Abstract
The degradation states of archaeological white elm, with an age estimation of ~350 years, and poplar, with an age approximation of ~1000–1200 years, were studied by means of different chemical and microscopy analyses. Recently cut samples from the respective species were used for comparison reasons. The chemical composition analysis of the archaeological samples showed significantly low holocellulose values, while the lignin, extractive, and ash contents were considerably high, as compared with the recently cut samples. The Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy also confirmed the changes in the chemical structure of the archaeological elm and poplar samples. The light and scanning electron microscopies illustrated that the erosion bacteria were the main degrading agent in both archaeological elm and poplar, although the hyphae of rot fungi were detected inside the vessel elements of the archaeological poplar sample.
Highlights
IntroductionWood has played a significant role in human life
The amounts of holocelluloses in recently cut elm and poplar were, respectively, 80.01% and 81.46%, while these amounts were significantly lower in archaeological elm and poplar, which were 56.45% and 51.18%, respectively
The amount of lignin in the archaeological samples was significantly higher than in the recently cut samples, which is mainly attributed to the loss of other wood compounds, e.g., holocelluloses [1,6,41]
Summary
Wood has played a significant role in human life. It is mainly composed of cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin polymers. In the biological life cycle, wood undergoes degradation when it is exposed to suitable conditions [1,2]. Factors such as solar radiation, oxygen, water, heat, wind-blown particles, pollution, and microorganisms cause inter- and intra-molecular breakage in wood polymers and degrade the wood structure. Solar radiation causes photochemical degradation on the wood surface by the decomposition of wood polymers, mainly lignin [3]. Temperature is not as important as moisture content and solar radiation, the rate of photochemical, oxidative reactions, and wood decay increases at elevated temperatures [5,6,7]
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