New Wooden Archaeological Finds from Herculaneum: The State of Preservation and Hypothesis of Consolidation of the Material from the House of the Relief of Telephus

Abstract

This paper deals with the description of the analysis performed to characterize the state of preservation of the wooden artefacts recently discovered at the site of Herculaneum, Italy. During 2009, several wooden artefacts were brought to light during maintenance work at Herculaneum. They were attributed to both the roofing elements and the ceiling of the House of the Relief of Telephus. The roof was found mainly disassembled; nevertheless, it was an extraordinary archaeological find, because it represents a unique vestige of a Roman roof and, moreover, the aspect of both the structural and the decorative panels, where portions of the original polychrome decoration and traces of gilding were still preserved, appeared almost intact. Within the framework of the Herculaneum Conservation Project, a diagnostic study was undertaken to characterize the state of preservation of the wood constituting the roof, and also including the decorated panels of the ceiling, in order to determine a consolidation process able to structurally support the decayed wood without damaging the residual polychrome decoration. The results of the micromorphological, chemical and physical characterization of the wood, as a combined diagnostic process, are reported. A first proposal of a possible consolidation methodology based on the analytical results is also suggested.