texture mapping were used to examine how fine surface details change during conservation. An area depicting tool marks viewed under different lighting conditions (left: specular enhancement, centre and right: differently angled light). Roman plant-fibre cordage before conservation; Carlisle Millennium excavation (photo by J. Jones, Durham University) The Roman rope from Carlisle was conserved by immersion in Primal WS24, PEG 400 and Glycerol followed by freeze drying. This resulted in a good colour but poor cohesion. An application of Primal WS24 to the dry rope improved fibre cohesion. Basket in the process of being cleaned on the exterior (left: clean, right unclean)

Additional Information

  • Series: Guidance
  • Publication Status: Completed
  • Pages: 68
  • Product Code: HEAG260

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Related publications

Guidelines on the X-radiography of archaeological metalwork
Published 1 January 2006
Waterlogged Wood
Guidelines on the recording, sampling, conservation and curation of waterlogged wood
Published 1 April 2010
Environmental Archaeology
A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Methods, from Sampling and Recovery to Post-excavation (second edition)
Published 1 August 2011

Also of interest

Archaeological Conservation