Abstract
The first step to study archaeological wood is to define how it is preserved, so as to apply the most suitable preparation procedure. Archaeological wood may be waterlogged, dried, charred, or mineralized. Here we describe two commonly used procedures: sectioning is applied to waterlogged or desiccated wood and fracturing is used with charcoal and mineralized wood. Both preparation techniques for wood and charcoal are fast and effective and allow analysis of large numbers of wood fragments in a relatively short time. However, they have the main disadvantage of being destructive techniques, producing further fragmentation and loss of study material. For this reason, it is recommended that the preparation of archaeological woods is always carried out with caution not to produce irreparable damage to materials that in some cases may be precious and unique.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Florian ME (1990) Scope and history of archaeological wood. In: Rowell RM, Barbour RJ (eds) Archaeological wood properties, chemistry, and preservation. American Chemical Society, Washington, pp 3–32
Huisman DJ, Manders MR, Kretschmar EI, Klaassen RKWM, Lamersdorf N (2008) Burial conditions and wood degradation at archaeological sites in the Netherlands. Int Biodeter Biodegr 6:33–44
Björdal CG (2012) Microbial degradation of waterlogged archaeological wood. J Cult Herit 13:S118–S122
Remazeilles C, Tran K, Guilminot E, Conforto E, Refait P (2013) Study of Fe(II) sulphides in waterlogged archaeological wood. Stud Conserv 58:297–307
Jones TP, Rowe NP (1999) Locating and collecting. In: Jones TP, Rowe NP (eds) Fossil plants and spores: modern techniques. Geological Society, London, pp 5–8
Grattan DW, Clark RW (1987) Conservation of marine archaeological objects. Butterworths, London, pp 164–206
Gale R, Cutler D (2000) Plants in archaeology. Identification manual of vegetative plant materials used in Europe and the southern Mediterranean to c. 1500. Westbury Publishing and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, pp 1–13
Pearsall DM (2000) Paleoethnobotany. A handbook of procedures. Academic, San Diego, pp 11–97
Holden J, West LJ, Howard AJ, Maxfield E, Panter I, Oxley J (2006) Hydrological controls of in situ preservation of waterlogged archaeological deposits. Earth-Sci Rev 8:59–83
Thompson GB (1994) Wood Charcoals from tropical sites: a contribution to methodology and interpretation. In: Hather JG (ed) Tropical archaeobotany. Applications and new developments. Routledge, New York, pp 9–23
Figueiral I (1999) Lignified and charcoalified fossil wood. In: Jones TP, Rowe NP (eds) Fossil plants and spores: modern techniques. Geological Society, London, pp 92–96
Taylor NT, Taylor EL, Krings M (2009) Paleobotany: the biology and evolution of fossil plants. Academic, Burlington, pp 1–42
Zohary D, Hopf M, Weiss E (2012) Domestication of plants in the old world. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 9–13
Vernet JL (1973) Etude sur l’histoire de la végétation du sud-est de la France au Quaternaire d’après les charbons de bois principalement. Paléobiologie Continentale 4:1–90
Schweingruber FH (1978) Mikroskopische Holzanatomie. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Birmensdorf, pp 211–212
Jansen S, Kitin P, De Pauw H, Idris M, Beeckman H, Smets E (1998) Preparation of wood specimens for transmitted light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Belg J Bot 131:41–49
Thinon M (1990) Utilisation de la microscopie épiscopique interférentielle pour l’identification botanique des charbons de bois. In: Hackens T, Munaut AV, Till C (eds) Bois et Archéologie, 1st European Conference, Louvain-la-Neuve, 1987, PACT 22:179–188
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Celant, A., Coccolini, G. (2015). Archaeological Wood Preparation. In: Yeung, E., Stasolla, C., Sumner, M., Huang, B. (eds) Plant Microtechniques and Protocols. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19944-3_26
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19944-3_26
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-19943-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-19944-3
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)