Laboratory research of solvent-assisted menthol sols as temporary consolidants in archaeological excavation applications

Abstract

Temporary consolidation is a quite common practice during archeological excavations nowadays. Melts of cyclododecane or menthol are among the most used consolidants. When using melting protocol to consolidate fragile heritages in archaeological excavation sites, one of the most frequently encountered challenges is the poor penetration of the melt into the heritages, especially in cases of low environmental temperatures, high water content or compact substrates. In this work, we explore the possibility of using solvent-assisted menthol sols as temporary consolidant. Six common organic liquids are individually introduced into menthol at a concentration of 9.1 wt% to formulate room temperature menthol sols. Their potentials as temporary consolidants are systematically investigated. Experimental data indicate that solvent polarity is the most important feature for temporary consolidation purpose and ethanol with medium polarity is among the most appropriate solvents. Laboratory research results show that much better penetration behavior and good consolidation performances can be achieved in menthol-ethanol sol. The as-prepared menthol-ethanol sol is applied in Liangzhu archeological excavation site with satisfactory outcomes. This work shows that menthol-ethanol sol is an excellent temporary consolidation material for archaeological excavation purpose especially in extremely wet condition.