Acta Scientiarum Polonorum
Silvarum Colendarum Ratio et Industria Lignaria

Abstract The aim of the research was evaluation of effectiveness of conservation of waterlogged archaeological wood with selected chemical compounds, as well as an attempt to find a correlation between a degree of degradation of wood and its dimensional stabilization after impregnation. The tests were carried out on archaeological oak, elm, pine and fir wood. The degree of wood degradation was evaluated on the basis of loss of wood substance and contents of basic chemical components. Wood samples were impregnated with solutions of sucrose, lactitol and polyethylene glycol (PEG) 300 and 4000. The study compares shrinkage of non-impregnated wood with deformation of the modified wood. It presents relations between the uptake of the investigated chemical compounds and a degree of cross-section strain of the wood. The tests showed a large diversification of moisture strains of softwood and hardwood, as well as essential differences in effectiveness of conservation of the archaeological wood with the tested impregnants.