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By Cristina Cabello‐Briones
CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES
Archaeological wood is an organic material, sensitive to environmental conditions. Wood, even when
treated with polyethylene glycols, adapts to the surrounding environment with physical and chemical
reactions that may be detrimental to its preservation. In addition, excessive tourism has a negative
effect on the museum environment once its indoor conditions fluctuate directly with the number of visitors.
In order to minimize the effects of a negative climate caused by mass tourism on archaeological wood
collections, preventive conservation measures should be taken. To illustrate an effective preventive
conservation management, the case of the Vasa museum in Stockholm, which houses the 386 years old
Vasa warship, is discussed.
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PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD
that has been exposed to the visible and ultra‐ 140]. In addition, a large number of people visit
violet wavelengths radiation of daylight under‐ museums on rainy days and their wet coats intro‐
goes colour change [5]. Experts agree on a range duce additional moisture.
between 300 and 50 lux as appropriate for safe
display, although lighting between 200 and 50 lux Although it is difficult to differentiate between in‐
should be used for severely deteriorated objects door environmental variations caused by visitors and
considering that 50 lux is the minimum level re‐ the effects of outdoor climate, it is clear that the
quired for colour perception and adequate visi‐ way tourism in museums is organised nowadays
bility [4, p. 268]. has a direct connexion with environmental fluctu‐
ations. An adult releases approximately 60 grams
Treatment with polyethylene glycol (PEG) has be‐ of water vapour per hour and 60 watts per square
come the most common application for the pre‐ metre of body surface as heat [10, p. 20], affecting
servation of many kinds of waterlogged wooden ambient relative humidity. Negative environmental
remains. The technique involves the impregnation condition cycles are related to successive waves
of wood with PEG solutions so that the water in the of tourists who access the museum. For example,
cell walls is replaced by the preservative. The pro‐ measurements in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
cess is focused on the stabilisation of the timbers’ in Vienna during and after the Bruegel exhibition
dimensions and bulking of the wood structure. in 1998 showed an increase in heat and moisture
directly caused by the tourism flows [9, p. 132].
Highly degraded wood treated with PEG changes
its dimension regularly according to the relative To avoid the collection itself and/or the building
humidity though its range of change is smaller acting as buffer elements, environmental control
than that of sound wood [6]. For wood treated systems must cope with these sudden stresses,
with any molecular weight of PEG, unless it is con‐ maintaining a constant climate during and after
tinually recoated, exposure to high RH (higher the visiting hours.
than 60%) will make the surface sticky and could
leach out the impregnant [7]. In addition, PEG is Preventive Conservation Management
hygroscopic and transports ions and dissolved
oxygen within the treated wood when there are Although large‐scale visitor access involves risk
humidity fluctuations causing both physical and for cultural objects, the public is necessary to
chemical problems [8]. keep a museum open. A large number of visitors
increases the prestige of a museum and ensures
Impact of Large‐scale Tourism on the Cultural funding as demonstrated by the Delphi survey of
Heritage owners and managers of historic properties across
the United Kingdom [11]. The survey shows that
Tourism affects tangible heritage in several and the highest ranked criterion for priority in fund‐
diverse ways: visitors release heat, water vapour ing is related to the ‘significance’ of the heritage.
and carbon dioxide; they transport external par‐ This is measured through its uniqueness and rel‐
ticles and the accumulation of dust can lead to evance for the community as well as its public
further cleaning that may damage surfaces; they appeal. However, pressures imposed by visitors
also generate turbulence, which increases the are not considered to be a major criterion for de‐
deposition rate of particulate matter [9, pp. 127‐ termining conservation funding.
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CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES
Mass tourism is an economic resource and in the In these days of rising cost and lack of funding,
context of indoor climate, the key is to achieve the preventive conservation management is the best
right balance between the increasing demand for option. According to Cassar’s definition, preventive
access and the need to protect the cultural herit‐ conservation management is “the creation and
age itself. maintenance of an environment that limits the
decay of museum objects to the absolute minimum
Different measures can be carried out to reduce consistent with public access” [10, p. 3]. A pre‐
the impact of tourism. Not including the cultural servation plan allows the analysis of deteriorating
object/site in promotional material could reduce environmental conditions caused by the influx of
the awareness of the attraction [12]. Another tourist and developing a strategy to protect the
solution could be to display the most valuable cultural artefacts. Additionally, environmental
objects of a collection in showcases or substitute monitoring is a reliable source of information that
them with replicas. However, display cases are can be used to assess risks and understand dam‐
not always the best conservation solution [13] ages and impacts.
and ethical issues as authenticity, provenance
and context could arise [14]. According to Young Case Study: Preventive Conservation of the
and Cassar [15], the type of measure depends on Vasa Warship
the uniqueness and vulnerability of the cultural
artefact, its local or international importance, The Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus ordered the
the ability to make facsimiles, the rate of degrada‐ Vasa (figure 1) to be built in 1625 due to the Thirty
tion from environmental conditions and the quality Years' War. Although a number of different tree
of the protective environment. species were used in the Vasa, 90% of the weight
Figure 1. The Vasa warship. Photo by Anneli Karlsson, the Swedish National Maritime Museums, © All rights reserved.
46 e‐conser vation
PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD
Figure 2. Stern view of the Vasa warship. Photo by Karolina Kristensson, the Swedish National Maritime Museums,
© All rights reserved.
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CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES
of the hull is oak. The ship sank, fully equipped, on and 1979 was followed by an air drying process for
its maiden voyage out of Stockholm harbour in another ten years1.
1628, and was raised to the surface in 1961. On
the salvage, the timbers were found to be in re‐ According to Emma Hocker [16, p. 4], conservator
markably good state (figure 2). The main reasons at the Vasa Museum, the control of the indoor
were the absence of marine borers, fungi and rot environment has been a challenge, especially
due to the near oxygen‐free conditions in the wa‐ due to the increasing public. The museum was
ter and high concentration of hydrogen sulphide. designed as a display case for the ship (figure 3)
However, the surface of the timbers was attacked with an internal airspace of about 105000 m3. The
by cellulose‐degrading and sulphur‐meta‐bolizing original predictions of 600 000 visitors per year
microorganisms. After salvage, exposure to atmo‐ have steadily increased until numbers reached 1.2
spheric oxygen initiated a multitude of chemical million visitors in 2008. The main reasons are its
reactions threatening the long‐term preserva‐ value as source of information of a specific con‐
tion of the ship such as oxidation of sulphur to text and timeframe, but also the museum market‐
sulphuric acid, red‐ox reactions of sulphur and
iron compounds from bolts and cargo made of
iron, free radical reactions, acid hydrolysis and 1 More detailed information can be found on the website of
oxidative degradation reactions of cellulose. The the Vasa Museum website at: http:// www.vasamuseet.se/
conservation with PEG 1500 and 600 between 1962 en/Preservation‐‐Research/
Figure 3. General view of the Vasa Museum. Photo by Åke E:son Lindman, © All rights reserved.
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PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD
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CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES
Figure 6. Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated from the climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum from the 16th
of June to the 21st of September 2009. RH and temperature fluctuations were minimized. Source: the Swedish National Maritime
Museums, © All rights reserved.
However, this system could operate at maximum The general concern nowadays is that the control
capacity if the museum gives in to the pressure of relative humidity and temperature is the most
of the long queues of visitors in peak season and feasible preventive conservation measure in mu‐
allows more public at one time. Then, a stable cli‐ seums with archaeological collections and high
mate could not be guaranteed [16, pp. 8‐9]. tourism. Stabilizing the environment, avoiding
damaging extremes and fluctuations and main‐
Conclusions taining the relative humidity low (around 55%)
will help preserve PEG treated marine wooden
Ships that have been rescued from the sea are artefacts [22].
among the most popular attractions worldwide,
making maritime museums highly profitable. Every museum should develop an environmental
The great popularity of these museums ensures management programme, a carefully elaborated
continued funding for research, conservation, long‐term maintenance plan. This could include
acquisition and promotes cultural tourism. How‐ technical aspects, such as dealing with monitor‐
ever, it also increases the pressure to allow greater ing and controlling of the museum environment,
numbers of visitors, making it difficult to maintain and organisational issues, such as a visitor man‐
a suitable preventive conservation programme. agement plan.
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PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD
References
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CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES
Conservator
[16] E. Hocker, “Maintaining a Stable Environment:
Vasa´s New Climate‐ Control System”, Journal of
Preservation Technology 41(2‐3), 2010, available at Cristina Cabello‐Briones is a recent postgraduate
URL [pdf] (accessed August 2010) in Preventive Conservation at Northumbria Uni‐
versity (Newcastle, UK). Her dissertation, assessed
[17] B. Håfords, The climate of the Vasa Museum – with distinction, was about Preventive Conserva‐
problems in coordinating the museum object and tion of Wooden Wreck‐Hulls Retrieved from Un‐
the museum climate, 1997, available at URL (ac‐ derwater Maritime Environments. She is a first
cessed July 2010) class graduate in the Conservation and Restora‐
tion of Cultural Heritage from the Escuela Superi‐
[18] I. Hall Roth and L. Malmberg, “Save the Vasa‐ or de Conservación y Restauración de Bienes Cul‐
An Introduction”, in P. Hoffmann, J. A. Spriggs, K. turales de Madrid (Spain), speciality in paintings,
Strætkvern and D. Gregory (eds.) Proceedings of where she studied between 2002 and 2005. In
the 9th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological Materials 2008, she completed her second first class BA
Conference, Bremerhaven, 2005, ICOM, 2005 degree in the History of Art at the Universidad
Autónoma de Madrid (Spain). Her dissertation
[19] E. Hocker, L. Dal, and F. Hocker, “Understand‐ was about Historic Restorations of the Roma‐
ing Vasa’s Salt Problem: Documenting the Distribu‐ nesque Mural Paintings at the National Museum
tion of Salt Precipitations on the Swedish Warship in Catalonia.
Vasa”, in Proceedings of the 10th ICOM Group on Wet She has recently been awarded with La Caixa Schol‐
Organic Archaeological Materials Conference, Bremer‐ arship to study a PhD in Conservation in the United
haven, 2008: ICOM/RACM, Amersfoort, 2009, p. 479 Kingdom commencing in 2011.
Her most recent projects include the research of
[20] M.N. Mortensen, H. Egsgaard, S. Hvilsted, Y. the improvements to the Tate Gallery’s transit
Shashoua and J. Glastrup, “Characterisation of the frame wrapping system in order to save on ma‐
polyethylene glycol impregnation of the Swedish terials, time and handling of long term collec‐
warship Vasa and one of the Danish Skuldelev Viking tion care and the internship at the Reina Sofía
ships”, Journal of Archaeological Science 34(8), Museum (Madrid, Spain) assessing the risks for
2007, p. 1217, doi:10.1016/j.jas.2006.10.012, URL cultural artefacts during mounting of exhibitions.
52 e‐conser vation
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