Abstract
The Nanhai No. 1 was a wooden merchant ship of the Southern Song Dynasty, which wrecked and sank in the South China Sea, Yangjiang City, Guangdong Province, China. The Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck was salvaged as a whole in 2007 and began to be excavated in 2013. During the archaeology excavation, some of the hull wood fell off the hull. These waterlogged archaeological woods (WAW) were immersed in the buffer containing EDTA-2Na and isothiazolinone K100 for moisture stabilization, preliminary desalination, and microbial inhibition. We evaluated the properties of these WAW through testing the chemical components (including lignin, holocellulose, and ash content) of the wood, and monitoring the iron element content, anion and cation content in the buffer. At the same time, the microbial composition in the desalination buffer was also detected. The results showed that the holocellulose content in these WAW were much lower than in fresh wood. The ash content in these WAW decreased after desalination treatment. The iron element content, anion and cation content in the buffer were high and kept at a certain level after desalination treatment. At the same time, the problem of biodegradation in the buffer should be paid attention to. The comprehensive protection of WAW requires to combine wood properties and microbial problems. This study provides a reference for the protection of WAW from the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck and other similar historical wood.
Highlights
The Nanhai No 1 shipwreck was a wooden merchant ship of the Southern SongDynasty (1127 to 1279 AD), which sank in the South China Sea in Guangdong province, China
Since most of the cellulose had been degraded and lignin is difficult to degrade, the percentage of lignin in the wood has increased to 63%
The changes of lignin and holocellulose contents in April and July 2019 were not obvious, indicating that the degradation of the waterlogged archaeological woods (WAW) became slow during the desalination
Summary
The Nanhai No 1 shipwreck was a wooden merchant ship of the Southern SongDynasty (1127 to 1279 AD), which sank in the South China Sea in Guangdong province, China. Maritime wooden cultural relics had been immersed in seawater for a long time, and their preservation environment was closed, at a constant temperature, constant pressure, high salt, and oxygen deficient environment. When they were excavated, the preservation environment changed into an open environment where the temperature, humidity and air circulation were not easy to control. During the excavation of the Nanhai No 1 shipwreck, a large number of scattered individual pieces of wood were unearthed After excavation, this hull wood was usually immersed in deionized water containing the metal chelating agent EDTA-2Na [2] and the antimicrobial agent isothiazolinone [3] for moisture stabilization, preliminary desalination, and microbial inhibition. The above treatment lays a solid foundation for the overall desalination, reinforcement, and protection of the hull in the later stage
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