title: Oxygen consumption by conserved archaeological wood.
abstract: Rates of oxygen consumption have been measured over extended time periods for 29 whole samples of conserved, archaeological wood and four samples of fresh, unconserved wood, at 50% relative humidity and room temperature. Samples from the Swedish Warship Vasa and the Danish Skuldelev Viking ships are included. Most rates were close to 1 μg O2 (g wood)(-1) day(-1) and the process persisted for several years at least. Consumption of oxygen is related to change in chemical composition, which is, in turn, related to degradation. It is thus demonstrated that despite conservation, waterlogged archaeological wood continues to degrade in a museum climate.
authors.affiliation: The National Museum of Denmark, Department of Conservation, Lyngby, Denmark. martin.mortensen@natmus.dk
authors.forename: Martin N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Mortensen
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matthiesen