Burial conditions and wood degradation at archaeological sites in the Netherlands

Huisman, D.J.; Manders, Martijn; Kretschmar, Ev Iris; Klaassen, René K.W.M.; Lamersdorf, Norbert

doi:10.1016/j.ibiod.2007.06.008

Cited by 53 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…It is well recognized that burial conditions play a crucial role in archaeological heritage preservation, particularly for the organic remains dated back to thousands of years 1 . While research into organic remains in burial environment has been in progress 2 3 , the number of such studies is still limited, especially in microbial degradation. Microorganisms were considered as the primary organic decay agents within the soil environment 4 .…”

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confidence: 99%

A new perspective on studying burial environment before archaeological excavation: analyzing bacterial community distribution by high-throughput sequencing

Wei

Jia

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Burial conditions play a crucial role in archaeological heritage preservation. Especially, the microorganisms were considered as the leading causes which incurred degradation and vanishment of historic materials. In this article, we analyzed bacterial diversity and community structure from M1 of Wangshanqiao using 16 S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. The results indicated that microbial communities in burial conditions were diverse among four different samples. The samples from the robber hole varied most obviously in community structure both in Alpha and Beta diversity. In addition, the dominant phylum in different samples were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes, respectively. Moreover, the study implied that historical materials preservation conditions had connections with bacterial community distribution. At the genus level, Acinetobacter might possess high ability in degrading organic culture heritage in burial conditions, while Bacteroides were associated closely with favorable preservation conditions. This method contributes to fetch information which would never recover after excavation, and it will help to explore microbial degradation on precious organic culture heritage and further our understanding of archaeological burial environment. The study also indicates that robbery has a serious negative impact on burial remains.

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confidence: 99%

A new perspective on studying burial environment before archaeological excavation: analyzing bacterial community distribution by high-throughput sequencing

Wei

Jia

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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“…Problems with metal compounds contributing to archaeological wood degradation are well documented in a number of case studies on shipwrecks such as the Vasa, Mary Rose, Batavia and Oseberg finds—Viking ships (Braovac et al 2016 ; Fors and Sandström 2006 ; Preston et al 2014 ). Especially the destructive effect of iron on archaeological wood is well known and confirmed by many researchers (Almkvist et al 2013 ; Fors et al 2012 ; Huisman et al 2008 ; Preston et al 2014 ). High iron contents are mainly associated with shipwrecks due to frequent occurrence of iron fastenings or other objects connected with or found near such wooden artefacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Determination of the content of selected elements in medieval waterlogged oak wood from the Lednica Lake—a case study

Broda

Frankowski

2017

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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The content of selected elements: Al, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Sb, Si, Ti, V and Zn was determined in archaeological waterlogged oak wood from the Lednica Lake by using the inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) method. The concentration of metals (especially heavy metals) in wood is typically specified to characterise this material and evaluate the possibility to use it for industrial purposes. In case of waterlogged archaeological wood intended for further research on new methods of conservation, such an analysis is important for other reasons. As it has been confirmed by numerous conservators and researchers, the presence of metal compounds is a serious problem not only due to their destructive influence on wood tissue but also from a conservation/re-conservation perspective. Metal-containing chemicals may influence conservation treatments by reacting with substances used for wood conservation and causing irreversible damage to wooden objects. Therefore, while developing new solutions for wood conservation, a broad knowledge not only on the state of wood preservation and deterioration but also on interacting chemical factors is required. The results of the research clearly show that content of minerals in waterlogged wood excavated from the bottom of the Lednica Lake considerably exceeded the average percentage of these elements in contemporary wood, which is associated with the mineralisation process. Moreover, variability in metal content was observed between waterlogged and contemporary wood. In waterlogged wood, the highest concentrations of Ca, Fe, Mg and P were observed, while in contemporary oak wood the predominant concentrations of K, Ca, Mn and Si were determined. Statistical analysis showed the variability in content of elements between different archaeological wood zones and contemporary wood. On the basis of the results obtained, it could be concluded that the studied waterlogged wood acted as an adsorbent of elements from water and sediments. High content of metal ions can be an impediment in developing new formulations for conservation, while using this wood as an experimental material. Therefore, while planning to use new chemicals as conservation agents, the possible interactions between chemicals and metals must be taken into consideration.

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“…The 'optimal' pH range found in the experiment is supported by literature reports by Boutelje and Göransson (1975) which measured ground water pH values of 7.2-8.0 surrounding bacterial decayed wooden foundation piles in Stockholm. Ground water in contact with bacterial decayed archaeological wood and wooden foundation pilings showed a pH range of 7.0 to 8.5 (Huisman et al, 2008;Kretschmar et al, 2008b).…”

Section: Second Experiments (Infl Uence Of Chemical Variation Of Sedimmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laboratory Experiments as Support for Development ofIn SituConservation Methods

Gelbrich

Kretschmar

Lamersdorf

et al. 2012

Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites

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Within the EU-Project BACPOLES (EVK4-CT-2001-00043) bacterial wood degradation could be simulated in laboratory experiments to investigate the living conditions of the up to now unknown bacteria consortia, named erosion bacteria (EB), which cause considerable decay on waterlogged archaeological wood. In these Microcosm (MC) experiments the role of oxygen and chemical composition of the sediment were investigated. Therefore, the microcosms were subjected to different gassing treatments and the free dissolved oxygen was measured in different depths of the microcosms by special oxygen sensors (optodes). In further experiments the chemical composition of the sediment was verifi ed to investigate the infl uence of different nutrient concentrations to the degradation process by EB.From the fi ndings it can be concluded that bacterial wood decay can proceed without free oxygen present but that it is more intense if oxygen is available. A water fl ow like streams in the sea, simulated by vertical water circulation, seems to stimulate the degradation activity and the degradation of wood by EB seems to be a result of low nutrient levels in the surrounding area.keywords waterlogged wood, erosion bacteria, decay simulation, microcosms, preservation strategies, in situ conservation 8 JANA GELBRICH et al.

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Burial conditions and wood degradation at archaeological sites in the Netherlands

Cited by 53 publications

References 9 publications

A new perspective on studying burial environment before archaeological excavation: analyzing bacterial community distribution by high-throughput sequencing

A new perspective on studying burial environment before archaeological excavation: analyzing bacterial community distribution by high-throughput sequencing

Determination of the content of selected elements in medieval waterlogged oak wood from the Lednica Lake—a case study

Laboratory Experiments as Support for Development ofIn SituConservation Methods

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