Abstract

Theodosian Harbour was one of the principal harbors of Byzantine Constantinople, actively serving trading ships from the 4th to the early 11th centuries AD at the Sea of Marmara shore of the imperial center. Almost ten years of rescue excavations by Istanbul Archaeology Museums in the silted harbor site revealed considerable archaeological evidence dating from the Ottoman and Byzantine periods to the Neolithic age. The artifacts uncovered within the Byzantine harbor context constitute the majority of archaeological finds yielding much information on the trading network of the imperial center. Upon the invitation of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, Istanbul University undertook the removal, documentation, and construction technology studies of twenty-seven shipwrecks and the conservation work of 31 shipwrecks. For conserving the waterlogged timbers, mainly PEG (polyethylene glycol), preimpregnation+vacume freeze drying, or melamine-formaldehyde (Kauramin®) resin for the highly-degraded timbers is used. The present paper discusses the conservation processes of the shipwrecks excavated under the responsibility of the Istanbul University’s Department of Conservation of Marine Archaeological Objects.

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