Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T15:22:31.175Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Structural Degradation of Third Millennium B.C.E. Archaeological Wood from Shahr-i Sukhta, Iran

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2011

Mohsen Mohammadi Achachluei
Affiliation:
Faculty of Conservation, Art University of Isfahan, P.O.Box 1744, Isfahan, I.R. IRAN
Gholamreza Vatankhah
Affiliation:
Faculty of Conservation, Art University of Isfahan, P.O.Box 1744, Isfahan, I.R. IRAN Adjuct Professor, Art Conservation Program, Queens University, Kingston, ON, Canada
Get access

Abstract

Detection of structural changes has a great importance in conservation and treatment of wooden artifacts found in burial environments. In this study, two wooden samples excavated in Shahr-i Sukhta, an important prehistoric site in eastern Persia, were tested by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FTIR results showed that decay of lignin occurred. This was accompanied by cellulose degradation. SEM images showed detachment of wood fibers in cross sections and cell wall breakage in tangential sections of the wood samples. These results indicated that the structural change in cellulose and lignin has caused detachment of wood fibers and cell wall breaking. This is the sign of low physical characteristics of wood which has direct relevance to cellulose decay and lignin degradation in middle lamella of wood cells. Cellulose chain breaking over time, has produced stresses in the compound middle lamella layer of the cell wall, that became accelerated in the middle of the lamella layer. Consequently, wood fibers were detached, and disintegration and powdering of wood surfaces occurred.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Schniewind, A. P., Unger, A. and Unger, W., Conservation of Wood Artifacts, (Springer, New York, 2001) p. 20.Google Scholar
2. Nilsson, Thomas and Daniel, Geoffrey, “Structure and the Aging Process of Dry Archaeological Wood,” Archaeological Wood Properties, Chemistry and Preservation, ed. Rowell, Roger M. and Barbour, R. James (ACS. Proc 196th, Los Angeles, California, 1988) pp. 6786.Google Scholar
3. Barbour, R. James, “Ttreatment for Waterlogged and Dry Archaeological Wood,” Archaeological Wood Properties, Chemistry and Preservation, ed. Rowell, Roger M. and Barbour, R. James (ACS. Proc 196th, Los Angeles, California, 1988) pp. 177192.Google Scholar
4. mansur, Seyed, sajjadi, Seyed, Shahr-i Sukhta a Large Laboratory in a Little Desert, (Base of Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of Shahr-i Sukhta, Zabol, 2005) pp. 17–42.Google Scholar
5. Salvatori, Sandro and Tosi, Maurizio, “Shahr-i Sokhta Revised Sequence”, South Asian Archaeology, vol. 1, ed. Jarrige, Catherine and Lefevre, Vincent (editions Recherché sur les Civilizations. Proceeding of the Sixteenth International Association of South Asian Archaeologists, Paris 2-6 July2001) pp. 281292.Google Scholar
6. Mansur, Seyed, sajjadi, Seyed, History and Archaeology of Baluchistan, (Cultural Heritage Organization, Tehran, 1995) p. 221.Google Scholar
7. Tosi, Maurizio, East and West, 19, 283386(1969).Google Scholar
8. Schultz, T.P. and Glasser, W.G., Holzforschung 40, 3744(1986).Google Scholar
9. Owen, N.L. and Thomas, D.W., Applied Spectroscopy 43, 451455 (1989).Google Scholar
10. Faix, O., Bremer, J., Schmidit, O. and Stevanovic, T., Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 21, 147162 (1991).Google Scholar
11. Pandey, K.K. and Pitman, A.J., International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 52, 151160 (2003).Google Scholar
12. Moore, A.K. and Owen, N.L., Applied Spectroscopy Reviews 36, 6586 (2001).Google Scholar
13. Blanchette, Robert A., Held, Benjamin W., Jurgens, Joel A. and Haight, John E., Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 6, 203212 (2004).Google Scholar
14. Blanchette, Robert A., Deterioration in Historic and Archaeological Woods from Terrestrial Sites, “Art, Biology, and Conservation: Biodeterioration of Works of Art,” ed. Koestler, R.J., Koestler, V.H., Charola, A.E. and Nieto-Fernandez, F.E., (THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK, 2003) pp. 328347.Google Scholar
15. Cartwright, K. St. G. and Findlay, W. P. K., Decay of Timber and its Prevention, (Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, 1958) p.9.Google Scholar
16. Mohammadi Achachluei, Mohsen, Conservation and Restoration of Five Wooden Combs Found in Shahr-i Sukhta of Sistan, B.A Thesis in Conservation and Restoration of Historic Relics, Art Faculty of Zabol University, 137(2006).Google Scholar
17. Ridout, Brian, Timber Decay in Buildings the Conservation Approach to Treatment, (Routledge, London, 2000) pp. 3031.Google Scholar