title: Environmental threats to buried archaeological remains.
abstract: The last century's environmental pollution has created health problems, acidification of ground and lakes, and serious damage to our cultural heritage. Outdoor monuments suffer from this pollution, but so do buried archaeological remains. However, research on the deterioration of archaeological artifacts underground has so far been limited, and it is important to draw attention to this neglected field. This article presents results obtained at the Swedish National Heritage Board on the degradation of archaeological objects of bronze and iron and of bones from prehistoric graves, materials of which seem to be most affected by pollutants. The investigation methods, which were employed, are described. Other relevant studies are briefly reviewed. It is obvious that the deterioration rate of archaeological artifacts, especially of inorganic materials, has accelerated in recent years, and that this increased deterioration to a large part can be attributed to anthropogenic pollution. Regions that might be endangered are exemplified.
authors.affiliation: National Heritage Board of Sweden, Stockholm, Sweden. ander.nord@raa.se
authors.forename: Anders G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Nord
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tronner
authors.forename: Einar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mattsson
authors.forename: Gunnar Ch
authors.initials: GCh
authors.lastname: Borg
authors.forename: Inga
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ullén
mesh_terms: D001106:Archaeology; D001842:Bone and Bones; D003300:Copper; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013548:Sweden
chemical_list: D003300:Copper; D007501:Iron