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e conservation the onl ine magazine No. 18, Februar y 2011

Cabello, C. Preventive Conserv. Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship. 2011

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Citation preview

Page 1: Cabello, C. Preventive Conserv. Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship. 2011

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 112

e conservationthe online magazine No 18 February 2011

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 212

A REFLECTION ON THE PREVENTIVE

CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

AND THE EFFECTS OF MASS TOURISM

The Case Study of the Vasa Warship

By Cristina Cabello‐Briones

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 312

Introduction

Tourism is and must be acceptable for any museum

However large‐scale tourism has a direct nega‐

tive effect on collections such as that of the Vasa

Museum Although it is clear that environmental

conditions affect archaeological wood preventive

conservation of such collections has not been ex‐

tensively considered Wooden shipwrecks have

been studied from several perspectives mainly in

research that refers to material degradation and

new treatments The main objective of this articleis to raise public awareness of this topic and high‐

light the benefits of a well planned preventive

conservation strategy in order to safeguard ar‐

chaeological wooden cultural artefacts Before

analysing the example of the Vasa Museum a

brief description of the effects of environment

and tourism on archaeological wood and an in‐

troduction to preventive conservation manage‐

ment are presented

Preventive Conservation of Archaeological Wood

Wood equilibrates with its environment If the sur‐

rounding conditions change wood reacts to the

abundance or absence of moisture in the air and

will expand or contract Thomson [1] recommen‐

ded 19‐24 degC and 45‐55 RH as ideal conditions

for the museum environment housing unpainted

wooden objects At lower RH values wood cracks

becomes brittle and shrinks Above 65 RH mold

growth is promoted and swelling increases Main‐

taining the relative humidity between 50‐60

reduces most of the visible damage However Mi‐

chalski [2] reminds us that the specifications for

temperature and humidity in related literature rep‐

resent the lowest common denominator amongst

the needs of objects and not necessarily the op‐

timum for each Each case needs to be analysed

individually and on many occasions this means

testing the decisions in practice

When an object is mechanically stable most dam‐age is due to RH fluctuations These can eventu‐

ally lead to cracking checking and warping of the

wooden artefact In addition fast changes in rel‐

ative humidity cause internal stresses due to dif‐

ferences of moisture between inner and outer

areas [3 p 34] Therefore an ideal environment

is achieved when no cyclic variations occur Slight

shifts are permitted if the change is slow varying

at maximum over plusmn5 range [4 p 269]

Relating to temperature every 10 degC increase

doubles the average rate of organic reactions [3

p 40] Therefore lower temperature levels (15‐

20 degC) slow these rates and offer a comfortable

environment to visitors

Light affects wood in several ways The most severe

damages are connected with chemical bond break‐

age free radical formation and the subsequent

depolymerisation of polymers In addition wood

44 e‐conservation

Archaeological wood is an organic material sensitive to environmental conditions Wood even when

treated with polyethylene glycols adapts to the surrounding environment with physical and chemical

reactions that may be detrimental to its preservation In addition excessive tourism has a negative

effect on the museum environment once its indoor conditions fluctuate directly with the number of visitors

In order to minimize the effects of a negative climate caused by mass tourism on archaeological wood

collections preventive conservation measures should be taken To illustrate an effective preventive

conservation management the case of the Vasa museum in Stockholm which houses the 386 years old

Vasa warship is discussed

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 412

that has been exposed to the visible and ultra‐

violet wavelengths radiation of daylight under‐

goes colour change [5] Experts agree on a range

between 300 and 50 lux as appropriate for safe

display although lighting between 200 and 50 lux

should be used for severely deteriorated objects

considering that 50 lux is the minimum level re‐

quired for colour perception and adequate visi‐

bility [4 p 268]

Treatment with polyethylene glycol (PEG) has be‐

come the most common application for the pre‐

servation of many kinds of waterlogged wooden

remains The technique involves the impregnation

of wood with PEG solutions so that the water in the

cell walls is replaced by the preservative The pro‐

cess is focused on thestabilisation of thetimbersrsquo

dimensions and bulking of the wood structure

Highly degraded wood treated with PEG changes

its dimension regularly according to the relative

humidity though its range of change is smallerthan that of sound wood [6] For wood treated

with any molecular weight of PEG unless it is con‐

tinually recoated exposure to high RH (higher

than 60) will make the surface sticky and could

leach out the impregnant [7] In addition PEG is

hygroscopic and transports ions and dissolved

oxygen within the treated wood when there are

humidity fluctuations causing both physical and

chemical problems [8]

Impact of Large‐scale Tourism on the Cultural

Heritage

Tourism affects tangible heritage in several and

diverse ways visitors release heat water vapour

and carbon dioxide they transport external par‐

ticles and the accumulation of dust can lead to

further cleaning that may damage surfaces they

also generate turbulence which increases the

deposition rate of particulate matter [9 pp 127‐

140] In addition a large number of people visit

museums on rainy days and their wet coats intro‐

duce additional moisture

Although it is difficult to differentiate between in‐

door environmental variations causedby visitors and

the effects of outdoor climate it is clear that the

way tourism in museums is organised nowadays

has a direct connexion with environmental fluctu‐

ations An adult releases approximately 60 grams

of water vapour per hour and 60 watts per square

metre of body surface as heat [10 p 20] affecting

ambient relative humidity Negative environmental

condition cycles are related to successive waves

of tourists who access the museum For example

measurements in the Kunsthistorisches Museum

in Vienna during and after the Bruegel exhibition

in 1998 showed an increase in heat and moisture

directly caused by the tourism flows [9 p 132]

To avoid the collection itself andor the building

acting as buffer elements environmental control systems must cope with these sudden stresses

maintaining a constant climate during and after

the visiting hours

Preventive Conservation Management

Although large‐scale visitor access involves risk

for cultural objects the public is necessary to

keep a museum open A large number of visitorsincreases the prestige of a museum and ensures

funding as demonstrated by the Delphi survey of

owners and managers of historic properties across

the United Kingdom [11] The survey shows that

the highest ranked criterion for priority in fund‐

ing is related to the lsquosignificancersquo of the heritage

This is measured through its uniqueness and rel‐

evance for the community as well as its public

appeal However pressures imposed by visitors

are not considered to be a major criterion for de‐

termining conservation funding

45e‐conservation

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 512

Mass tourism is an economic resource and in the

context of indoor climate the key is to achieve the

right balance between the increasing demand for

access and the need to protect the cultural herit‐

age itself

Different measures can be carried out to reduce

the impact of tourism Not including the cultural

objectsite in promotional material could reduce

the awareness of the attraction [12] Another

solution could be to display the most valuable

objects of a collection in showcases or substitute

them with replicas However display cases are

not always the best conservation solution [13]

and ethical issues as authenticity provenance

and context could arise [14] According to Young

and Cassar [15] the type of measure depends on

the uniqueness and vulnerability of the cultural

artefact its local or international importance

the ability to make facsimiles the rate of degrada‐

tion from environmental conditions and the quality

of the protective environment

In these days of rising cost and lack of funding

preventive conservation management is the best

option According to Cassarrsquos definition preventive

conservation management is ldquothe creation and

maintenance of an environment that limits the

decay of museum objects to theabsolute minimum

consistent with public accessrdquo [10 p 3] A pre‐

servation plan allows the analysis of deteriorating

environmental conditions caused by the influx of

tourist and developing a strategy to protect the

cultural artefacts Additionally environmental

monitoring is a reliable source of information that

can be used to assess risks and understand dam‐

ages and impacts

Case Study Preventive Conservation of the

Vasa Warship

The Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus ordered the

Vasa (figure 1) to be built in 1625 due to the Thirty

Years War Although a number of different tree

species were used in the Vasa 90 of the weight

46 e‐conservation

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

Figure 1 The Vasa warship Photo by Anneli Karlsson the Swedish National Maritime Museums copy All rights reserved

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 612

47e‐conservation

Figure 2 Stern view of the Vasa warship Photo by Karolina Kristensson the Swedish National Maritime Museumscopy All rights reserved

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 712

of the hull is oak The ship sank fully equipped on

its maiden voyage out of Stockholm harbour in

1628 and was raised to the surface in 1961 On

the salvage the timbers were found to be in re‐

markably good state (figure 2) The main reasons

were the absence of marine borers fungi and rot

due to the near oxygen‐free conditions in the wa‐

ter and high concentration of hydrogen sulphide

However the surface of the timbers was attacked

by cellulose‐degrading and sulphur‐meta‐bolizing

microorganisms After salvage exposure to atmo‐

spheric oxygen initiated a multitude of chemical

reactions threatening the long‐term preserva‐

tion of the ship such as oxidation of sulphur to

sulphuric acid red‐ox reactions of sulphur and

iron compounds from bolts and cargo made of

iron free radical reactions acid hydrolysis and

oxidative degradation reactions of cellulose The

conservation with PEG 1500 and 600 between 1962

and 1979 was followed by an air drying process for

another ten years1

According to Emma Hocker [16 p 4] conservator

at the Vasa Museum the control of the indoor

environment has been a challenge especially

due to the increasing public The museum was

designed as a display case for the ship (figure 3)

with an internal airspace of about 105000 m3 The

original predictions of 600 000 visitors per year

have steadily increased until numbers reached 12

million visitors in 2008 The main reasons are its

value as source of information of a specific con‐

text and timeframe but also the museum market‐

48 e‐conservation

Figure 3 General view of the Vasa Museum Photo by Aringke Eson Lindman copy All r ights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

1 More detailed information can be found on the website of

the Vasa Museum website at http wwwvasamuseetse

enPreservation‐‐Research

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 812

by dehumidifying in advance when potential risks

are detected [16 p 7] Also a new energy‐effect‐

ive halogen‐based lighting system was installed

producing 30 less radiant heat [21]

Since installation the hall climate has stabilised

considerably despite the greater number of visit‐

ors and the outdoor climate (figures 5 and 6) Out‐breaks are not worsening either in coverage or

pH value and the almost 10 RH gradient over

the height of the ship was halved immediately

[16 p 7]

ing strategy and the rise in the number of cruises

with Stockholm as a destination

The museum former climate specifications were

set at 60 RH and 20 degC for summer months and

575 RH and 17 degC in winter to avoid condensa‐

tion in the museum walls [17] equivalent to wood‐

moisture content of 10‐12 Although this system

was sufficient for the winter months [18 p 171]

when there were relatively few visitors during

warm and wet summers the RH rose to over 65

Temperature and RH gradients caused by the build‐

ing height [16 p 5] were accepted as inevitable

but at lower levels [19] the RH at times reached

70 impacting the movement of the wood The

climate system was under‐dimensioned

After a record number of visitors during the rainy

summer of 2000 salt outbreaks were drawn to the

surface Hydrated PEG could have dissolved salts

[20] from the material at high RH and these salts

could have precipitated on the wood surface whenthe PEG was dehydrated at low RH In addition

large fluctuations were recorded near the entrance

to the museum shop and restaurant where un‐

conditioned air could enter without control and

in theviewing galleries at the stern where stronger

lighting and visitors were concentrated [16 pp 5‐

6] It was then decided to reduce the RH from 60

to 55 plusmn 4 and the year‐round temperature to

185 plusmn 15degC equivalent to 10 moisture content in the wood [16 p 6]

In 2004 a new climate system with increased ca‐

pacity and sensitivity was installed in the ship hall

(figure 4) The principle is based on conditioned

air pumped in at low levels rising around the ship

and sucked out through a duct near the ceiling

[18 p 173] providing a protective curtain around

the ship In addition the visitor counter at the

museum entrance was incorporated into thesteer‐

ing parameters This measure allows preparation

49e‐conservation

Figure 4 Current climate‐control system above the ship stern

Photo by Karolina Kristensson copy All rights reserved

Figure 5 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated fromthe climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum betweenthe 16 th of June and the 21st of September 2003 The environ‐mental fluctuationswere remarkable Source the Swedish Na‐

tional Maritime Museums copy All rights reserved

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 912

However this system could operate at maximum

capacity if the museum gives in to the pressure

of the long queues of visitors in peak season and

allows more public at one time Then a stable cli‐

mate could not be guaranteed [16 pp 8‐9]

Conclusions

Ships that have been rescued from the sea are

among the most popular attractions worldwide

making maritime museums highly profitable

The great popularity of these museums ensures

continued funding for research conservation

acquisition and promotes cultural tourism How‐ever it also increases the pressure to allow greater

numbers of visitors making it difficult to maintain

a suitable preventive conservation programme

Large‐scale tourism has a direct negative effect

on museum indoor climate environments It pri‐

marily affects relative humidity causing rapid

fluctuations in short periods of time Variations

in moisture enable the migration of water dis‐

solved oxygen and salts into the PEG and wood

and will initiate different chemical reactions

The general concern nowadays is that the control

of relative humidity and temperature is the most

feasible preventive conservation measure in mu‐

seums with archaeological collections and high

tourism Stabilizing the environment avoiding

damaging extremes and fluctuations and main‐

taining the relative humidity low (around 55)

will help preserve PEG treated marine wooden

artefacts [22]

Every museum should develop an environmental

management programme a carefully elaborated

long‐term maintenance plan This could include

technical aspects such as dealing with monitor‐ing and controlling of the museum environment

and organisational issues such as a visitor man‐

agement plan

Acknowledgments

I wish to acknowledge the Vasa Museum Special

thanks to Emma Hocker for generously giving me

part of her time to share her experience and know‐

ledge

50 e‐conservation

Figure 6 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated from the climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum from the 16 th

of June to the 21st of September 2009 RH and temperature f luctuations were minimized Source the Swedish National MaritimeMuseums copy All rights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1012

51e‐conservation

References

[1] G Thomson The Museum Environment Butter‐

worths London 1981 p 85

[2] S Michalski ldquoTemperature and Relative Humidity

the definition of correctincorrect valuesrdquo in S

Michalski (ed) A Systematic Approach to the Con‐

servation (Care) of Museum Collections Canadian

Conservation Institute Ottawa Ontario 1992 ap‐

pendix D p 2

[3] B Appelbaum Guide to Environmental Protec‐

tion of Collections Sound View Press Boston 1991

[4] V Jessen and C Pearson ldquoEnvironmental con‐

ditions for storage and display of marine f indsrdquo

in C Pearson (ed) Conservation of Marine Ar‐

chaeological Objects Butterworths London

1987

[5] R Harvey and C Freedland ldquoExhibition andStorage of Archaeological woodrdquo in R M Rowell

and R J Barbour (eds) Archaeological Wood Prop‐

erties Chemistry and Preservation American Chem‐

ical Society Washington 1990 p 407 Chapter DOI

101021ba‐1990‐0225ch015 URL

[6] T Nishiura and S Imazu ldquoExperimental study

on the dimensional change of highly degraded wa‐

terlogged wood according to ambient humidity afterpreservation treatmentrdquo in P Hoffmann (ed) Pro‐

ceedings of the 4th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological

Materials Conference Bremerhaven 1990 ICOM

Bremerhaven 1991 p 117

[7] D W Grattan ldquoA Practical Comparative Study of

Treatments for Waterlogged Wood Part II The Effect

of Humidity on Treated Woodrdquo in D W Grattan (ed)

Proceedings of the ICOM Waterlogged Wood Working

Group Conference 15‐18th September 1981 Cana‐

dian Conservation Institute Ottawa ICOM Com‐

mittee for Conservation Waterlogged Wood Work‐ing Group 1982 p 250

[8] M Sandstroumlm Y Fors and I Persson The Vasas

New Battle Sulphur Acid and Iron Vasa Studies 19

The Vasa Museum Stockholm 2003 p 21

[9] D Camuffo R Van Grieken H‐J Busse G

Sturaro A Valentino A Bernardi N Blades D

Shooter K Gysels F Deutsch M Wieser O Kim

and U Ulrych ldquoEnvironmental monitoring in four

European museumsrdquo Atmospheric Environment 35

Supplement No 1 2001 doi101016S1352‐2310

(01)00088‐7 URL also available at URL [pdf]

[10] M Cassar Environmental Management guide‐

lines for museums and galleries Museums amp Galleries

Commission with Routledge London 1995

[11] B Garrod and A Fyall ldquoManaging Heritage

Tourismrdquo Annals of Tourism Research 27(3) 2000

pp 682‐708 doi 101016S0160‐7383(99)00094‐8

URL

[12] M Drdaacutecky T Drdaacutecky D Creighton ldquoImpact

of Cultural Tourism upon the Diversity of Built Her‐

itagerdquo position paper of the PICTURE project Pro‐

active management of the Impact of Cultural Tourism

upon Urban Resources and Economies 2007 avail‐able at URL [pdf] (accessed November 2010)

[13] D Camuffo G Sturaro and A Valentino

ldquoShowcases a really effective mean for protecting

artworksrdquo Thermochimica Acta 365(1‐2) 2000

pp 65‐77 doi101016S0040‐6031(00)00614‐6

URL

[14] M Cassar P Brimblecombe T Nixon C Price

C Sabbioni C Saiz Jimenez and K Van Balen

Technological requirements for solutions in the con‐

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1112

servation and protection of historic monuments and

archaeological remains European Parliament Kirch‐

berg Luxembourg 2001 p 43 available at URL

[pdf] (accessed July 2010)

[15] A Young and M Cassar ldquoIndoor Climate and

Tourism Effects ‐ a UK perspectiverdquo in M Drdaacuteckyacute

(ed) European Research on Cultural Heritage State‐

of‐the‐Art Studies Vol 2 ITAM 2004 Academy of

Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague 2004 pp

405‐412 available at URL [pdf] (accessed August

2010)

[16] E Hocker ldquoMaintaining a Stable Environment

Vasaacutes New Climate‐ Control Systemrdquo Journal of

Preservation Technology 41(2‐3) 2010 available at

URL [pdf] (accessed August 2010)

[17] B Haringfords The climate of the Vasa Museum ndash

problems in coordinating the museum object and

the museum climate 1997 available at URL (ac‐

cessed July 2010)

[18] I Hall Roth and L Malmberg ldquoSave the Vasa‐

An Introductionrdquo in P Hoffmann J A Spriggs K

Straeligtkvern and D Gregory (eds) Proceedings of

the 9th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological Materials

Conference Bremerhaven 2005 ICOM 2005

[19] E Hocker L Dal and F Hocker ldquoUnderstand‐

ing Vasarsquos Salt Problem Documenting the Distribu‐tion of Salt Precipitations on the Swedish Warship

Vasardquo in Proceedings of the 10th ICOM Group on Wet

Organic Archaeological Materials Conference Bremer‐

haven 2008 ICOMRACM Amersfoort 2009 p 479

[20] MN Mortensen H Egsgaard S Hvilsted Y

Shashoua and J Glastrup ldquoCharacterisation of the

polyethylene glycol impregnation of the Swedish

warship Vasa and one of the Danish Skuldelev Viking

shipsrdquo Journal of Archaeological Science 34(8)

2007 p 1217 doi101016jjas200610012 URL

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONESConservator

Cristina Cabello‐Briones is a recent postgraduate

in Preventive Conservation at Northumbria Uni‐

versity (Newcastle UK) Her dissertation assessed

with distinction was about Preventive Conserva‐

tion of Wooden Wreck‐Hulls Retrieved from Un‐

derwater Maritime Environments She is a first

class graduate in the Conservation and Restora‐tion of Cultural Heritage from the Escuela Superi ‐

or de Conservacioacuten y Restauracioacuten de Bienes Cul‐

turales de Madrid (Spain) speciality in paintings

where she studied between 2002 and 2005 In

2008 she completed her second first class BA

degree in the History of Art at the Universidad

Autoacutenoma de Madrid (Spain) Her dissertation

was about Historic Restorations of the Roma‐

nesque Mural Paintings at the National Museumin Catalonia

She has recently been awarded with La Caixa Schol ‐

arship to study a PhD in Conservation in the United

Kingdom commencing in 2011

Her most recent projects include the research of

the improvements to the Tate Galleryrsquos transit

frame wrapping system in order to save on ma‐

terials time and handling of long term collec‐

tion care and the internship at the Reina Sofiacutea

Museum (Madrid Spain) assessing the risks for

cultural artefacts during mounting of exhibitions

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

52 e‐conservation

[21] Personal communication with Emma Hocker

July 2010

[22] Y Fors Sulfur‐Related Conservation Concerns

for Marine Archaeological Wood The Origin Spe‐

cification and Distribution of Accumulated sulfur

with some Remedies for the Vasa Doctoral Thesis

Department of Physical Inorganic and Structural

Chemistry Stockholm University 2008 p 94

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1212

No 18 February 2011

ISSN 1646‐9283

Registration Number 125248

Entidade Reguladora

para a Comunicaccedilatildeo Social

Property e‐conservationline Teodora Poiata

Periodicity Bimonthly

Cover Detail of the Vasa warship the Vasa Museum Stockholm

Photo by Karolina Kristensson

The Swedish National Maritime Museums

Executive Editor Rui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata Anca Nicolaescu

CollaboratorsAna Bidarra

Daniel Cull

Graphic Design and Photography Anca Poiata Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

AddressRua de Santa Catarina nordm 467 4D

4480‐779 Vila do Conde Portugal

wwwe‐conservationlinecom

All correspondence togenerale‐conservationlinecom

LICENCE

Attribution‐Noncommercial‐No Derivative Works 25

Portugal

You are free

to Share to copy distribute and transmit this work

Under the following conditions

AttributionYou must attribute thework in themanner specified

by ourlicence best by linking to CC website

Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial

purposes

No Derivative Works You may not alter transform or build

upon this work

e‐conservationline informs that the published information isbelieved to be true and accurate butcan notaccept any legal

responsibility forany errors or omissions that may occur ormake any warranty for the published material whichis solelythe responsability of their authors

77e‐conservation

Page 2: Cabello, C. Preventive Conserv. Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship. 2011

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 212

A REFLECTION ON THE PREVENTIVE

CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

AND THE EFFECTS OF MASS TOURISM

The Case Study of the Vasa Warship

By Cristina Cabello‐Briones

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 312

Introduction

Tourism is and must be acceptable for any museum

However large‐scale tourism has a direct nega‐

tive effect on collections such as that of the Vasa

Museum Although it is clear that environmental

conditions affect archaeological wood preventive

conservation of such collections has not been ex‐

tensively considered Wooden shipwrecks have

been studied from several perspectives mainly in

research that refers to material degradation and

new treatments The main objective of this articleis to raise public awareness of this topic and high‐

light the benefits of a well planned preventive

conservation strategy in order to safeguard ar‐

chaeological wooden cultural artefacts Before

analysing the example of the Vasa Museum a

brief description of the effects of environment

and tourism on archaeological wood and an in‐

troduction to preventive conservation manage‐

ment are presented

Preventive Conservation of Archaeological Wood

Wood equilibrates with its environment If the sur‐

rounding conditions change wood reacts to the

abundance or absence of moisture in the air and

will expand or contract Thomson [1] recommen‐

ded 19‐24 degC and 45‐55 RH as ideal conditions

for the museum environment housing unpainted

wooden objects At lower RH values wood cracks

becomes brittle and shrinks Above 65 RH mold

growth is promoted and swelling increases Main‐

taining the relative humidity between 50‐60

reduces most of the visible damage However Mi‐

chalski [2] reminds us that the specifications for

temperature and humidity in related literature rep‐

resent the lowest common denominator amongst

the needs of objects and not necessarily the op‐

timum for each Each case needs to be analysed

individually and on many occasions this means

testing the decisions in practice

When an object is mechanically stable most dam‐age is due to RH fluctuations These can eventu‐

ally lead to cracking checking and warping of the

wooden artefact In addition fast changes in rel‐

ative humidity cause internal stresses due to dif‐

ferences of moisture between inner and outer

areas [3 p 34] Therefore an ideal environment

is achieved when no cyclic variations occur Slight

shifts are permitted if the change is slow varying

at maximum over plusmn5 range [4 p 269]

Relating to temperature every 10 degC increase

doubles the average rate of organic reactions [3

p 40] Therefore lower temperature levels (15‐

20 degC) slow these rates and offer a comfortable

environment to visitors

Light affects wood in several ways The most severe

damages are connected with chemical bond break‐

age free radical formation and the subsequent

depolymerisation of polymers In addition wood

44 e‐conservation

Archaeological wood is an organic material sensitive to environmental conditions Wood even when

treated with polyethylene glycols adapts to the surrounding environment with physical and chemical

reactions that may be detrimental to its preservation In addition excessive tourism has a negative

effect on the museum environment once its indoor conditions fluctuate directly with the number of visitors

In order to minimize the effects of a negative climate caused by mass tourism on archaeological wood

collections preventive conservation measures should be taken To illustrate an effective preventive

conservation management the case of the Vasa museum in Stockholm which houses the 386 years old

Vasa warship is discussed

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 412

that has been exposed to the visible and ultra‐

violet wavelengths radiation of daylight under‐

goes colour change [5] Experts agree on a range

between 300 and 50 lux as appropriate for safe

display although lighting between 200 and 50 lux

should be used for severely deteriorated objects

considering that 50 lux is the minimum level re‐

quired for colour perception and adequate visi‐

bility [4 p 268]

Treatment with polyethylene glycol (PEG) has be‐

come the most common application for the pre‐

servation of many kinds of waterlogged wooden

remains The technique involves the impregnation

of wood with PEG solutions so that the water in the

cell walls is replaced by the preservative The pro‐

cess is focused on thestabilisation of thetimbersrsquo

dimensions and bulking of the wood structure

Highly degraded wood treated with PEG changes

its dimension regularly according to the relative

humidity though its range of change is smallerthan that of sound wood [6] For wood treated

with any molecular weight of PEG unless it is con‐

tinually recoated exposure to high RH (higher

than 60) will make the surface sticky and could

leach out the impregnant [7] In addition PEG is

hygroscopic and transports ions and dissolved

oxygen within the treated wood when there are

humidity fluctuations causing both physical and

chemical problems [8]

Impact of Large‐scale Tourism on the Cultural

Heritage

Tourism affects tangible heritage in several and

diverse ways visitors release heat water vapour

and carbon dioxide they transport external par‐

ticles and the accumulation of dust can lead to

further cleaning that may damage surfaces they

also generate turbulence which increases the

deposition rate of particulate matter [9 pp 127‐

140] In addition a large number of people visit

museums on rainy days and their wet coats intro‐

duce additional moisture

Although it is difficult to differentiate between in‐

door environmental variations causedby visitors and

the effects of outdoor climate it is clear that the

way tourism in museums is organised nowadays

has a direct connexion with environmental fluctu‐

ations An adult releases approximately 60 grams

of water vapour per hour and 60 watts per square

metre of body surface as heat [10 p 20] affecting

ambient relative humidity Negative environmental

condition cycles are related to successive waves

of tourists who access the museum For example

measurements in the Kunsthistorisches Museum

in Vienna during and after the Bruegel exhibition

in 1998 showed an increase in heat and moisture

directly caused by the tourism flows [9 p 132]

To avoid the collection itself andor the building

acting as buffer elements environmental control systems must cope with these sudden stresses

maintaining a constant climate during and after

the visiting hours

Preventive Conservation Management

Although large‐scale visitor access involves risk

for cultural objects the public is necessary to

keep a museum open A large number of visitorsincreases the prestige of a museum and ensures

funding as demonstrated by the Delphi survey of

owners and managers of historic properties across

the United Kingdom [11] The survey shows that

the highest ranked criterion for priority in fund‐

ing is related to the lsquosignificancersquo of the heritage

This is measured through its uniqueness and rel‐

evance for the community as well as its public

appeal However pressures imposed by visitors

are not considered to be a major criterion for de‐

termining conservation funding

45e‐conservation

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 512

Mass tourism is an economic resource and in the

context of indoor climate the key is to achieve the

right balance between the increasing demand for

access and the need to protect the cultural herit‐

age itself

Different measures can be carried out to reduce

the impact of tourism Not including the cultural

objectsite in promotional material could reduce

the awareness of the attraction [12] Another

solution could be to display the most valuable

objects of a collection in showcases or substitute

them with replicas However display cases are

not always the best conservation solution [13]

and ethical issues as authenticity provenance

and context could arise [14] According to Young

and Cassar [15] the type of measure depends on

the uniqueness and vulnerability of the cultural

artefact its local or international importance

the ability to make facsimiles the rate of degrada‐

tion from environmental conditions and the quality

of the protective environment

In these days of rising cost and lack of funding

preventive conservation management is the best

option According to Cassarrsquos definition preventive

conservation management is ldquothe creation and

maintenance of an environment that limits the

decay of museum objects to theabsolute minimum

consistent with public accessrdquo [10 p 3] A pre‐

servation plan allows the analysis of deteriorating

environmental conditions caused by the influx of

tourist and developing a strategy to protect the

cultural artefacts Additionally environmental

monitoring is a reliable source of information that

can be used to assess risks and understand dam‐

ages and impacts

Case Study Preventive Conservation of the

Vasa Warship

The Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus ordered the

Vasa (figure 1) to be built in 1625 due to the Thirty

Years War Although a number of different tree

species were used in the Vasa 90 of the weight

46 e‐conservation

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

Figure 1 The Vasa warship Photo by Anneli Karlsson the Swedish National Maritime Museums copy All rights reserved

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 612

47e‐conservation

Figure 2 Stern view of the Vasa warship Photo by Karolina Kristensson the Swedish National Maritime Museumscopy All rights reserved

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 712

of the hull is oak The ship sank fully equipped on

its maiden voyage out of Stockholm harbour in

1628 and was raised to the surface in 1961 On

the salvage the timbers were found to be in re‐

markably good state (figure 2) The main reasons

were the absence of marine borers fungi and rot

due to the near oxygen‐free conditions in the wa‐

ter and high concentration of hydrogen sulphide

However the surface of the timbers was attacked

by cellulose‐degrading and sulphur‐meta‐bolizing

microorganisms After salvage exposure to atmo‐

spheric oxygen initiated a multitude of chemical

reactions threatening the long‐term preserva‐

tion of the ship such as oxidation of sulphur to

sulphuric acid red‐ox reactions of sulphur and

iron compounds from bolts and cargo made of

iron free radical reactions acid hydrolysis and

oxidative degradation reactions of cellulose The

conservation with PEG 1500 and 600 between 1962

and 1979 was followed by an air drying process for

another ten years1

According to Emma Hocker [16 p 4] conservator

at the Vasa Museum the control of the indoor

environment has been a challenge especially

due to the increasing public The museum was

designed as a display case for the ship (figure 3)

with an internal airspace of about 105000 m3 The

original predictions of 600 000 visitors per year

have steadily increased until numbers reached 12

million visitors in 2008 The main reasons are its

value as source of information of a specific con‐

text and timeframe but also the museum market‐

48 e‐conservation

Figure 3 General view of the Vasa Museum Photo by Aringke Eson Lindman copy All r ights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

1 More detailed information can be found on the website of

the Vasa Museum website at http wwwvasamuseetse

enPreservation‐‐Research

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 812

by dehumidifying in advance when potential risks

are detected [16 p 7] Also a new energy‐effect‐

ive halogen‐based lighting system was installed

producing 30 less radiant heat [21]

Since installation the hall climate has stabilised

considerably despite the greater number of visit‐

ors and the outdoor climate (figures 5 and 6) Out‐breaks are not worsening either in coverage or

pH value and the almost 10 RH gradient over

the height of the ship was halved immediately

[16 p 7]

ing strategy and the rise in the number of cruises

with Stockholm as a destination

The museum former climate specifications were

set at 60 RH and 20 degC for summer months and

575 RH and 17 degC in winter to avoid condensa‐

tion in the museum walls [17] equivalent to wood‐

moisture content of 10‐12 Although this system

was sufficient for the winter months [18 p 171]

when there were relatively few visitors during

warm and wet summers the RH rose to over 65

Temperature and RH gradients caused by the build‐

ing height [16 p 5] were accepted as inevitable

but at lower levels [19] the RH at times reached

70 impacting the movement of the wood The

climate system was under‐dimensioned

After a record number of visitors during the rainy

summer of 2000 salt outbreaks were drawn to the

surface Hydrated PEG could have dissolved salts

[20] from the material at high RH and these salts

could have precipitated on the wood surface whenthe PEG was dehydrated at low RH In addition

large fluctuations were recorded near the entrance

to the museum shop and restaurant where un‐

conditioned air could enter without control and

in theviewing galleries at the stern where stronger

lighting and visitors were concentrated [16 pp 5‐

6] It was then decided to reduce the RH from 60

to 55 plusmn 4 and the year‐round temperature to

185 plusmn 15degC equivalent to 10 moisture content in the wood [16 p 6]

In 2004 a new climate system with increased ca‐

pacity and sensitivity was installed in the ship hall

(figure 4) The principle is based on conditioned

air pumped in at low levels rising around the ship

and sucked out through a duct near the ceiling

[18 p 173] providing a protective curtain around

the ship In addition the visitor counter at the

museum entrance was incorporated into thesteer‐

ing parameters This measure allows preparation

49e‐conservation

Figure 4 Current climate‐control system above the ship stern

Photo by Karolina Kristensson copy All rights reserved

Figure 5 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated fromthe climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum betweenthe 16 th of June and the 21st of September 2003 The environ‐mental fluctuationswere remarkable Source the Swedish Na‐

tional Maritime Museums copy All rights reserved

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 912

However this system could operate at maximum

capacity if the museum gives in to the pressure

of the long queues of visitors in peak season and

allows more public at one time Then a stable cli‐

mate could not be guaranteed [16 pp 8‐9]

Conclusions

Ships that have been rescued from the sea are

among the most popular attractions worldwide

making maritime museums highly profitable

The great popularity of these museums ensures

continued funding for research conservation

acquisition and promotes cultural tourism How‐ever it also increases the pressure to allow greater

numbers of visitors making it difficult to maintain

a suitable preventive conservation programme

Large‐scale tourism has a direct negative effect

on museum indoor climate environments It pri‐

marily affects relative humidity causing rapid

fluctuations in short periods of time Variations

in moisture enable the migration of water dis‐

solved oxygen and salts into the PEG and wood

and will initiate different chemical reactions

The general concern nowadays is that the control

of relative humidity and temperature is the most

feasible preventive conservation measure in mu‐

seums with archaeological collections and high

tourism Stabilizing the environment avoiding

damaging extremes and fluctuations and main‐

taining the relative humidity low (around 55)

will help preserve PEG treated marine wooden

artefacts [22]

Every museum should develop an environmental

management programme a carefully elaborated

long‐term maintenance plan This could include

technical aspects such as dealing with monitor‐ing and controlling of the museum environment

and organisational issues such as a visitor man‐

agement plan

Acknowledgments

I wish to acknowledge the Vasa Museum Special

thanks to Emma Hocker for generously giving me

part of her time to share her experience and know‐

ledge

50 e‐conservation

Figure 6 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated from the climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum from the 16 th

of June to the 21st of September 2009 RH and temperature f luctuations were minimized Source the Swedish National MaritimeMuseums copy All rights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1012

51e‐conservation

References

[1] G Thomson The Museum Environment Butter‐

worths London 1981 p 85

[2] S Michalski ldquoTemperature and Relative Humidity

the definition of correctincorrect valuesrdquo in S

Michalski (ed) A Systematic Approach to the Con‐

servation (Care) of Museum Collections Canadian

Conservation Institute Ottawa Ontario 1992 ap‐

pendix D p 2

[3] B Appelbaum Guide to Environmental Protec‐

tion of Collections Sound View Press Boston 1991

[4] V Jessen and C Pearson ldquoEnvironmental con‐

ditions for storage and display of marine f indsrdquo

in C Pearson (ed) Conservation of Marine Ar‐

chaeological Objects Butterworths London

1987

[5] R Harvey and C Freedland ldquoExhibition andStorage of Archaeological woodrdquo in R M Rowell

and R J Barbour (eds) Archaeological Wood Prop‐

erties Chemistry and Preservation American Chem‐

ical Society Washington 1990 p 407 Chapter DOI

101021ba‐1990‐0225ch015 URL

[6] T Nishiura and S Imazu ldquoExperimental study

on the dimensional change of highly degraded wa‐

terlogged wood according to ambient humidity afterpreservation treatmentrdquo in P Hoffmann (ed) Pro‐

ceedings of the 4th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological

Materials Conference Bremerhaven 1990 ICOM

Bremerhaven 1991 p 117

[7] D W Grattan ldquoA Practical Comparative Study of

Treatments for Waterlogged Wood Part II The Effect

of Humidity on Treated Woodrdquo in D W Grattan (ed)

Proceedings of the ICOM Waterlogged Wood Working

Group Conference 15‐18th September 1981 Cana‐

dian Conservation Institute Ottawa ICOM Com‐

mittee for Conservation Waterlogged Wood Work‐ing Group 1982 p 250

[8] M Sandstroumlm Y Fors and I Persson The Vasas

New Battle Sulphur Acid and Iron Vasa Studies 19

The Vasa Museum Stockholm 2003 p 21

[9] D Camuffo R Van Grieken H‐J Busse G

Sturaro A Valentino A Bernardi N Blades D

Shooter K Gysels F Deutsch M Wieser O Kim

and U Ulrych ldquoEnvironmental monitoring in four

European museumsrdquo Atmospheric Environment 35

Supplement No 1 2001 doi101016S1352‐2310

(01)00088‐7 URL also available at URL [pdf]

[10] M Cassar Environmental Management guide‐

lines for museums and galleries Museums amp Galleries

Commission with Routledge London 1995

[11] B Garrod and A Fyall ldquoManaging Heritage

Tourismrdquo Annals of Tourism Research 27(3) 2000

pp 682‐708 doi 101016S0160‐7383(99)00094‐8

URL

[12] M Drdaacutecky T Drdaacutecky D Creighton ldquoImpact

of Cultural Tourism upon the Diversity of Built Her‐

itagerdquo position paper of the PICTURE project Pro‐

active management of the Impact of Cultural Tourism

upon Urban Resources and Economies 2007 avail‐able at URL [pdf] (accessed November 2010)

[13] D Camuffo G Sturaro and A Valentino

ldquoShowcases a really effective mean for protecting

artworksrdquo Thermochimica Acta 365(1‐2) 2000

pp 65‐77 doi101016S0040‐6031(00)00614‐6

URL

[14] M Cassar P Brimblecombe T Nixon C Price

C Sabbioni C Saiz Jimenez and K Van Balen

Technological requirements for solutions in the con‐

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1112

servation and protection of historic monuments and

archaeological remains European Parliament Kirch‐

berg Luxembourg 2001 p 43 available at URL

[pdf] (accessed July 2010)

[15] A Young and M Cassar ldquoIndoor Climate and

Tourism Effects ‐ a UK perspectiverdquo in M Drdaacuteckyacute

(ed) European Research on Cultural Heritage State‐

of‐the‐Art Studies Vol 2 ITAM 2004 Academy of

Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague 2004 pp

405‐412 available at URL [pdf] (accessed August

2010)

[16] E Hocker ldquoMaintaining a Stable Environment

Vasaacutes New Climate‐ Control Systemrdquo Journal of

Preservation Technology 41(2‐3) 2010 available at

URL [pdf] (accessed August 2010)

[17] B Haringfords The climate of the Vasa Museum ndash

problems in coordinating the museum object and

the museum climate 1997 available at URL (ac‐

cessed July 2010)

[18] I Hall Roth and L Malmberg ldquoSave the Vasa‐

An Introductionrdquo in P Hoffmann J A Spriggs K

Straeligtkvern and D Gregory (eds) Proceedings of

the 9th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological Materials

Conference Bremerhaven 2005 ICOM 2005

[19] E Hocker L Dal and F Hocker ldquoUnderstand‐

ing Vasarsquos Salt Problem Documenting the Distribu‐tion of Salt Precipitations on the Swedish Warship

Vasardquo in Proceedings of the 10th ICOM Group on Wet

Organic Archaeological Materials Conference Bremer‐

haven 2008 ICOMRACM Amersfoort 2009 p 479

[20] MN Mortensen H Egsgaard S Hvilsted Y

Shashoua and J Glastrup ldquoCharacterisation of the

polyethylene glycol impregnation of the Swedish

warship Vasa and one of the Danish Skuldelev Viking

shipsrdquo Journal of Archaeological Science 34(8)

2007 p 1217 doi101016jjas200610012 URL

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONESConservator

Cristina Cabello‐Briones is a recent postgraduate

in Preventive Conservation at Northumbria Uni‐

versity (Newcastle UK) Her dissertation assessed

with distinction was about Preventive Conserva‐

tion of Wooden Wreck‐Hulls Retrieved from Un‐

derwater Maritime Environments She is a first

class graduate in the Conservation and Restora‐tion of Cultural Heritage from the Escuela Superi ‐

or de Conservacioacuten y Restauracioacuten de Bienes Cul‐

turales de Madrid (Spain) speciality in paintings

where she studied between 2002 and 2005 In

2008 she completed her second first class BA

degree in the History of Art at the Universidad

Autoacutenoma de Madrid (Spain) Her dissertation

was about Historic Restorations of the Roma‐

nesque Mural Paintings at the National Museumin Catalonia

She has recently been awarded with La Caixa Schol ‐

arship to study a PhD in Conservation in the United

Kingdom commencing in 2011

Her most recent projects include the research of

the improvements to the Tate Galleryrsquos transit

frame wrapping system in order to save on ma‐

terials time and handling of long term collec‐

tion care and the internship at the Reina Sofiacutea

Museum (Madrid Spain) assessing the risks for

cultural artefacts during mounting of exhibitions

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

52 e‐conservation

[21] Personal communication with Emma Hocker

July 2010

[22] Y Fors Sulfur‐Related Conservation Concerns

for Marine Archaeological Wood The Origin Spe‐

cification and Distribution of Accumulated sulfur

with some Remedies for the Vasa Doctoral Thesis

Department of Physical Inorganic and Structural

Chemistry Stockholm University 2008 p 94

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1212

No 18 February 2011

ISSN 1646‐9283

Registration Number 125248

Entidade Reguladora

para a Comunicaccedilatildeo Social

Property e‐conservationline Teodora Poiata

Periodicity Bimonthly

Cover Detail of the Vasa warship the Vasa Museum Stockholm

Photo by Karolina Kristensson

The Swedish National Maritime Museums

Executive Editor Rui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata Anca Nicolaescu

CollaboratorsAna Bidarra

Daniel Cull

Graphic Design and Photography Anca Poiata Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

AddressRua de Santa Catarina nordm 467 4D

4480‐779 Vila do Conde Portugal

wwwe‐conservationlinecom

All correspondence togenerale‐conservationlinecom

LICENCE

Attribution‐Noncommercial‐No Derivative Works 25

Portugal

You are free

to Share to copy distribute and transmit this work

Under the following conditions

AttributionYou must attribute thework in themanner specified

by ourlicence best by linking to CC website

Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial

purposes

No Derivative Works You may not alter transform or build

upon this work

e‐conservationline informs that the published information isbelieved to be true and accurate butcan notaccept any legal

responsibility forany errors or omissions that may occur ormake any warranty for the published material whichis solelythe responsability of their authors

77e‐conservation

Page 3: Cabello, C. Preventive Conserv. Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship. 2011

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

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Introduction

Tourism is and must be acceptable for any museum

However large‐scale tourism has a direct nega‐

tive effect on collections such as that of the Vasa

Museum Although it is clear that environmental

conditions affect archaeological wood preventive

conservation of such collections has not been ex‐

tensively considered Wooden shipwrecks have

been studied from several perspectives mainly in

research that refers to material degradation and

new treatments The main objective of this articleis to raise public awareness of this topic and high‐

light the benefits of a well planned preventive

conservation strategy in order to safeguard ar‐

chaeological wooden cultural artefacts Before

analysing the example of the Vasa Museum a

brief description of the effects of environment

and tourism on archaeological wood and an in‐

troduction to preventive conservation manage‐

ment are presented

Preventive Conservation of Archaeological Wood

Wood equilibrates with its environment If the sur‐

rounding conditions change wood reacts to the

abundance or absence of moisture in the air and

will expand or contract Thomson [1] recommen‐

ded 19‐24 degC and 45‐55 RH as ideal conditions

for the museum environment housing unpainted

wooden objects At lower RH values wood cracks

becomes brittle and shrinks Above 65 RH mold

growth is promoted and swelling increases Main‐

taining the relative humidity between 50‐60

reduces most of the visible damage However Mi‐

chalski [2] reminds us that the specifications for

temperature and humidity in related literature rep‐

resent the lowest common denominator amongst

the needs of objects and not necessarily the op‐

timum for each Each case needs to be analysed

individually and on many occasions this means

testing the decisions in practice

When an object is mechanically stable most dam‐age is due to RH fluctuations These can eventu‐

ally lead to cracking checking and warping of the

wooden artefact In addition fast changes in rel‐

ative humidity cause internal stresses due to dif‐

ferences of moisture between inner and outer

areas [3 p 34] Therefore an ideal environment

is achieved when no cyclic variations occur Slight

shifts are permitted if the change is slow varying

at maximum over plusmn5 range [4 p 269]

Relating to temperature every 10 degC increase

doubles the average rate of organic reactions [3

p 40] Therefore lower temperature levels (15‐

20 degC) slow these rates and offer a comfortable

environment to visitors

Light affects wood in several ways The most severe

damages are connected with chemical bond break‐

age free radical formation and the subsequent

depolymerisation of polymers In addition wood

44 e‐conservation

Archaeological wood is an organic material sensitive to environmental conditions Wood even when

treated with polyethylene glycols adapts to the surrounding environment with physical and chemical

reactions that may be detrimental to its preservation In addition excessive tourism has a negative

effect on the museum environment once its indoor conditions fluctuate directly with the number of visitors

In order to minimize the effects of a negative climate caused by mass tourism on archaeological wood

collections preventive conservation measures should be taken To illustrate an effective preventive

conservation management the case of the Vasa museum in Stockholm which houses the 386 years old

Vasa warship is discussed

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 412

that has been exposed to the visible and ultra‐

violet wavelengths radiation of daylight under‐

goes colour change [5] Experts agree on a range

between 300 and 50 lux as appropriate for safe

display although lighting between 200 and 50 lux

should be used for severely deteriorated objects

considering that 50 lux is the minimum level re‐

quired for colour perception and adequate visi‐

bility [4 p 268]

Treatment with polyethylene glycol (PEG) has be‐

come the most common application for the pre‐

servation of many kinds of waterlogged wooden

remains The technique involves the impregnation

of wood with PEG solutions so that the water in the

cell walls is replaced by the preservative The pro‐

cess is focused on thestabilisation of thetimbersrsquo

dimensions and bulking of the wood structure

Highly degraded wood treated with PEG changes

its dimension regularly according to the relative

humidity though its range of change is smallerthan that of sound wood [6] For wood treated

with any molecular weight of PEG unless it is con‐

tinually recoated exposure to high RH (higher

than 60) will make the surface sticky and could

leach out the impregnant [7] In addition PEG is

hygroscopic and transports ions and dissolved

oxygen within the treated wood when there are

humidity fluctuations causing both physical and

chemical problems [8]

Impact of Large‐scale Tourism on the Cultural

Heritage

Tourism affects tangible heritage in several and

diverse ways visitors release heat water vapour

and carbon dioxide they transport external par‐

ticles and the accumulation of dust can lead to

further cleaning that may damage surfaces they

also generate turbulence which increases the

deposition rate of particulate matter [9 pp 127‐

140] In addition a large number of people visit

museums on rainy days and their wet coats intro‐

duce additional moisture

Although it is difficult to differentiate between in‐

door environmental variations causedby visitors and

the effects of outdoor climate it is clear that the

way tourism in museums is organised nowadays

has a direct connexion with environmental fluctu‐

ations An adult releases approximately 60 grams

of water vapour per hour and 60 watts per square

metre of body surface as heat [10 p 20] affecting

ambient relative humidity Negative environmental

condition cycles are related to successive waves

of tourists who access the museum For example

measurements in the Kunsthistorisches Museum

in Vienna during and after the Bruegel exhibition

in 1998 showed an increase in heat and moisture

directly caused by the tourism flows [9 p 132]

To avoid the collection itself andor the building

acting as buffer elements environmental control systems must cope with these sudden stresses

maintaining a constant climate during and after

the visiting hours

Preventive Conservation Management

Although large‐scale visitor access involves risk

for cultural objects the public is necessary to

keep a museum open A large number of visitorsincreases the prestige of a museum and ensures

funding as demonstrated by the Delphi survey of

owners and managers of historic properties across

the United Kingdom [11] The survey shows that

the highest ranked criterion for priority in fund‐

ing is related to the lsquosignificancersquo of the heritage

This is measured through its uniqueness and rel‐

evance for the community as well as its public

appeal However pressures imposed by visitors

are not considered to be a major criterion for de‐

termining conservation funding

45e‐conservation

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 512

Mass tourism is an economic resource and in the

context of indoor climate the key is to achieve the

right balance between the increasing demand for

access and the need to protect the cultural herit‐

age itself

Different measures can be carried out to reduce

the impact of tourism Not including the cultural

objectsite in promotional material could reduce

the awareness of the attraction [12] Another

solution could be to display the most valuable

objects of a collection in showcases or substitute

them with replicas However display cases are

not always the best conservation solution [13]

and ethical issues as authenticity provenance

and context could arise [14] According to Young

and Cassar [15] the type of measure depends on

the uniqueness and vulnerability of the cultural

artefact its local or international importance

the ability to make facsimiles the rate of degrada‐

tion from environmental conditions and the quality

of the protective environment

In these days of rising cost and lack of funding

preventive conservation management is the best

option According to Cassarrsquos definition preventive

conservation management is ldquothe creation and

maintenance of an environment that limits the

decay of museum objects to theabsolute minimum

consistent with public accessrdquo [10 p 3] A pre‐

servation plan allows the analysis of deteriorating

environmental conditions caused by the influx of

tourist and developing a strategy to protect the

cultural artefacts Additionally environmental

monitoring is a reliable source of information that

can be used to assess risks and understand dam‐

ages and impacts

Case Study Preventive Conservation of the

Vasa Warship

The Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus ordered the

Vasa (figure 1) to be built in 1625 due to the Thirty

Years War Although a number of different tree

species were used in the Vasa 90 of the weight

46 e‐conservation

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

Figure 1 The Vasa warship Photo by Anneli Karlsson the Swedish National Maritime Museums copy All rights reserved

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 612

47e‐conservation

Figure 2 Stern view of the Vasa warship Photo by Karolina Kristensson the Swedish National Maritime Museumscopy All rights reserved

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 712

of the hull is oak The ship sank fully equipped on

its maiden voyage out of Stockholm harbour in

1628 and was raised to the surface in 1961 On

the salvage the timbers were found to be in re‐

markably good state (figure 2) The main reasons

were the absence of marine borers fungi and rot

due to the near oxygen‐free conditions in the wa‐

ter and high concentration of hydrogen sulphide

However the surface of the timbers was attacked

by cellulose‐degrading and sulphur‐meta‐bolizing

microorganisms After salvage exposure to atmo‐

spheric oxygen initiated a multitude of chemical

reactions threatening the long‐term preserva‐

tion of the ship such as oxidation of sulphur to

sulphuric acid red‐ox reactions of sulphur and

iron compounds from bolts and cargo made of

iron free radical reactions acid hydrolysis and

oxidative degradation reactions of cellulose The

conservation with PEG 1500 and 600 between 1962

and 1979 was followed by an air drying process for

another ten years1

According to Emma Hocker [16 p 4] conservator

at the Vasa Museum the control of the indoor

environment has been a challenge especially

due to the increasing public The museum was

designed as a display case for the ship (figure 3)

with an internal airspace of about 105000 m3 The

original predictions of 600 000 visitors per year

have steadily increased until numbers reached 12

million visitors in 2008 The main reasons are its

value as source of information of a specific con‐

text and timeframe but also the museum market‐

48 e‐conservation

Figure 3 General view of the Vasa Museum Photo by Aringke Eson Lindman copy All r ights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

1 More detailed information can be found on the website of

the Vasa Museum website at http wwwvasamuseetse

enPreservation‐‐Research

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 812

by dehumidifying in advance when potential risks

are detected [16 p 7] Also a new energy‐effect‐

ive halogen‐based lighting system was installed

producing 30 less radiant heat [21]

Since installation the hall climate has stabilised

considerably despite the greater number of visit‐

ors and the outdoor climate (figures 5 and 6) Out‐breaks are not worsening either in coverage or

pH value and the almost 10 RH gradient over

the height of the ship was halved immediately

[16 p 7]

ing strategy and the rise in the number of cruises

with Stockholm as a destination

The museum former climate specifications were

set at 60 RH and 20 degC for summer months and

575 RH and 17 degC in winter to avoid condensa‐

tion in the museum walls [17] equivalent to wood‐

moisture content of 10‐12 Although this system

was sufficient for the winter months [18 p 171]

when there were relatively few visitors during

warm and wet summers the RH rose to over 65

Temperature and RH gradients caused by the build‐

ing height [16 p 5] were accepted as inevitable

but at lower levels [19] the RH at times reached

70 impacting the movement of the wood The

climate system was under‐dimensioned

After a record number of visitors during the rainy

summer of 2000 salt outbreaks were drawn to the

surface Hydrated PEG could have dissolved salts

[20] from the material at high RH and these salts

could have precipitated on the wood surface whenthe PEG was dehydrated at low RH In addition

large fluctuations were recorded near the entrance

to the museum shop and restaurant where un‐

conditioned air could enter without control and

in theviewing galleries at the stern where stronger

lighting and visitors were concentrated [16 pp 5‐

6] It was then decided to reduce the RH from 60

to 55 plusmn 4 and the year‐round temperature to

185 plusmn 15degC equivalent to 10 moisture content in the wood [16 p 6]

In 2004 a new climate system with increased ca‐

pacity and sensitivity was installed in the ship hall

(figure 4) The principle is based on conditioned

air pumped in at low levels rising around the ship

and sucked out through a duct near the ceiling

[18 p 173] providing a protective curtain around

the ship In addition the visitor counter at the

museum entrance was incorporated into thesteer‐

ing parameters This measure allows preparation

49e‐conservation

Figure 4 Current climate‐control system above the ship stern

Photo by Karolina Kristensson copy All rights reserved

Figure 5 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated fromthe climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum betweenthe 16 th of June and the 21st of September 2003 The environ‐mental fluctuationswere remarkable Source the Swedish Na‐

tional Maritime Museums copy All rights reserved

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 912

However this system could operate at maximum

capacity if the museum gives in to the pressure

of the long queues of visitors in peak season and

allows more public at one time Then a stable cli‐

mate could not be guaranteed [16 pp 8‐9]

Conclusions

Ships that have been rescued from the sea are

among the most popular attractions worldwide

making maritime museums highly profitable

The great popularity of these museums ensures

continued funding for research conservation

acquisition and promotes cultural tourism How‐ever it also increases the pressure to allow greater

numbers of visitors making it difficult to maintain

a suitable preventive conservation programme

Large‐scale tourism has a direct negative effect

on museum indoor climate environments It pri‐

marily affects relative humidity causing rapid

fluctuations in short periods of time Variations

in moisture enable the migration of water dis‐

solved oxygen and salts into the PEG and wood

and will initiate different chemical reactions

The general concern nowadays is that the control

of relative humidity and temperature is the most

feasible preventive conservation measure in mu‐

seums with archaeological collections and high

tourism Stabilizing the environment avoiding

damaging extremes and fluctuations and main‐

taining the relative humidity low (around 55)

will help preserve PEG treated marine wooden

artefacts [22]

Every museum should develop an environmental

management programme a carefully elaborated

long‐term maintenance plan This could include

technical aspects such as dealing with monitor‐ing and controlling of the museum environment

and organisational issues such as a visitor man‐

agement plan

Acknowledgments

I wish to acknowledge the Vasa Museum Special

thanks to Emma Hocker for generously giving me

part of her time to share her experience and know‐

ledge

50 e‐conservation

Figure 6 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated from the climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum from the 16 th

of June to the 21st of September 2009 RH and temperature f luctuations were minimized Source the Swedish National MaritimeMuseums copy All rights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1012

51e‐conservation

References

[1] G Thomson The Museum Environment Butter‐

worths London 1981 p 85

[2] S Michalski ldquoTemperature and Relative Humidity

the definition of correctincorrect valuesrdquo in S

Michalski (ed) A Systematic Approach to the Con‐

servation (Care) of Museum Collections Canadian

Conservation Institute Ottawa Ontario 1992 ap‐

pendix D p 2

[3] B Appelbaum Guide to Environmental Protec‐

tion of Collections Sound View Press Boston 1991

[4] V Jessen and C Pearson ldquoEnvironmental con‐

ditions for storage and display of marine f indsrdquo

in C Pearson (ed) Conservation of Marine Ar‐

chaeological Objects Butterworths London

1987

[5] R Harvey and C Freedland ldquoExhibition andStorage of Archaeological woodrdquo in R M Rowell

and R J Barbour (eds) Archaeological Wood Prop‐

erties Chemistry and Preservation American Chem‐

ical Society Washington 1990 p 407 Chapter DOI

101021ba‐1990‐0225ch015 URL

[6] T Nishiura and S Imazu ldquoExperimental study

on the dimensional change of highly degraded wa‐

terlogged wood according to ambient humidity afterpreservation treatmentrdquo in P Hoffmann (ed) Pro‐

ceedings of the 4th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological

Materials Conference Bremerhaven 1990 ICOM

Bremerhaven 1991 p 117

[7] D W Grattan ldquoA Practical Comparative Study of

Treatments for Waterlogged Wood Part II The Effect

of Humidity on Treated Woodrdquo in D W Grattan (ed)

Proceedings of the ICOM Waterlogged Wood Working

Group Conference 15‐18th September 1981 Cana‐

dian Conservation Institute Ottawa ICOM Com‐

mittee for Conservation Waterlogged Wood Work‐ing Group 1982 p 250

[8] M Sandstroumlm Y Fors and I Persson The Vasas

New Battle Sulphur Acid and Iron Vasa Studies 19

The Vasa Museum Stockholm 2003 p 21

[9] D Camuffo R Van Grieken H‐J Busse G

Sturaro A Valentino A Bernardi N Blades D

Shooter K Gysels F Deutsch M Wieser O Kim

and U Ulrych ldquoEnvironmental monitoring in four

European museumsrdquo Atmospheric Environment 35

Supplement No 1 2001 doi101016S1352‐2310

(01)00088‐7 URL also available at URL [pdf]

[10] M Cassar Environmental Management guide‐

lines for museums and galleries Museums amp Galleries

Commission with Routledge London 1995

[11] B Garrod and A Fyall ldquoManaging Heritage

Tourismrdquo Annals of Tourism Research 27(3) 2000

pp 682‐708 doi 101016S0160‐7383(99)00094‐8

URL

[12] M Drdaacutecky T Drdaacutecky D Creighton ldquoImpact

of Cultural Tourism upon the Diversity of Built Her‐

itagerdquo position paper of the PICTURE project Pro‐

active management of the Impact of Cultural Tourism

upon Urban Resources and Economies 2007 avail‐able at URL [pdf] (accessed November 2010)

[13] D Camuffo G Sturaro and A Valentino

ldquoShowcases a really effective mean for protecting

artworksrdquo Thermochimica Acta 365(1‐2) 2000

pp 65‐77 doi101016S0040‐6031(00)00614‐6

URL

[14] M Cassar P Brimblecombe T Nixon C Price

C Sabbioni C Saiz Jimenez and K Van Balen

Technological requirements for solutions in the con‐

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1112

servation and protection of historic monuments and

archaeological remains European Parliament Kirch‐

berg Luxembourg 2001 p 43 available at URL

[pdf] (accessed July 2010)

[15] A Young and M Cassar ldquoIndoor Climate and

Tourism Effects ‐ a UK perspectiverdquo in M Drdaacuteckyacute

(ed) European Research on Cultural Heritage State‐

of‐the‐Art Studies Vol 2 ITAM 2004 Academy of

Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague 2004 pp

405‐412 available at URL [pdf] (accessed August

2010)

[16] E Hocker ldquoMaintaining a Stable Environment

Vasaacutes New Climate‐ Control Systemrdquo Journal of

Preservation Technology 41(2‐3) 2010 available at

URL [pdf] (accessed August 2010)

[17] B Haringfords The climate of the Vasa Museum ndash

problems in coordinating the museum object and

the museum climate 1997 available at URL (ac‐

cessed July 2010)

[18] I Hall Roth and L Malmberg ldquoSave the Vasa‐

An Introductionrdquo in P Hoffmann J A Spriggs K

Straeligtkvern and D Gregory (eds) Proceedings of

the 9th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological Materials

Conference Bremerhaven 2005 ICOM 2005

[19] E Hocker L Dal and F Hocker ldquoUnderstand‐

ing Vasarsquos Salt Problem Documenting the Distribu‐tion of Salt Precipitations on the Swedish Warship

Vasardquo in Proceedings of the 10th ICOM Group on Wet

Organic Archaeological Materials Conference Bremer‐

haven 2008 ICOMRACM Amersfoort 2009 p 479

[20] MN Mortensen H Egsgaard S Hvilsted Y

Shashoua and J Glastrup ldquoCharacterisation of the

polyethylene glycol impregnation of the Swedish

warship Vasa and one of the Danish Skuldelev Viking

shipsrdquo Journal of Archaeological Science 34(8)

2007 p 1217 doi101016jjas200610012 URL

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONESConservator

Cristina Cabello‐Briones is a recent postgraduate

in Preventive Conservation at Northumbria Uni‐

versity (Newcastle UK) Her dissertation assessed

with distinction was about Preventive Conserva‐

tion of Wooden Wreck‐Hulls Retrieved from Un‐

derwater Maritime Environments She is a first

class graduate in the Conservation and Restora‐tion of Cultural Heritage from the Escuela Superi ‐

or de Conservacioacuten y Restauracioacuten de Bienes Cul‐

turales de Madrid (Spain) speciality in paintings

where she studied between 2002 and 2005 In

2008 she completed her second first class BA

degree in the History of Art at the Universidad

Autoacutenoma de Madrid (Spain) Her dissertation

was about Historic Restorations of the Roma‐

nesque Mural Paintings at the National Museumin Catalonia

She has recently been awarded with La Caixa Schol ‐

arship to study a PhD in Conservation in the United

Kingdom commencing in 2011

Her most recent projects include the research of

the improvements to the Tate Galleryrsquos transit

frame wrapping system in order to save on ma‐

terials time and handling of long term collec‐

tion care and the internship at the Reina Sofiacutea

Museum (Madrid Spain) assessing the risks for

cultural artefacts during mounting of exhibitions

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

52 e‐conservation

[21] Personal communication with Emma Hocker

July 2010

[22] Y Fors Sulfur‐Related Conservation Concerns

for Marine Archaeological Wood The Origin Spe‐

cification and Distribution of Accumulated sulfur

with some Remedies for the Vasa Doctoral Thesis

Department of Physical Inorganic and Structural

Chemistry Stockholm University 2008 p 94

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1212

No 18 February 2011

ISSN 1646‐9283

Registration Number 125248

Entidade Reguladora

para a Comunicaccedilatildeo Social

Property e‐conservationline Teodora Poiata

Periodicity Bimonthly

Cover Detail of the Vasa warship the Vasa Museum Stockholm

Photo by Karolina Kristensson

The Swedish National Maritime Museums

Executive Editor Rui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata Anca Nicolaescu

CollaboratorsAna Bidarra

Daniel Cull

Graphic Design and Photography Anca Poiata Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

AddressRua de Santa Catarina nordm 467 4D

4480‐779 Vila do Conde Portugal

wwwe‐conservationlinecom

All correspondence togenerale‐conservationlinecom

LICENCE

Attribution‐Noncommercial‐No Derivative Works 25

Portugal

You are free

to Share to copy distribute and transmit this work

Under the following conditions

AttributionYou must attribute thework in themanner specified

by ourlicence best by linking to CC website

Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial

purposes

No Derivative Works You may not alter transform or build

upon this work

e‐conservationline informs that the published information isbelieved to be true and accurate butcan notaccept any legal

responsibility forany errors or omissions that may occur ormake any warranty for the published material whichis solelythe responsability of their authors

77e‐conservation

Page 4: Cabello, C. Preventive Conserv. Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship. 2011

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 412

that has been exposed to the visible and ultra‐

violet wavelengths radiation of daylight under‐

goes colour change [5] Experts agree on a range

between 300 and 50 lux as appropriate for safe

display although lighting between 200 and 50 lux

should be used for severely deteriorated objects

considering that 50 lux is the minimum level re‐

quired for colour perception and adequate visi‐

bility [4 p 268]

Treatment with polyethylene glycol (PEG) has be‐

come the most common application for the pre‐

servation of many kinds of waterlogged wooden

remains The technique involves the impregnation

of wood with PEG solutions so that the water in the

cell walls is replaced by the preservative The pro‐

cess is focused on thestabilisation of thetimbersrsquo

dimensions and bulking of the wood structure

Highly degraded wood treated with PEG changes

its dimension regularly according to the relative

humidity though its range of change is smallerthan that of sound wood [6] For wood treated

with any molecular weight of PEG unless it is con‐

tinually recoated exposure to high RH (higher

than 60) will make the surface sticky and could

leach out the impregnant [7] In addition PEG is

hygroscopic and transports ions and dissolved

oxygen within the treated wood when there are

humidity fluctuations causing both physical and

chemical problems [8]

Impact of Large‐scale Tourism on the Cultural

Heritage

Tourism affects tangible heritage in several and

diverse ways visitors release heat water vapour

and carbon dioxide they transport external par‐

ticles and the accumulation of dust can lead to

further cleaning that may damage surfaces they

also generate turbulence which increases the

deposition rate of particulate matter [9 pp 127‐

140] In addition a large number of people visit

museums on rainy days and their wet coats intro‐

duce additional moisture

Although it is difficult to differentiate between in‐

door environmental variations causedby visitors and

the effects of outdoor climate it is clear that the

way tourism in museums is organised nowadays

has a direct connexion with environmental fluctu‐

ations An adult releases approximately 60 grams

of water vapour per hour and 60 watts per square

metre of body surface as heat [10 p 20] affecting

ambient relative humidity Negative environmental

condition cycles are related to successive waves

of tourists who access the museum For example

measurements in the Kunsthistorisches Museum

in Vienna during and after the Bruegel exhibition

in 1998 showed an increase in heat and moisture

directly caused by the tourism flows [9 p 132]

To avoid the collection itself andor the building

acting as buffer elements environmental control systems must cope with these sudden stresses

maintaining a constant climate during and after

the visiting hours

Preventive Conservation Management

Although large‐scale visitor access involves risk

for cultural objects the public is necessary to

keep a museum open A large number of visitorsincreases the prestige of a museum and ensures

funding as demonstrated by the Delphi survey of

owners and managers of historic properties across

the United Kingdom [11] The survey shows that

the highest ranked criterion for priority in fund‐

ing is related to the lsquosignificancersquo of the heritage

This is measured through its uniqueness and rel‐

evance for the community as well as its public

appeal However pressures imposed by visitors

are not considered to be a major criterion for de‐

termining conservation funding

45e‐conservation

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 512

Mass tourism is an economic resource and in the

context of indoor climate the key is to achieve the

right balance between the increasing demand for

access and the need to protect the cultural herit‐

age itself

Different measures can be carried out to reduce

the impact of tourism Not including the cultural

objectsite in promotional material could reduce

the awareness of the attraction [12] Another

solution could be to display the most valuable

objects of a collection in showcases or substitute

them with replicas However display cases are

not always the best conservation solution [13]

and ethical issues as authenticity provenance

and context could arise [14] According to Young

and Cassar [15] the type of measure depends on

the uniqueness and vulnerability of the cultural

artefact its local or international importance

the ability to make facsimiles the rate of degrada‐

tion from environmental conditions and the quality

of the protective environment

In these days of rising cost and lack of funding

preventive conservation management is the best

option According to Cassarrsquos definition preventive

conservation management is ldquothe creation and

maintenance of an environment that limits the

decay of museum objects to theabsolute minimum

consistent with public accessrdquo [10 p 3] A pre‐

servation plan allows the analysis of deteriorating

environmental conditions caused by the influx of

tourist and developing a strategy to protect the

cultural artefacts Additionally environmental

monitoring is a reliable source of information that

can be used to assess risks and understand dam‐

ages and impacts

Case Study Preventive Conservation of the

Vasa Warship

The Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus ordered the

Vasa (figure 1) to be built in 1625 due to the Thirty

Years War Although a number of different tree

species were used in the Vasa 90 of the weight

46 e‐conservation

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

Figure 1 The Vasa warship Photo by Anneli Karlsson the Swedish National Maritime Museums copy All rights reserved

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 612

47e‐conservation

Figure 2 Stern view of the Vasa warship Photo by Karolina Kristensson the Swedish National Maritime Museumscopy All rights reserved

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 712

of the hull is oak The ship sank fully equipped on

its maiden voyage out of Stockholm harbour in

1628 and was raised to the surface in 1961 On

the salvage the timbers were found to be in re‐

markably good state (figure 2) The main reasons

were the absence of marine borers fungi and rot

due to the near oxygen‐free conditions in the wa‐

ter and high concentration of hydrogen sulphide

However the surface of the timbers was attacked

by cellulose‐degrading and sulphur‐meta‐bolizing

microorganisms After salvage exposure to atmo‐

spheric oxygen initiated a multitude of chemical

reactions threatening the long‐term preserva‐

tion of the ship such as oxidation of sulphur to

sulphuric acid red‐ox reactions of sulphur and

iron compounds from bolts and cargo made of

iron free radical reactions acid hydrolysis and

oxidative degradation reactions of cellulose The

conservation with PEG 1500 and 600 between 1962

and 1979 was followed by an air drying process for

another ten years1

According to Emma Hocker [16 p 4] conservator

at the Vasa Museum the control of the indoor

environment has been a challenge especially

due to the increasing public The museum was

designed as a display case for the ship (figure 3)

with an internal airspace of about 105000 m3 The

original predictions of 600 000 visitors per year

have steadily increased until numbers reached 12

million visitors in 2008 The main reasons are its

value as source of information of a specific con‐

text and timeframe but also the museum market‐

48 e‐conservation

Figure 3 General view of the Vasa Museum Photo by Aringke Eson Lindman copy All r ights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

1 More detailed information can be found on the website of

the Vasa Museum website at http wwwvasamuseetse

enPreservation‐‐Research

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 812

by dehumidifying in advance when potential risks

are detected [16 p 7] Also a new energy‐effect‐

ive halogen‐based lighting system was installed

producing 30 less radiant heat [21]

Since installation the hall climate has stabilised

considerably despite the greater number of visit‐

ors and the outdoor climate (figures 5 and 6) Out‐breaks are not worsening either in coverage or

pH value and the almost 10 RH gradient over

the height of the ship was halved immediately

[16 p 7]

ing strategy and the rise in the number of cruises

with Stockholm as a destination

The museum former climate specifications were

set at 60 RH and 20 degC for summer months and

575 RH and 17 degC in winter to avoid condensa‐

tion in the museum walls [17] equivalent to wood‐

moisture content of 10‐12 Although this system

was sufficient for the winter months [18 p 171]

when there were relatively few visitors during

warm and wet summers the RH rose to over 65

Temperature and RH gradients caused by the build‐

ing height [16 p 5] were accepted as inevitable

but at lower levels [19] the RH at times reached

70 impacting the movement of the wood The

climate system was under‐dimensioned

After a record number of visitors during the rainy

summer of 2000 salt outbreaks were drawn to the

surface Hydrated PEG could have dissolved salts

[20] from the material at high RH and these salts

could have precipitated on the wood surface whenthe PEG was dehydrated at low RH In addition

large fluctuations were recorded near the entrance

to the museum shop and restaurant where un‐

conditioned air could enter without control and

in theviewing galleries at the stern where stronger

lighting and visitors were concentrated [16 pp 5‐

6] It was then decided to reduce the RH from 60

to 55 plusmn 4 and the year‐round temperature to

185 plusmn 15degC equivalent to 10 moisture content in the wood [16 p 6]

In 2004 a new climate system with increased ca‐

pacity and sensitivity was installed in the ship hall

(figure 4) The principle is based on conditioned

air pumped in at low levels rising around the ship

and sucked out through a duct near the ceiling

[18 p 173] providing a protective curtain around

the ship In addition the visitor counter at the

museum entrance was incorporated into thesteer‐

ing parameters This measure allows preparation

49e‐conservation

Figure 4 Current climate‐control system above the ship stern

Photo by Karolina Kristensson copy All rights reserved

Figure 5 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated fromthe climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum betweenthe 16 th of June and the 21st of September 2003 The environ‐mental fluctuationswere remarkable Source the Swedish Na‐

tional Maritime Museums copy All rights reserved

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 912

However this system could operate at maximum

capacity if the museum gives in to the pressure

of the long queues of visitors in peak season and

allows more public at one time Then a stable cli‐

mate could not be guaranteed [16 pp 8‐9]

Conclusions

Ships that have been rescued from the sea are

among the most popular attractions worldwide

making maritime museums highly profitable

The great popularity of these museums ensures

continued funding for research conservation

acquisition and promotes cultural tourism How‐ever it also increases the pressure to allow greater

numbers of visitors making it difficult to maintain

a suitable preventive conservation programme

Large‐scale tourism has a direct negative effect

on museum indoor climate environments It pri‐

marily affects relative humidity causing rapid

fluctuations in short periods of time Variations

in moisture enable the migration of water dis‐

solved oxygen and salts into the PEG and wood

and will initiate different chemical reactions

The general concern nowadays is that the control

of relative humidity and temperature is the most

feasible preventive conservation measure in mu‐

seums with archaeological collections and high

tourism Stabilizing the environment avoiding

damaging extremes and fluctuations and main‐

taining the relative humidity low (around 55)

will help preserve PEG treated marine wooden

artefacts [22]

Every museum should develop an environmental

management programme a carefully elaborated

long‐term maintenance plan This could include

technical aspects such as dealing with monitor‐ing and controlling of the museum environment

and organisational issues such as a visitor man‐

agement plan

Acknowledgments

I wish to acknowledge the Vasa Museum Special

thanks to Emma Hocker for generously giving me

part of her time to share her experience and know‐

ledge

50 e‐conservation

Figure 6 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated from the climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum from the 16 th

of June to the 21st of September 2009 RH and temperature f luctuations were minimized Source the Swedish National MaritimeMuseums copy All rights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1012

51e‐conservation

References

[1] G Thomson The Museum Environment Butter‐

worths London 1981 p 85

[2] S Michalski ldquoTemperature and Relative Humidity

the definition of correctincorrect valuesrdquo in S

Michalski (ed) A Systematic Approach to the Con‐

servation (Care) of Museum Collections Canadian

Conservation Institute Ottawa Ontario 1992 ap‐

pendix D p 2

[3] B Appelbaum Guide to Environmental Protec‐

tion of Collections Sound View Press Boston 1991

[4] V Jessen and C Pearson ldquoEnvironmental con‐

ditions for storage and display of marine f indsrdquo

in C Pearson (ed) Conservation of Marine Ar‐

chaeological Objects Butterworths London

1987

[5] R Harvey and C Freedland ldquoExhibition andStorage of Archaeological woodrdquo in R M Rowell

and R J Barbour (eds) Archaeological Wood Prop‐

erties Chemistry and Preservation American Chem‐

ical Society Washington 1990 p 407 Chapter DOI

101021ba‐1990‐0225ch015 URL

[6] T Nishiura and S Imazu ldquoExperimental study

on the dimensional change of highly degraded wa‐

terlogged wood according to ambient humidity afterpreservation treatmentrdquo in P Hoffmann (ed) Pro‐

ceedings of the 4th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological

Materials Conference Bremerhaven 1990 ICOM

Bremerhaven 1991 p 117

[7] D W Grattan ldquoA Practical Comparative Study of

Treatments for Waterlogged Wood Part II The Effect

of Humidity on Treated Woodrdquo in D W Grattan (ed)

Proceedings of the ICOM Waterlogged Wood Working

Group Conference 15‐18th September 1981 Cana‐

dian Conservation Institute Ottawa ICOM Com‐

mittee for Conservation Waterlogged Wood Work‐ing Group 1982 p 250

[8] M Sandstroumlm Y Fors and I Persson The Vasas

New Battle Sulphur Acid and Iron Vasa Studies 19

The Vasa Museum Stockholm 2003 p 21

[9] D Camuffo R Van Grieken H‐J Busse G

Sturaro A Valentino A Bernardi N Blades D

Shooter K Gysels F Deutsch M Wieser O Kim

and U Ulrych ldquoEnvironmental monitoring in four

European museumsrdquo Atmospheric Environment 35

Supplement No 1 2001 doi101016S1352‐2310

(01)00088‐7 URL also available at URL [pdf]

[10] M Cassar Environmental Management guide‐

lines for museums and galleries Museums amp Galleries

Commission with Routledge London 1995

[11] B Garrod and A Fyall ldquoManaging Heritage

Tourismrdquo Annals of Tourism Research 27(3) 2000

pp 682‐708 doi 101016S0160‐7383(99)00094‐8

URL

[12] M Drdaacutecky T Drdaacutecky D Creighton ldquoImpact

of Cultural Tourism upon the Diversity of Built Her‐

itagerdquo position paper of the PICTURE project Pro‐

active management of the Impact of Cultural Tourism

upon Urban Resources and Economies 2007 avail‐able at URL [pdf] (accessed November 2010)

[13] D Camuffo G Sturaro and A Valentino

ldquoShowcases a really effective mean for protecting

artworksrdquo Thermochimica Acta 365(1‐2) 2000

pp 65‐77 doi101016S0040‐6031(00)00614‐6

URL

[14] M Cassar P Brimblecombe T Nixon C Price

C Sabbioni C Saiz Jimenez and K Van Balen

Technological requirements for solutions in the con‐

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1112

servation and protection of historic monuments and

archaeological remains European Parliament Kirch‐

berg Luxembourg 2001 p 43 available at URL

[pdf] (accessed July 2010)

[15] A Young and M Cassar ldquoIndoor Climate and

Tourism Effects ‐ a UK perspectiverdquo in M Drdaacuteckyacute

(ed) European Research on Cultural Heritage State‐

of‐the‐Art Studies Vol 2 ITAM 2004 Academy of

Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague 2004 pp

405‐412 available at URL [pdf] (accessed August

2010)

[16] E Hocker ldquoMaintaining a Stable Environment

Vasaacutes New Climate‐ Control Systemrdquo Journal of

Preservation Technology 41(2‐3) 2010 available at

URL [pdf] (accessed August 2010)

[17] B Haringfords The climate of the Vasa Museum ndash

problems in coordinating the museum object and

the museum climate 1997 available at URL (ac‐

cessed July 2010)

[18] I Hall Roth and L Malmberg ldquoSave the Vasa‐

An Introductionrdquo in P Hoffmann J A Spriggs K

Straeligtkvern and D Gregory (eds) Proceedings of

the 9th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological Materials

Conference Bremerhaven 2005 ICOM 2005

[19] E Hocker L Dal and F Hocker ldquoUnderstand‐

ing Vasarsquos Salt Problem Documenting the Distribu‐tion of Salt Precipitations on the Swedish Warship

Vasardquo in Proceedings of the 10th ICOM Group on Wet

Organic Archaeological Materials Conference Bremer‐

haven 2008 ICOMRACM Amersfoort 2009 p 479

[20] MN Mortensen H Egsgaard S Hvilsted Y

Shashoua and J Glastrup ldquoCharacterisation of the

polyethylene glycol impregnation of the Swedish

warship Vasa and one of the Danish Skuldelev Viking

shipsrdquo Journal of Archaeological Science 34(8)

2007 p 1217 doi101016jjas200610012 URL

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONESConservator

Cristina Cabello‐Briones is a recent postgraduate

in Preventive Conservation at Northumbria Uni‐

versity (Newcastle UK) Her dissertation assessed

with distinction was about Preventive Conserva‐

tion of Wooden Wreck‐Hulls Retrieved from Un‐

derwater Maritime Environments She is a first

class graduate in the Conservation and Restora‐tion of Cultural Heritage from the Escuela Superi ‐

or de Conservacioacuten y Restauracioacuten de Bienes Cul‐

turales de Madrid (Spain) speciality in paintings

where she studied between 2002 and 2005 In

2008 she completed her second first class BA

degree in the History of Art at the Universidad

Autoacutenoma de Madrid (Spain) Her dissertation

was about Historic Restorations of the Roma‐

nesque Mural Paintings at the National Museumin Catalonia

She has recently been awarded with La Caixa Schol ‐

arship to study a PhD in Conservation in the United

Kingdom commencing in 2011

Her most recent projects include the research of

the improvements to the Tate Galleryrsquos transit

frame wrapping system in order to save on ma‐

terials time and handling of long term collec‐

tion care and the internship at the Reina Sofiacutea

Museum (Madrid Spain) assessing the risks for

cultural artefacts during mounting of exhibitions

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

52 e‐conservation

[21] Personal communication with Emma Hocker

July 2010

[22] Y Fors Sulfur‐Related Conservation Concerns

for Marine Archaeological Wood The Origin Spe‐

cification and Distribution of Accumulated sulfur

with some Remedies for the Vasa Doctoral Thesis

Department of Physical Inorganic and Structural

Chemistry Stockholm University 2008 p 94

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1212

No 18 February 2011

ISSN 1646‐9283

Registration Number 125248

Entidade Reguladora

para a Comunicaccedilatildeo Social

Property e‐conservationline Teodora Poiata

Periodicity Bimonthly

Cover Detail of the Vasa warship the Vasa Museum Stockholm

Photo by Karolina Kristensson

The Swedish National Maritime Museums

Executive Editor Rui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata Anca Nicolaescu

CollaboratorsAna Bidarra

Daniel Cull

Graphic Design and Photography Anca Poiata Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

AddressRua de Santa Catarina nordm 467 4D

4480‐779 Vila do Conde Portugal

wwwe‐conservationlinecom

All correspondence togenerale‐conservationlinecom

LICENCE

Attribution‐Noncommercial‐No Derivative Works 25

Portugal

You are free

to Share to copy distribute and transmit this work

Under the following conditions

AttributionYou must attribute thework in themanner specified

by ourlicence best by linking to CC website

Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial

purposes

No Derivative Works You may not alter transform or build

upon this work

e‐conservationline informs that the published information isbelieved to be true and accurate butcan notaccept any legal

responsibility forany errors or omissions that may occur ormake any warranty for the published material whichis solelythe responsability of their authors

77e‐conservation

Page 5: Cabello, C. Preventive Conserv. Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship. 2011

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 512

Mass tourism is an economic resource and in the

context of indoor climate the key is to achieve the

right balance between the increasing demand for

access and the need to protect the cultural herit‐

age itself

Different measures can be carried out to reduce

the impact of tourism Not including the cultural

objectsite in promotional material could reduce

the awareness of the attraction [12] Another

solution could be to display the most valuable

objects of a collection in showcases or substitute

them with replicas However display cases are

not always the best conservation solution [13]

and ethical issues as authenticity provenance

and context could arise [14] According to Young

and Cassar [15] the type of measure depends on

the uniqueness and vulnerability of the cultural

artefact its local or international importance

the ability to make facsimiles the rate of degrada‐

tion from environmental conditions and the quality

of the protective environment

In these days of rising cost and lack of funding

preventive conservation management is the best

option According to Cassarrsquos definition preventive

conservation management is ldquothe creation and

maintenance of an environment that limits the

decay of museum objects to theabsolute minimum

consistent with public accessrdquo [10 p 3] A pre‐

servation plan allows the analysis of deteriorating

environmental conditions caused by the influx of

tourist and developing a strategy to protect the

cultural artefacts Additionally environmental

monitoring is a reliable source of information that

can be used to assess risks and understand dam‐

ages and impacts

Case Study Preventive Conservation of the

Vasa Warship

The Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus ordered the

Vasa (figure 1) to be built in 1625 due to the Thirty

Years War Although a number of different tree

species were used in the Vasa 90 of the weight

46 e‐conservation

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

Figure 1 The Vasa warship Photo by Anneli Karlsson the Swedish National Maritime Museums copy All rights reserved

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 612

47e‐conservation

Figure 2 Stern view of the Vasa warship Photo by Karolina Kristensson the Swedish National Maritime Museumscopy All rights reserved

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 712

of the hull is oak The ship sank fully equipped on

its maiden voyage out of Stockholm harbour in

1628 and was raised to the surface in 1961 On

the salvage the timbers were found to be in re‐

markably good state (figure 2) The main reasons

were the absence of marine borers fungi and rot

due to the near oxygen‐free conditions in the wa‐

ter and high concentration of hydrogen sulphide

However the surface of the timbers was attacked

by cellulose‐degrading and sulphur‐meta‐bolizing

microorganisms After salvage exposure to atmo‐

spheric oxygen initiated a multitude of chemical

reactions threatening the long‐term preserva‐

tion of the ship such as oxidation of sulphur to

sulphuric acid red‐ox reactions of sulphur and

iron compounds from bolts and cargo made of

iron free radical reactions acid hydrolysis and

oxidative degradation reactions of cellulose The

conservation with PEG 1500 and 600 between 1962

and 1979 was followed by an air drying process for

another ten years1

According to Emma Hocker [16 p 4] conservator

at the Vasa Museum the control of the indoor

environment has been a challenge especially

due to the increasing public The museum was

designed as a display case for the ship (figure 3)

with an internal airspace of about 105000 m3 The

original predictions of 600 000 visitors per year

have steadily increased until numbers reached 12

million visitors in 2008 The main reasons are its

value as source of information of a specific con‐

text and timeframe but also the museum market‐

48 e‐conservation

Figure 3 General view of the Vasa Museum Photo by Aringke Eson Lindman copy All r ights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

1 More detailed information can be found on the website of

the Vasa Museum website at http wwwvasamuseetse

enPreservation‐‐Research

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 812

by dehumidifying in advance when potential risks

are detected [16 p 7] Also a new energy‐effect‐

ive halogen‐based lighting system was installed

producing 30 less radiant heat [21]

Since installation the hall climate has stabilised

considerably despite the greater number of visit‐

ors and the outdoor climate (figures 5 and 6) Out‐breaks are not worsening either in coverage or

pH value and the almost 10 RH gradient over

the height of the ship was halved immediately

[16 p 7]

ing strategy and the rise in the number of cruises

with Stockholm as a destination

The museum former climate specifications were

set at 60 RH and 20 degC for summer months and

575 RH and 17 degC in winter to avoid condensa‐

tion in the museum walls [17] equivalent to wood‐

moisture content of 10‐12 Although this system

was sufficient for the winter months [18 p 171]

when there were relatively few visitors during

warm and wet summers the RH rose to over 65

Temperature and RH gradients caused by the build‐

ing height [16 p 5] were accepted as inevitable

but at lower levels [19] the RH at times reached

70 impacting the movement of the wood The

climate system was under‐dimensioned

After a record number of visitors during the rainy

summer of 2000 salt outbreaks were drawn to the

surface Hydrated PEG could have dissolved salts

[20] from the material at high RH and these salts

could have precipitated on the wood surface whenthe PEG was dehydrated at low RH In addition

large fluctuations were recorded near the entrance

to the museum shop and restaurant where un‐

conditioned air could enter without control and

in theviewing galleries at the stern where stronger

lighting and visitors were concentrated [16 pp 5‐

6] It was then decided to reduce the RH from 60

to 55 plusmn 4 and the year‐round temperature to

185 plusmn 15degC equivalent to 10 moisture content in the wood [16 p 6]

In 2004 a new climate system with increased ca‐

pacity and sensitivity was installed in the ship hall

(figure 4) The principle is based on conditioned

air pumped in at low levels rising around the ship

and sucked out through a duct near the ceiling

[18 p 173] providing a protective curtain around

the ship In addition the visitor counter at the

museum entrance was incorporated into thesteer‐

ing parameters This measure allows preparation

49e‐conservation

Figure 4 Current climate‐control system above the ship stern

Photo by Karolina Kristensson copy All rights reserved

Figure 5 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated fromthe climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum betweenthe 16 th of June and the 21st of September 2003 The environ‐mental fluctuationswere remarkable Source the Swedish Na‐

tional Maritime Museums copy All rights reserved

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 912

However this system could operate at maximum

capacity if the museum gives in to the pressure

of the long queues of visitors in peak season and

allows more public at one time Then a stable cli‐

mate could not be guaranteed [16 pp 8‐9]

Conclusions

Ships that have been rescued from the sea are

among the most popular attractions worldwide

making maritime museums highly profitable

The great popularity of these museums ensures

continued funding for research conservation

acquisition and promotes cultural tourism How‐ever it also increases the pressure to allow greater

numbers of visitors making it difficult to maintain

a suitable preventive conservation programme

Large‐scale tourism has a direct negative effect

on museum indoor climate environments It pri‐

marily affects relative humidity causing rapid

fluctuations in short periods of time Variations

in moisture enable the migration of water dis‐

solved oxygen and salts into the PEG and wood

and will initiate different chemical reactions

The general concern nowadays is that the control

of relative humidity and temperature is the most

feasible preventive conservation measure in mu‐

seums with archaeological collections and high

tourism Stabilizing the environment avoiding

damaging extremes and fluctuations and main‐

taining the relative humidity low (around 55)

will help preserve PEG treated marine wooden

artefacts [22]

Every museum should develop an environmental

management programme a carefully elaborated

long‐term maintenance plan This could include

technical aspects such as dealing with monitor‐ing and controlling of the museum environment

and organisational issues such as a visitor man‐

agement plan

Acknowledgments

I wish to acknowledge the Vasa Museum Special

thanks to Emma Hocker for generously giving me

part of her time to share her experience and know‐

ledge

50 e‐conservation

Figure 6 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated from the climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum from the 16 th

of June to the 21st of September 2009 RH and temperature f luctuations were minimized Source the Swedish National MaritimeMuseums copy All rights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1012

51e‐conservation

References

[1] G Thomson The Museum Environment Butter‐

worths London 1981 p 85

[2] S Michalski ldquoTemperature and Relative Humidity

the definition of correctincorrect valuesrdquo in S

Michalski (ed) A Systematic Approach to the Con‐

servation (Care) of Museum Collections Canadian

Conservation Institute Ottawa Ontario 1992 ap‐

pendix D p 2

[3] B Appelbaum Guide to Environmental Protec‐

tion of Collections Sound View Press Boston 1991

[4] V Jessen and C Pearson ldquoEnvironmental con‐

ditions for storage and display of marine f indsrdquo

in C Pearson (ed) Conservation of Marine Ar‐

chaeological Objects Butterworths London

1987

[5] R Harvey and C Freedland ldquoExhibition andStorage of Archaeological woodrdquo in R M Rowell

and R J Barbour (eds) Archaeological Wood Prop‐

erties Chemistry and Preservation American Chem‐

ical Society Washington 1990 p 407 Chapter DOI

101021ba‐1990‐0225ch015 URL

[6] T Nishiura and S Imazu ldquoExperimental study

on the dimensional change of highly degraded wa‐

terlogged wood according to ambient humidity afterpreservation treatmentrdquo in P Hoffmann (ed) Pro‐

ceedings of the 4th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological

Materials Conference Bremerhaven 1990 ICOM

Bremerhaven 1991 p 117

[7] D W Grattan ldquoA Practical Comparative Study of

Treatments for Waterlogged Wood Part II The Effect

of Humidity on Treated Woodrdquo in D W Grattan (ed)

Proceedings of the ICOM Waterlogged Wood Working

Group Conference 15‐18th September 1981 Cana‐

dian Conservation Institute Ottawa ICOM Com‐

mittee for Conservation Waterlogged Wood Work‐ing Group 1982 p 250

[8] M Sandstroumlm Y Fors and I Persson The Vasas

New Battle Sulphur Acid and Iron Vasa Studies 19

The Vasa Museum Stockholm 2003 p 21

[9] D Camuffo R Van Grieken H‐J Busse G

Sturaro A Valentino A Bernardi N Blades D

Shooter K Gysels F Deutsch M Wieser O Kim

and U Ulrych ldquoEnvironmental monitoring in four

European museumsrdquo Atmospheric Environment 35

Supplement No 1 2001 doi101016S1352‐2310

(01)00088‐7 URL also available at URL [pdf]

[10] M Cassar Environmental Management guide‐

lines for museums and galleries Museums amp Galleries

Commission with Routledge London 1995

[11] B Garrod and A Fyall ldquoManaging Heritage

Tourismrdquo Annals of Tourism Research 27(3) 2000

pp 682‐708 doi 101016S0160‐7383(99)00094‐8

URL

[12] M Drdaacutecky T Drdaacutecky D Creighton ldquoImpact

of Cultural Tourism upon the Diversity of Built Her‐

itagerdquo position paper of the PICTURE project Pro‐

active management of the Impact of Cultural Tourism

upon Urban Resources and Economies 2007 avail‐able at URL [pdf] (accessed November 2010)

[13] D Camuffo G Sturaro and A Valentino

ldquoShowcases a really effective mean for protecting

artworksrdquo Thermochimica Acta 365(1‐2) 2000

pp 65‐77 doi101016S0040‐6031(00)00614‐6

URL

[14] M Cassar P Brimblecombe T Nixon C Price

C Sabbioni C Saiz Jimenez and K Van Balen

Technological requirements for solutions in the con‐

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1112

servation and protection of historic monuments and

archaeological remains European Parliament Kirch‐

berg Luxembourg 2001 p 43 available at URL

[pdf] (accessed July 2010)

[15] A Young and M Cassar ldquoIndoor Climate and

Tourism Effects ‐ a UK perspectiverdquo in M Drdaacuteckyacute

(ed) European Research on Cultural Heritage State‐

of‐the‐Art Studies Vol 2 ITAM 2004 Academy of

Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague 2004 pp

405‐412 available at URL [pdf] (accessed August

2010)

[16] E Hocker ldquoMaintaining a Stable Environment

Vasaacutes New Climate‐ Control Systemrdquo Journal of

Preservation Technology 41(2‐3) 2010 available at

URL [pdf] (accessed August 2010)

[17] B Haringfords The climate of the Vasa Museum ndash

problems in coordinating the museum object and

the museum climate 1997 available at URL (ac‐

cessed July 2010)

[18] I Hall Roth and L Malmberg ldquoSave the Vasa‐

An Introductionrdquo in P Hoffmann J A Spriggs K

Straeligtkvern and D Gregory (eds) Proceedings of

the 9th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological Materials

Conference Bremerhaven 2005 ICOM 2005

[19] E Hocker L Dal and F Hocker ldquoUnderstand‐

ing Vasarsquos Salt Problem Documenting the Distribu‐tion of Salt Precipitations on the Swedish Warship

Vasardquo in Proceedings of the 10th ICOM Group on Wet

Organic Archaeological Materials Conference Bremer‐

haven 2008 ICOMRACM Amersfoort 2009 p 479

[20] MN Mortensen H Egsgaard S Hvilsted Y

Shashoua and J Glastrup ldquoCharacterisation of the

polyethylene glycol impregnation of the Swedish

warship Vasa and one of the Danish Skuldelev Viking

shipsrdquo Journal of Archaeological Science 34(8)

2007 p 1217 doi101016jjas200610012 URL

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONESConservator

Cristina Cabello‐Briones is a recent postgraduate

in Preventive Conservation at Northumbria Uni‐

versity (Newcastle UK) Her dissertation assessed

with distinction was about Preventive Conserva‐

tion of Wooden Wreck‐Hulls Retrieved from Un‐

derwater Maritime Environments She is a first

class graduate in the Conservation and Restora‐tion of Cultural Heritage from the Escuela Superi ‐

or de Conservacioacuten y Restauracioacuten de Bienes Cul‐

turales de Madrid (Spain) speciality in paintings

where she studied between 2002 and 2005 In

2008 she completed her second first class BA

degree in the History of Art at the Universidad

Autoacutenoma de Madrid (Spain) Her dissertation

was about Historic Restorations of the Roma‐

nesque Mural Paintings at the National Museumin Catalonia

She has recently been awarded with La Caixa Schol ‐

arship to study a PhD in Conservation in the United

Kingdom commencing in 2011

Her most recent projects include the research of

the improvements to the Tate Galleryrsquos transit

frame wrapping system in order to save on ma‐

terials time and handling of long term collec‐

tion care and the internship at the Reina Sofiacutea

Museum (Madrid Spain) assessing the risks for

cultural artefacts during mounting of exhibitions

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

52 e‐conservation

[21] Personal communication with Emma Hocker

July 2010

[22] Y Fors Sulfur‐Related Conservation Concerns

for Marine Archaeological Wood The Origin Spe‐

cification and Distribution of Accumulated sulfur

with some Remedies for the Vasa Doctoral Thesis

Department of Physical Inorganic and Structural

Chemistry Stockholm University 2008 p 94

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1212

No 18 February 2011

ISSN 1646‐9283

Registration Number 125248

Entidade Reguladora

para a Comunicaccedilatildeo Social

Property e‐conservationline Teodora Poiata

Periodicity Bimonthly

Cover Detail of the Vasa warship the Vasa Museum Stockholm

Photo by Karolina Kristensson

The Swedish National Maritime Museums

Executive Editor Rui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata Anca Nicolaescu

CollaboratorsAna Bidarra

Daniel Cull

Graphic Design and Photography Anca Poiata Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

AddressRua de Santa Catarina nordm 467 4D

4480‐779 Vila do Conde Portugal

wwwe‐conservationlinecom

All correspondence togenerale‐conservationlinecom

LICENCE

Attribution‐Noncommercial‐No Derivative Works 25

Portugal

You are free

to Share to copy distribute and transmit this work

Under the following conditions

AttributionYou must attribute thework in themanner specified

by ourlicence best by linking to CC website

Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial

purposes

No Derivative Works You may not alter transform or build

upon this work

e‐conservationline informs that the published information isbelieved to be true and accurate butcan notaccept any legal

responsibility forany errors or omissions that may occur ormake any warranty for the published material whichis solelythe responsability of their authors

77e‐conservation

Page 6: Cabello, C. Preventive Conserv. Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship. 2011

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 612

47e‐conservation

Figure 2 Stern view of the Vasa warship Photo by Karolina Kristensson the Swedish National Maritime Museumscopy All rights reserved

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 712

of the hull is oak The ship sank fully equipped on

its maiden voyage out of Stockholm harbour in

1628 and was raised to the surface in 1961 On

the salvage the timbers were found to be in re‐

markably good state (figure 2) The main reasons

were the absence of marine borers fungi and rot

due to the near oxygen‐free conditions in the wa‐

ter and high concentration of hydrogen sulphide

However the surface of the timbers was attacked

by cellulose‐degrading and sulphur‐meta‐bolizing

microorganisms After salvage exposure to atmo‐

spheric oxygen initiated a multitude of chemical

reactions threatening the long‐term preserva‐

tion of the ship such as oxidation of sulphur to

sulphuric acid red‐ox reactions of sulphur and

iron compounds from bolts and cargo made of

iron free radical reactions acid hydrolysis and

oxidative degradation reactions of cellulose The

conservation with PEG 1500 and 600 between 1962

and 1979 was followed by an air drying process for

another ten years1

According to Emma Hocker [16 p 4] conservator

at the Vasa Museum the control of the indoor

environment has been a challenge especially

due to the increasing public The museum was

designed as a display case for the ship (figure 3)

with an internal airspace of about 105000 m3 The

original predictions of 600 000 visitors per year

have steadily increased until numbers reached 12

million visitors in 2008 The main reasons are its

value as source of information of a specific con‐

text and timeframe but also the museum market‐

48 e‐conservation

Figure 3 General view of the Vasa Museum Photo by Aringke Eson Lindman copy All r ights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

1 More detailed information can be found on the website of

the Vasa Museum website at http wwwvasamuseetse

enPreservation‐‐Research

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 812

by dehumidifying in advance when potential risks

are detected [16 p 7] Also a new energy‐effect‐

ive halogen‐based lighting system was installed

producing 30 less radiant heat [21]

Since installation the hall climate has stabilised

considerably despite the greater number of visit‐

ors and the outdoor climate (figures 5 and 6) Out‐breaks are not worsening either in coverage or

pH value and the almost 10 RH gradient over

the height of the ship was halved immediately

[16 p 7]

ing strategy and the rise in the number of cruises

with Stockholm as a destination

The museum former climate specifications were

set at 60 RH and 20 degC for summer months and

575 RH and 17 degC in winter to avoid condensa‐

tion in the museum walls [17] equivalent to wood‐

moisture content of 10‐12 Although this system

was sufficient for the winter months [18 p 171]

when there were relatively few visitors during

warm and wet summers the RH rose to over 65

Temperature and RH gradients caused by the build‐

ing height [16 p 5] were accepted as inevitable

but at lower levels [19] the RH at times reached

70 impacting the movement of the wood The

climate system was under‐dimensioned

After a record number of visitors during the rainy

summer of 2000 salt outbreaks were drawn to the

surface Hydrated PEG could have dissolved salts

[20] from the material at high RH and these salts

could have precipitated on the wood surface whenthe PEG was dehydrated at low RH In addition

large fluctuations were recorded near the entrance

to the museum shop and restaurant where un‐

conditioned air could enter without control and

in theviewing galleries at the stern where stronger

lighting and visitors were concentrated [16 pp 5‐

6] It was then decided to reduce the RH from 60

to 55 plusmn 4 and the year‐round temperature to

185 plusmn 15degC equivalent to 10 moisture content in the wood [16 p 6]

In 2004 a new climate system with increased ca‐

pacity and sensitivity was installed in the ship hall

(figure 4) The principle is based on conditioned

air pumped in at low levels rising around the ship

and sucked out through a duct near the ceiling

[18 p 173] providing a protective curtain around

the ship In addition the visitor counter at the

museum entrance was incorporated into thesteer‐

ing parameters This measure allows preparation

49e‐conservation

Figure 4 Current climate‐control system above the ship stern

Photo by Karolina Kristensson copy All rights reserved

Figure 5 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated fromthe climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum betweenthe 16 th of June and the 21st of September 2003 The environ‐mental fluctuationswere remarkable Source the Swedish Na‐

tional Maritime Museums copy All rights reserved

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 912

However this system could operate at maximum

capacity if the museum gives in to the pressure

of the long queues of visitors in peak season and

allows more public at one time Then a stable cli‐

mate could not be guaranteed [16 pp 8‐9]

Conclusions

Ships that have been rescued from the sea are

among the most popular attractions worldwide

making maritime museums highly profitable

The great popularity of these museums ensures

continued funding for research conservation

acquisition and promotes cultural tourism How‐ever it also increases the pressure to allow greater

numbers of visitors making it difficult to maintain

a suitable preventive conservation programme

Large‐scale tourism has a direct negative effect

on museum indoor climate environments It pri‐

marily affects relative humidity causing rapid

fluctuations in short periods of time Variations

in moisture enable the migration of water dis‐

solved oxygen and salts into the PEG and wood

and will initiate different chemical reactions

The general concern nowadays is that the control

of relative humidity and temperature is the most

feasible preventive conservation measure in mu‐

seums with archaeological collections and high

tourism Stabilizing the environment avoiding

damaging extremes and fluctuations and main‐

taining the relative humidity low (around 55)

will help preserve PEG treated marine wooden

artefacts [22]

Every museum should develop an environmental

management programme a carefully elaborated

long‐term maintenance plan This could include

technical aspects such as dealing with monitor‐ing and controlling of the museum environment

and organisational issues such as a visitor man‐

agement plan

Acknowledgments

I wish to acknowledge the Vasa Museum Special

thanks to Emma Hocker for generously giving me

part of her time to share her experience and know‐

ledge

50 e‐conservation

Figure 6 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated from the climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum from the 16 th

of June to the 21st of September 2009 RH and temperature f luctuations were minimized Source the Swedish National MaritimeMuseums copy All rights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1012

51e‐conservation

References

[1] G Thomson The Museum Environment Butter‐

worths London 1981 p 85

[2] S Michalski ldquoTemperature and Relative Humidity

the definition of correctincorrect valuesrdquo in S

Michalski (ed) A Systematic Approach to the Con‐

servation (Care) of Museum Collections Canadian

Conservation Institute Ottawa Ontario 1992 ap‐

pendix D p 2

[3] B Appelbaum Guide to Environmental Protec‐

tion of Collections Sound View Press Boston 1991

[4] V Jessen and C Pearson ldquoEnvironmental con‐

ditions for storage and display of marine f indsrdquo

in C Pearson (ed) Conservation of Marine Ar‐

chaeological Objects Butterworths London

1987

[5] R Harvey and C Freedland ldquoExhibition andStorage of Archaeological woodrdquo in R M Rowell

and R J Barbour (eds) Archaeological Wood Prop‐

erties Chemistry and Preservation American Chem‐

ical Society Washington 1990 p 407 Chapter DOI

101021ba‐1990‐0225ch015 URL

[6] T Nishiura and S Imazu ldquoExperimental study

on the dimensional change of highly degraded wa‐

terlogged wood according to ambient humidity afterpreservation treatmentrdquo in P Hoffmann (ed) Pro‐

ceedings of the 4th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological

Materials Conference Bremerhaven 1990 ICOM

Bremerhaven 1991 p 117

[7] D W Grattan ldquoA Practical Comparative Study of

Treatments for Waterlogged Wood Part II The Effect

of Humidity on Treated Woodrdquo in D W Grattan (ed)

Proceedings of the ICOM Waterlogged Wood Working

Group Conference 15‐18th September 1981 Cana‐

dian Conservation Institute Ottawa ICOM Com‐

mittee for Conservation Waterlogged Wood Work‐ing Group 1982 p 250

[8] M Sandstroumlm Y Fors and I Persson The Vasas

New Battle Sulphur Acid and Iron Vasa Studies 19

The Vasa Museum Stockholm 2003 p 21

[9] D Camuffo R Van Grieken H‐J Busse G

Sturaro A Valentino A Bernardi N Blades D

Shooter K Gysels F Deutsch M Wieser O Kim

and U Ulrych ldquoEnvironmental monitoring in four

European museumsrdquo Atmospheric Environment 35

Supplement No 1 2001 doi101016S1352‐2310

(01)00088‐7 URL also available at URL [pdf]

[10] M Cassar Environmental Management guide‐

lines for museums and galleries Museums amp Galleries

Commission with Routledge London 1995

[11] B Garrod and A Fyall ldquoManaging Heritage

Tourismrdquo Annals of Tourism Research 27(3) 2000

pp 682‐708 doi 101016S0160‐7383(99)00094‐8

URL

[12] M Drdaacutecky T Drdaacutecky D Creighton ldquoImpact

of Cultural Tourism upon the Diversity of Built Her‐

itagerdquo position paper of the PICTURE project Pro‐

active management of the Impact of Cultural Tourism

upon Urban Resources and Economies 2007 avail‐able at URL [pdf] (accessed November 2010)

[13] D Camuffo G Sturaro and A Valentino

ldquoShowcases a really effective mean for protecting

artworksrdquo Thermochimica Acta 365(1‐2) 2000

pp 65‐77 doi101016S0040‐6031(00)00614‐6

URL

[14] M Cassar P Brimblecombe T Nixon C Price

C Sabbioni C Saiz Jimenez and K Van Balen

Technological requirements for solutions in the con‐

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1112

servation and protection of historic monuments and

archaeological remains European Parliament Kirch‐

berg Luxembourg 2001 p 43 available at URL

[pdf] (accessed July 2010)

[15] A Young and M Cassar ldquoIndoor Climate and

Tourism Effects ‐ a UK perspectiverdquo in M Drdaacuteckyacute

(ed) European Research on Cultural Heritage State‐

of‐the‐Art Studies Vol 2 ITAM 2004 Academy of

Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague 2004 pp

405‐412 available at URL [pdf] (accessed August

2010)

[16] E Hocker ldquoMaintaining a Stable Environment

Vasaacutes New Climate‐ Control Systemrdquo Journal of

Preservation Technology 41(2‐3) 2010 available at

URL [pdf] (accessed August 2010)

[17] B Haringfords The climate of the Vasa Museum ndash

problems in coordinating the museum object and

the museum climate 1997 available at URL (ac‐

cessed July 2010)

[18] I Hall Roth and L Malmberg ldquoSave the Vasa‐

An Introductionrdquo in P Hoffmann J A Spriggs K

Straeligtkvern and D Gregory (eds) Proceedings of

the 9th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological Materials

Conference Bremerhaven 2005 ICOM 2005

[19] E Hocker L Dal and F Hocker ldquoUnderstand‐

ing Vasarsquos Salt Problem Documenting the Distribu‐tion of Salt Precipitations on the Swedish Warship

Vasardquo in Proceedings of the 10th ICOM Group on Wet

Organic Archaeological Materials Conference Bremer‐

haven 2008 ICOMRACM Amersfoort 2009 p 479

[20] MN Mortensen H Egsgaard S Hvilsted Y

Shashoua and J Glastrup ldquoCharacterisation of the

polyethylene glycol impregnation of the Swedish

warship Vasa and one of the Danish Skuldelev Viking

shipsrdquo Journal of Archaeological Science 34(8)

2007 p 1217 doi101016jjas200610012 URL

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONESConservator

Cristina Cabello‐Briones is a recent postgraduate

in Preventive Conservation at Northumbria Uni‐

versity (Newcastle UK) Her dissertation assessed

with distinction was about Preventive Conserva‐

tion of Wooden Wreck‐Hulls Retrieved from Un‐

derwater Maritime Environments She is a first

class graduate in the Conservation and Restora‐tion of Cultural Heritage from the Escuela Superi ‐

or de Conservacioacuten y Restauracioacuten de Bienes Cul‐

turales de Madrid (Spain) speciality in paintings

where she studied between 2002 and 2005 In

2008 she completed her second first class BA

degree in the History of Art at the Universidad

Autoacutenoma de Madrid (Spain) Her dissertation

was about Historic Restorations of the Roma‐

nesque Mural Paintings at the National Museumin Catalonia

She has recently been awarded with La Caixa Schol ‐

arship to study a PhD in Conservation in the United

Kingdom commencing in 2011

Her most recent projects include the research of

the improvements to the Tate Galleryrsquos transit

frame wrapping system in order to save on ma‐

terials time and handling of long term collec‐

tion care and the internship at the Reina Sofiacutea

Museum (Madrid Spain) assessing the risks for

cultural artefacts during mounting of exhibitions

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

52 e‐conservation

[21] Personal communication with Emma Hocker

July 2010

[22] Y Fors Sulfur‐Related Conservation Concerns

for Marine Archaeological Wood The Origin Spe‐

cification and Distribution of Accumulated sulfur

with some Remedies for the Vasa Doctoral Thesis

Department of Physical Inorganic and Structural

Chemistry Stockholm University 2008 p 94

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1212

No 18 February 2011

ISSN 1646‐9283

Registration Number 125248

Entidade Reguladora

para a Comunicaccedilatildeo Social

Property e‐conservationline Teodora Poiata

Periodicity Bimonthly

Cover Detail of the Vasa warship the Vasa Museum Stockholm

Photo by Karolina Kristensson

The Swedish National Maritime Museums

Executive Editor Rui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata Anca Nicolaescu

CollaboratorsAna Bidarra

Daniel Cull

Graphic Design and Photography Anca Poiata Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

AddressRua de Santa Catarina nordm 467 4D

4480‐779 Vila do Conde Portugal

wwwe‐conservationlinecom

All correspondence togenerale‐conservationlinecom

LICENCE

Attribution‐Noncommercial‐No Derivative Works 25

Portugal

You are free

to Share to copy distribute and transmit this work

Under the following conditions

AttributionYou must attribute thework in themanner specified

by ourlicence best by linking to CC website

Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial

purposes

No Derivative Works You may not alter transform or build

upon this work

e‐conservationline informs that the published information isbelieved to be true and accurate butcan notaccept any legal

responsibility forany errors or omissions that may occur ormake any warranty for the published material whichis solelythe responsability of their authors

77e‐conservation

Page 7: Cabello, C. Preventive Conserv. Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship. 2011

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 712

of the hull is oak The ship sank fully equipped on

its maiden voyage out of Stockholm harbour in

1628 and was raised to the surface in 1961 On

the salvage the timbers were found to be in re‐

markably good state (figure 2) The main reasons

were the absence of marine borers fungi and rot

due to the near oxygen‐free conditions in the wa‐

ter and high concentration of hydrogen sulphide

However the surface of the timbers was attacked

by cellulose‐degrading and sulphur‐meta‐bolizing

microorganisms After salvage exposure to atmo‐

spheric oxygen initiated a multitude of chemical

reactions threatening the long‐term preserva‐

tion of the ship such as oxidation of sulphur to

sulphuric acid red‐ox reactions of sulphur and

iron compounds from bolts and cargo made of

iron free radical reactions acid hydrolysis and

oxidative degradation reactions of cellulose The

conservation with PEG 1500 and 600 between 1962

and 1979 was followed by an air drying process for

another ten years1

According to Emma Hocker [16 p 4] conservator

at the Vasa Museum the control of the indoor

environment has been a challenge especially

due to the increasing public The museum was

designed as a display case for the ship (figure 3)

with an internal airspace of about 105000 m3 The

original predictions of 600 000 visitors per year

have steadily increased until numbers reached 12

million visitors in 2008 The main reasons are its

value as source of information of a specific con‐

text and timeframe but also the museum market‐

48 e‐conservation

Figure 3 General view of the Vasa Museum Photo by Aringke Eson Lindman copy All r ights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

1 More detailed information can be found on the website of

the Vasa Museum website at http wwwvasamuseetse

enPreservation‐‐Research

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 812

by dehumidifying in advance when potential risks

are detected [16 p 7] Also a new energy‐effect‐

ive halogen‐based lighting system was installed

producing 30 less radiant heat [21]

Since installation the hall climate has stabilised

considerably despite the greater number of visit‐

ors and the outdoor climate (figures 5 and 6) Out‐breaks are not worsening either in coverage or

pH value and the almost 10 RH gradient over

the height of the ship was halved immediately

[16 p 7]

ing strategy and the rise in the number of cruises

with Stockholm as a destination

The museum former climate specifications were

set at 60 RH and 20 degC for summer months and

575 RH and 17 degC in winter to avoid condensa‐

tion in the museum walls [17] equivalent to wood‐

moisture content of 10‐12 Although this system

was sufficient for the winter months [18 p 171]

when there were relatively few visitors during

warm and wet summers the RH rose to over 65

Temperature and RH gradients caused by the build‐

ing height [16 p 5] were accepted as inevitable

but at lower levels [19] the RH at times reached

70 impacting the movement of the wood The

climate system was under‐dimensioned

After a record number of visitors during the rainy

summer of 2000 salt outbreaks were drawn to the

surface Hydrated PEG could have dissolved salts

[20] from the material at high RH and these salts

could have precipitated on the wood surface whenthe PEG was dehydrated at low RH In addition

large fluctuations were recorded near the entrance

to the museum shop and restaurant where un‐

conditioned air could enter without control and

in theviewing galleries at the stern where stronger

lighting and visitors were concentrated [16 pp 5‐

6] It was then decided to reduce the RH from 60

to 55 plusmn 4 and the year‐round temperature to

185 plusmn 15degC equivalent to 10 moisture content in the wood [16 p 6]

In 2004 a new climate system with increased ca‐

pacity and sensitivity was installed in the ship hall

(figure 4) The principle is based on conditioned

air pumped in at low levels rising around the ship

and sucked out through a duct near the ceiling

[18 p 173] providing a protective curtain around

the ship In addition the visitor counter at the

museum entrance was incorporated into thesteer‐

ing parameters This measure allows preparation

49e‐conservation

Figure 4 Current climate‐control system above the ship stern

Photo by Karolina Kristensson copy All rights reserved

Figure 5 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated fromthe climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum betweenthe 16 th of June and the 21st of September 2003 The environ‐mental fluctuationswere remarkable Source the Swedish Na‐

tional Maritime Museums copy All rights reserved

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 912

However this system could operate at maximum

capacity if the museum gives in to the pressure

of the long queues of visitors in peak season and

allows more public at one time Then a stable cli‐

mate could not be guaranteed [16 pp 8‐9]

Conclusions

Ships that have been rescued from the sea are

among the most popular attractions worldwide

making maritime museums highly profitable

The great popularity of these museums ensures

continued funding for research conservation

acquisition and promotes cultural tourism How‐ever it also increases the pressure to allow greater

numbers of visitors making it difficult to maintain

a suitable preventive conservation programme

Large‐scale tourism has a direct negative effect

on museum indoor climate environments It pri‐

marily affects relative humidity causing rapid

fluctuations in short periods of time Variations

in moisture enable the migration of water dis‐

solved oxygen and salts into the PEG and wood

and will initiate different chemical reactions

The general concern nowadays is that the control

of relative humidity and temperature is the most

feasible preventive conservation measure in mu‐

seums with archaeological collections and high

tourism Stabilizing the environment avoiding

damaging extremes and fluctuations and main‐

taining the relative humidity low (around 55)

will help preserve PEG treated marine wooden

artefacts [22]

Every museum should develop an environmental

management programme a carefully elaborated

long‐term maintenance plan This could include

technical aspects such as dealing with monitor‐ing and controlling of the museum environment

and organisational issues such as a visitor man‐

agement plan

Acknowledgments

I wish to acknowledge the Vasa Museum Special

thanks to Emma Hocker for generously giving me

part of her time to share her experience and know‐

ledge

50 e‐conservation

Figure 6 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated from the climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum from the 16 th

of June to the 21st of September 2009 RH and temperature f luctuations were minimized Source the Swedish National MaritimeMuseums copy All rights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1012

51e‐conservation

References

[1] G Thomson The Museum Environment Butter‐

worths London 1981 p 85

[2] S Michalski ldquoTemperature and Relative Humidity

the definition of correctincorrect valuesrdquo in S

Michalski (ed) A Systematic Approach to the Con‐

servation (Care) of Museum Collections Canadian

Conservation Institute Ottawa Ontario 1992 ap‐

pendix D p 2

[3] B Appelbaum Guide to Environmental Protec‐

tion of Collections Sound View Press Boston 1991

[4] V Jessen and C Pearson ldquoEnvironmental con‐

ditions for storage and display of marine f indsrdquo

in C Pearson (ed) Conservation of Marine Ar‐

chaeological Objects Butterworths London

1987

[5] R Harvey and C Freedland ldquoExhibition andStorage of Archaeological woodrdquo in R M Rowell

and R J Barbour (eds) Archaeological Wood Prop‐

erties Chemistry and Preservation American Chem‐

ical Society Washington 1990 p 407 Chapter DOI

101021ba‐1990‐0225ch015 URL

[6] T Nishiura and S Imazu ldquoExperimental study

on the dimensional change of highly degraded wa‐

terlogged wood according to ambient humidity afterpreservation treatmentrdquo in P Hoffmann (ed) Pro‐

ceedings of the 4th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological

Materials Conference Bremerhaven 1990 ICOM

Bremerhaven 1991 p 117

[7] D W Grattan ldquoA Practical Comparative Study of

Treatments for Waterlogged Wood Part II The Effect

of Humidity on Treated Woodrdquo in D W Grattan (ed)

Proceedings of the ICOM Waterlogged Wood Working

Group Conference 15‐18th September 1981 Cana‐

dian Conservation Institute Ottawa ICOM Com‐

mittee for Conservation Waterlogged Wood Work‐ing Group 1982 p 250

[8] M Sandstroumlm Y Fors and I Persson The Vasas

New Battle Sulphur Acid and Iron Vasa Studies 19

The Vasa Museum Stockholm 2003 p 21

[9] D Camuffo R Van Grieken H‐J Busse G

Sturaro A Valentino A Bernardi N Blades D

Shooter K Gysels F Deutsch M Wieser O Kim

and U Ulrych ldquoEnvironmental monitoring in four

European museumsrdquo Atmospheric Environment 35

Supplement No 1 2001 doi101016S1352‐2310

(01)00088‐7 URL also available at URL [pdf]

[10] M Cassar Environmental Management guide‐

lines for museums and galleries Museums amp Galleries

Commission with Routledge London 1995

[11] B Garrod and A Fyall ldquoManaging Heritage

Tourismrdquo Annals of Tourism Research 27(3) 2000

pp 682‐708 doi 101016S0160‐7383(99)00094‐8

URL

[12] M Drdaacutecky T Drdaacutecky D Creighton ldquoImpact

of Cultural Tourism upon the Diversity of Built Her‐

itagerdquo position paper of the PICTURE project Pro‐

active management of the Impact of Cultural Tourism

upon Urban Resources and Economies 2007 avail‐able at URL [pdf] (accessed November 2010)

[13] D Camuffo G Sturaro and A Valentino

ldquoShowcases a really effective mean for protecting

artworksrdquo Thermochimica Acta 365(1‐2) 2000

pp 65‐77 doi101016S0040‐6031(00)00614‐6

URL

[14] M Cassar P Brimblecombe T Nixon C Price

C Sabbioni C Saiz Jimenez and K Van Balen

Technological requirements for solutions in the con‐

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1112

servation and protection of historic monuments and

archaeological remains European Parliament Kirch‐

berg Luxembourg 2001 p 43 available at URL

[pdf] (accessed July 2010)

[15] A Young and M Cassar ldquoIndoor Climate and

Tourism Effects ‐ a UK perspectiverdquo in M Drdaacuteckyacute

(ed) European Research on Cultural Heritage State‐

of‐the‐Art Studies Vol 2 ITAM 2004 Academy of

Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague 2004 pp

405‐412 available at URL [pdf] (accessed August

2010)

[16] E Hocker ldquoMaintaining a Stable Environment

Vasaacutes New Climate‐ Control Systemrdquo Journal of

Preservation Technology 41(2‐3) 2010 available at

URL [pdf] (accessed August 2010)

[17] B Haringfords The climate of the Vasa Museum ndash

problems in coordinating the museum object and

the museum climate 1997 available at URL (ac‐

cessed July 2010)

[18] I Hall Roth and L Malmberg ldquoSave the Vasa‐

An Introductionrdquo in P Hoffmann J A Spriggs K

Straeligtkvern and D Gregory (eds) Proceedings of

the 9th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological Materials

Conference Bremerhaven 2005 ICOM 2005

[19] E Hocker L Dal and F Hocker ldquoUnderstand‐

ing Vasarsquos Salt Problem Documenting the Distribu‐tion of Salt Precipitations on the Swedish Warship

Vasardquo in Proceedings of the 10th ICOM Group on Wet

Organic Archaeological Materials Conference Bremer‐

haven 2008 ICOMRACM Amersfoort 2009 p 479

[20] MN Mortensen H Egsgaard S Hvilsted Y

Shashoua and J Glastrup ldquoCharacterisation of the

polyethylene glycol impregnation of the Swedish

warship Vasa and one of the Danish Skuldelev Viking

shipsrdquo Journal of Archaeological Science 34(8)

2007 p 1217 doi101016jjas200610012 URL

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONESConservator

Cristina Cabello‐Briones is a recent postgraduate

in Preventive Conservation at Northumbria Uni‐

versity (Newcastle UK) Her dissertation assessed

with distinction was about Preventive Conserva‐

tion of Wooden Wreck‐Hulls Retrieved from Un‐

derwater Maritime Environments She is a first

class graduate in the Conservation and Restora‐tion of Cultural Heritage from the Escuela Superi ‐

or de Conservacioacuten y Restauracioacuten de Bienes Cul‐

turales de Madrid (Spain) speciality in paintings

where she studied between 2002 and 2005 In

2008 she completed her second first class BA

degree in the History of Art at the Universidad

Autoacutenoma de Madrid (Spain) Her dissertation

was about Historic Restorations of the Roma‐

nesque Mural Paintings at the National Museumin Catalonia

She has recently been awarded with La Caixa Schol ‐

arship to study a PhD in Conservation in the United

Kingdom commencing in 2011

Her most recent projects include the research of

the improvements to the Tate Galleryrsquos transit

frame wrapping system in order to save on ma‐

terials time and handling of long term collec‐

tion care and the internship at the Reina Sofiacutea

Museum (Madrid Spain) assessing the risks for

cultural artefacts during mounting of exhibitions

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

52 e‐conservation

[21] Personal communication with Emma Hocker

July 2010

[22] Y Fors Sulfur‐Related Conservation Concerns

for Marine Archaeological Wood The Origin Spe‐

cification and Distribution of Accumulated sulfur

with some Remedies for the Vasa Doctoral Thesis

Department of Physical Inorganic and Structural

Chemistry Stockholm University 2008 p 94

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1212

No 18 February 2011

ISSN 1646‐9283

Registration Number 125248

Entidade Reguladora

para a Comunicaccedilatildeo Social

Property e‐conservationline Teodora Poiata

Periodicity Bimonthly

Cover Detail of the Vasa warship the Vasa Museum Stockholm

Photo by Karolina Kristensson

The Swedish National Maritime Museums

Executive Editor Rui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata Anca Nicolaescu

CollaboratorsAna Bidarra

Daniel Cull

Graphic Design and Photography Anca Poiata Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

AddressRua de Santa Catarina nordm 467 4D

4480‐779 Vila do Conde Portugal

wwwe‐conservationlinecom

All correspondence togenerale‐conservationlinecom

LICENCE

Attribution‐Noncommercial‐No Derivative Works 25

Portugal

You are free

to Share to copy distribute and transmit this work

Under the following conditions

AttributionYou must attribute thework in themanner specified

by ourlicence best by linking to CC website

Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial

purposes

No Derivative Works You may not alter transform or build

upon this work

e‐conservationline informs that the published information isbelieved to be true and accurate butcan notaccept any legal

responsibility forany errors or omissions that may occur ormake any warranty for the published material whichis solelythe responsability of their authors

77e‐conservation

Page 8: Cabello, C. Preventive Conserv. Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship. 2011

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 812

by dehumidifying in advance when potential risks

are detected [16 p 7] Also a new energy‐effect‐

ive halogen‐based lighting system was installed

producing 30 less radiant heat [21]

Since installation the hall climate has stabilised

considerably despite the greater number of visit‐

ors and the outdoor climate (figures 5 and 6) Out‐breaks are not worsening either in coverage or

pH value and the almost 10 RH gradient over

the height of the ship was halved immediately

[16 p 7]

ing strategy and the rise in the number of cruises

with Stockholm as a destination

The museum former climate specifications were

set at 60 RH and 20 degC for summer months and

575 RH and 17 degC in winter to avoid condensa‐

tion in the museum walls [17] equivalent to wood‐

moisture content of 10‐12 Although this system

was sufficient for the winter months [18 p 171]

when there were relatively few visitors during

warm and wet summers the RH rose to over 65

Temperature and RH gradients caused by the build‐

ing height [16 p 5] were accepted as inevitable

but at lower levels [19] the RH at times reached

70 impacting the movement of the wood The

climate system was under‐dimensioned

After a record number of visitors during the rainy

summer of 2000 salt outbreaks were drawn to the

surface Hydrated PEG could have dissolved salts

[20] from the material at high RH and these salts

could have precipitated on the wood surface whenthe PEG was dehydrated at low RH In addition

large fluctuations were recorded near the entrance

to the museum shop and restaurant where un‐

conditioned air could enter without control and

in theviewing galleries at the stern where stronger

lighting and visitors were concentrated [16 pp 5‐

6] It was then decided to reduce the RH from 60

to 55 plusmn 4 and the year‐round temperature to

185 plusmn 15degC equivalent to 10 moisture content in the wood [16 p 6]

In 2004 a new climate system with increased ca‐

pacity and sensitivity was installed in the ship hall

(figure 4) The principle is based on conditioned

air pumped in at low levels rising around the ship

and sucked out through a duct near the ceiling

[18 p 173] providing a protective curtain around

the ship In addition the visitor counter at the

museum entrance was incorporated into thesteer‐

ing parameters This measure allows preparation

49e‐conservation

Figure 4 Current climate‐control system above the ship stern

Photo by Karolina Kristensson copy All rights reserved

Figure 5 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated fromthe climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum betweenthe 16 th of June and the 21st of September 2003 The environ‐mental fluctuationswere remarkable Source the Swedish Na‐

tional Maritime Museums copy All rights reserved

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 912

However this system could operate at maximum

capacity if the museum gives in to the pressure

of the long queues of visitors in peak season and

allows more public at one time Then a stable cli‐

mate could not be guaranteed [16 pp 8‐9]

Conclusions

Ships that have been rescued from the sea are

among the most popular attractions worldwide

making maritime museums highly profitable

The great popularity of these museums ensures

continued funding for research conservation

acquisition and promotes cultural tourism How‐ever it also increases the pressure to allow greater

numbers of visitors making it difficult to maintain

a suitable preventive conservation programme

Large‐scale tourism has a direct negative effect

on museum indoor climate environments It pri‐

marily affects relative humidity causing rapid

fluctuations in short periods of time Variations

in moisture enable the migration of water dis‐

solved oxygen and salts into the PEG and wood

and will initiate different chemical reactions

The general concern nowadays is that the control

of relative humidity and temperature is the most

feasible preventive conservation measure in mu‐

seums with archaeological collections and high

tourism Stabilizing the environment avoiding

damaging extremes and fluctuations and main‐

taining the relative humidity low (around 55)

will help preserve PEG treated marine wooden

artefacts [22]

Every museum should develop an environmental

management programme a carefully elaborated

long‐term maintenance plan This could include

technical aspects such as dealing with monitor‐ing and controlling of the museum environment

and organisational issues such as a visitor man‐

agement plan

Acknowledgments

I wish to acknowledge the Vasa Museum Special

thanks to Emma Hocker for generously giving me

part of her time to share her experience and know‐

ledge

50 e‐conservation

Figure 6 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated from the climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum from the 16 th

of June to the 21st of September 2009 RH and temperature f luctuations were minimized Source the Swedish National MaritimeMuseums copy All rights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1012

51e‐conservation

References

[1] G Thomson The Museum Environment Butter‐

worths London 1981 p 85

[2] S Michalski ldquoTemperature and Relative Humidity

the definition of correctincorrect valuesrdquo in S

Michalski (ed) A Systematic Approach to the Con‐

servation (Care) of Museum Collections Canadian

Conservation Institute Ottawa Ontario 1992 ap‐

pendix D p 2

[3] B Appelbaum Guide to Environmental Protec‐

tion of Collections Sound View Press Boston 1991

[4] V Jessen and C Pearson ldquoEnvironmental con‐

ditions for storage and display of marine f indsrdquo

in C Pearson (ed) Conservation of Marine Ar‐

chaeological Objects Butterworths London

1987

[5] R Harvey and C Freedland ldquoExhibition andStorage of Archaeological woodrdquo in R M Rowell

and R J Barbour (eds) Archaeological Wood Prop‐

erties Chemistry and Preservation American Chem‐

ical Society Washington 1990 p 407 Chapter DOI

101021ba‐1990‐0225ch015 URL

[6] T Nishiura and S Imazu ldquoExperimental study

on the dimensional change of highly degraded wa‐

terlogged wood according to ambient humidity afterpreservation treatmentrdquo in P Hoffmann (ed) Pro‐

ceedings of the 4th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological

Materials Conference Bremerhaven 1990 ICOM

Bremerhaven 1991 p 117

[7] D W Grattan ldquoA Practical Comparative Study of

Treatments for Waterlogged Wood Part II The Effect

of Humidity on Treated Woodrdquo in D W Grattan (ed)

Proceedings of the ICOM Waterlogged Wood Working

Group Conference 15‐18th September 1981 Cana‐

dian Conservation Institute Ottawa ICOM Com‐

mittee for Conservation Waterlogged Wood Work‐ing Group 1982 p 250

[8] M Sandstroumlm Y Fors and I Persson The Vasas

New Battle Sulphur Acid and Iron Vasa Studies 19

The Vasa Museum Stockholm 2003 p 21

[9] D Camuffo R Van Grieken H‐J Busse G

Sturaro A Valentino A Bernardi N Blades D

Shooter K Gysels F Deutsch M Wieser O Kim

and U Ulrych ldquoEnvironmental monitoring in four

European museumsrdquo Atmospheric Environment 35

Supplement No 1 2001 doi101016S1352‐2310

(01)00088‐7 URL also available at URL [pdf]

[10] M Cassar Environmental Management guide‐

lines for museums and galleries Museums amp Galleries

Commission with Routledge London 1995

[11] B Garrod and A Fyall ldquoManaging Heritage

Tourismrdquo Annals of Tourism Research 27(3) 2000

pp 682‐708 doi 101016S0160‐7383(99)00094‐8

URL

[12] M Drdaacutecky T Drdaacutecky D Creighton ldquoImpact

of Cultural Tourism upon the Diversity of Built Her‐

itagerdquo position paper of the PICTURE project Pro‐

active management of the Impact of Cultural Tourism

upon Urban Resources and Economies 2007 avail‐able at URL [pdf] (accessed November 2010)

[13] D Camuffo G Sturaro and A Valentino

ldquoShowcases a really effective mean for protecting

artworksrdquo Thermochimica Acta 365(1‐2) 2000

pp 65‐77 doi101016S0040‐6031(00)00614‐6

URL

[14] M Cassar P Brimblecombe T Nixon C Price

C Sabbioni C Saiz Jimenez and K Van Balen

Technological requirements for solutions in the con‐

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1112

servation and protection of historic monuments and

archaeological remains European Parliament Kirch‐

berg Luxembourg 2001 p 43 available at URL

[pdf] (accessed July 2010)

[15] A Young and M Cassar ldquoIndoor Climate and

Tourism Effects ‐ a UK perspectiverdquo in M Drdaacuteckyacute

(ed) European Research on Cultural Heritage State‐

of‐the‐Art Studies Vol 2 ITAM 2004 Academy of

Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague 2004 pp

405‐412 available at URL [pdf] (accessed August

2010)

[16] E Hocker ldquoMaintaining a Stable Environment

Vasaacutes New Climate‐ Control Systemrdquo Journal of

Preservation Technology 41(2‐3) 2010 available at

URL [pdf] (accessed August 2010)

[17] B Haringfords The climate of the Vasa Museum ndash

problems in coordinating the museum object and

the museum climate 1997 available at URL (ac‐

cessed July 2010)

[18] I Hall Roth and L Malmberg ldquoSave the Vasa‐

An Introductionrdquo in P Hoffmann J A Spriggs K

Straeligtkvern and D Gregory (eds) Proceedings of

the 9th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological Materials

Conference Bremerhaven 2005 ICOM 2005

[19] E Hocker L Dal and F Hocker ldquoUnderstand‐

ing Vasarsquos Salt Problem Documenting the Distribu‐tion of Salt Precipitations on the Swedish Warship

Vasardquo in Proceedings of the 10th ICOM Group on Wet

Organic Archaeological Materials Conference Bremer‐

haven 2008 ICOMRACM Amersfoort 2009 p 479

[20] MN Mortensen H Egsgaard S Hvilsted Y

Shashoua and J Glastrup ldquoCharacterisation of the

polyethylene glycol impregnation of the Swedish

warship Vasa and one of the Danish Skuldelev Viking

shipsrdquo Journal of Archaeological Science 34(8)

2007 p 1217 doi101016jjas200610012 URL

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONESConservator

Cristina Cabello‐Briones is a recent postgraduate

in Preventive Conservation at Northumbria Uni‐

versity (Newcastle UK) Her dissertation assessed

with distinction was about Preventive Conserva‐

tion of Wooden Wreck‐Hulls Retrieved from Un‐

derwater Maritime Environments She is a first

class graduate in the Conservation and Restora‐tion of Cultural Heritage from the Escuela Superi ‐

or de Conservacioacuten y Restauracioacuten de Bienes Cul‐

turales de Madrid (Spain) speciality in paintings

where she studied between 2002 and 2005 In

2008 she completed her second first class BA

degree in the History of Art at the Universidad

Autoacutenoma de Madrid (Spain) Her dissertation

was about Historic Restorations of the Roma‐

nesque Mural Paintings at the National Museumin Catalonia

She has recently been awarded with La Caixa Schol ‐

arship to study a PhD in Conservation in the United

Kingdom commencing in 2011

Her most recent projects include the research of

the improvements to the Tate Galleryrsquos transit

frame wrapping system in order to save on ma‐

terials time and handling of long term collec‐

tion care and the internship at the Reina Sofiacutea

Museum (Madrid Spain) assessing the risks for

cultural artefacts during mounting of exhibitions

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

52 e‐conservation

[21] Personal communication with Emma Hocker

July 2010

[22] Y Fors Sulfur‐Related Conservation Concerns

for Marine Archaeological Wood The Origin Spe‐

cification and Distribution of Accumulated sulfur

with some Remedies for the Vasa Doctoral Thesis

Department of Physical Inorganic and Structural

Chemistry Stockholm University 2008 p 94

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1212

No 18 February 2011

ISSN 1646‐9283

Registration Number 125248

Entidade Reguladora

para a Comunicaccedilatildeo Social

Property e‐conservationline Teodora Poiata

Periodicity Bimonthly

Cover Detail of the Vasa warship the Vasa Museum Stockholm

Photo by Karolina Kristensson

The Swedish National Maritime Museums

Executive Editor Rui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata Anca Nicolaescu

CollaboratorsAna Bidarra

Daniel Cull

Graphic Design and Photography Anca Poiata Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

AddressRua de Santa Catarina nordm 467 4D

4480‐779 Vila do Conde Portugal

wwwe‐conservationlinecom

All correspondence togenerale‐conservationlinecom

LICENCE

Attribution‐Noncommercial‐No Derivative Works 25

Portugal

You are free

to Share to copy distribute and transmit this work

Under the following conditions

AttributionYou must attribute thework in themanner specified

by ourlicence best by linking to CC website

Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial

purposes

No Derivative Works You may not alter transform or build

upon this work

e‐conservationline informs that the published information isbelieved to be true and accurate butcan notaccept any legal

responsibility forany errors or omissions that may occur ormake any warranty for the published material whichis solelythe responsability of their authors

77e‐conservation

Page 9: Cabello, C. Preventive Conserv. Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship. 2011

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 912

However this system could operate at maximum

capacity if the museum gives in to the pressure

of the long queues of visitors in peak season and

allows more public at one time Then a stable cli‐

mate could not be guaranteed [16 pp 8‐9]

Conclusions

Ships that have been rescued from the sea are

among the most popular attractions worldwide

making maritime museums highly profitable

The great popularity of these museums ensures

continued funding for research conservation

acquisition and promotes cultural tourism How‐ever it also increases the pressure to allow greater

numbers of visitors making it difficult to maintain

a suitable preventive conservation programme

Large‐scale tourism has a direct negative effect

on museum indoor climate environments It pri‐

marily affects relative humidity causing rapid

fluctuations in short periods of time Variations

in moisture enable the migration of water dis‐

solved oxygen and salts into the PEG and wood

and will initiate different chemical reactions

The general concern nowadays is that the control

of relative humidity and temperature is the most

feasible preventive conservation measure in mu‐

seums with archaeological collections and high

tourism Stabilizing the environment avoiding

damaging extremes and fluctuations and main‐

taining the relative humidity low (around 55)

will help preserve PEG treated marine wooden

artefacts [22]

Every museum should develop an environmental

management programme a carefully elaborated

long‐term maintenance plan This could include

technical aspects such as dealing with monitor‐ing and controlling of the museum environment

and organisational issues such as a visitor man‐

agement plan

Acknowledgments

I wish to acknowledge the Vasa Museum Special

thanks to Emma Hocker for generously giving me

part of her time to share her experience and know‐

ledge

50 e‐conservation

Figure 6 Thermo‐hygrograph chart of the Vasa generated from the climate‐control system data at the Vasa Museum from the 16 th

of June to the 21st of September 2009 RH and temperature f luctuations were minimized Source the Swedish National MaritimeMuseums copy All rights reserved

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1012

51e‐conservation

References

[1] G Thomson The Museum Environment Butter‐

worths London 1981 p 85

[2] S Michalski ldquoTemperature and Relative Humidity

the definition of correctincorrect valuesrdquo in S

Michalski (ed) A Systematic Approach to the Con‐

servation (Care) of Museum Collections Canadian

Conservation Institute Ottawa Ontario 1992 ap‐

pendix D p 2

[3] B Appelbaum Guide to Environmental Protec‐

tion of Collections Sound View Press Boston 1991

[4] V Jessen and C Pearson ldquoEnvironmental con‐

ditions for storage and display of marine f indsrdquo

in C Pearson (ed) Conservation of Marine Ar‐

chaeological Objects Butterworths London

1987

[5] R Harvey and C Freedland ldquoExhibition andStorage of Archaeological woodrdquo in R M Rowell

and R J Barbour (eds) Archaeological Wood Prop‐

erties Chemistry and Preservation American Chem‐

ical Society Washington 1990 p 407 Chapter DOI

101021ba‐1990‐0225ch015 URL

[6] T Nishiura and S Imazu ldquoExperimental study

on the dimensional change of highly degraded wa‐

terlogged wood according to ambient humidity afterpreservation treatmentrdquo in P Hoffmann (ed) Pro‐

ceedings of the 4th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological

Materials Conference Bremerhaven 1990 ICOM

Bremerhaven 1991 p 117

[7] D W Grattan ldquoA Practical Comparative Study of

Treatments for Waterlogged Wood Part II The Effect

of Humidity on Treated Woodrdquo in D W Grattan (ed)

Proceedings of the ICOM Waterlogged Wood Working

Group Conference 15‐18th September 1981 Cana‐

dian Conservation Institute Ottawa ICOM Com‐

mittee for Conservation Waterlogged Wood Work‐ing Group 1982 p 250

[8] M Sandstroumlm Y Fors and I Persson The Vasas

New Battle Sulphur Acid and Iron Vasa Studies 19

The Vasa Museum Stockholm 2003 p 21

[9] D Camuffo R Van Grieken H‐J Busse G

Sturaro A Valentino A Bernardi N Blades D

Shooter K Gysels F Deutsch M Wieser O Kim

and U Ulrych ldquoEnvironmental monitoring in four

European museumsrdquo Atmospheric Environment 35

Supplement No 1 2001 doi101016S1352‐2310

(01)00088‐7 URL also available at URL [pdf]

[10] M Cassar Environmental Management guide‐

lines for museums and galleries Museums amp Galleries

Commission with Routledge London 1995

[11] B Garrod and A Fyall ldquoManaging Heritage

Tourismrdquo Annals of Tourism Research 27(3) 2000

pp 682‐708 doi 101016S0160‐7383(99)00094‐8

URL

[12] M Drdaacutecky T Drdaacutecky D Creighton ldquoImpact

of Cultural Tourism upon the Diversity of Built Her‐

itagerdquo position paper of the PICTURE project Pro‐

active management of the Impact of Cultural Tourism

upon Urban Resources and Economies 2007 avail‐able at URL [pdf] (accessed November 2010)

[13] D Camuffo G Sturaro and A Valentino

ldquoShowcases a really effective mean for protecting

artworksrdquo Thermochimica Acta 365(1‐2) 2000

pp 65‐77 doi101016S0040‐6031(00)00614‐6

URL

[14] M Cassar P Brimblecombe T Nixon C Price

C Sabbioni C Saiz Jimenez and K Van Balen

Technological requirements for solutions in the con‐

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1112

servation and protection of historic monuments and

archaeological remains European Parliament Kirch‐

berg Luxembourg 2001 p 43 available at URL

[pdf] (accessed July 2010)

[15] A Young and M Cassar ldquoIndoor Climate and

Tourism Effects ‐ a UK perspectiverdquo in M Drdaacuteckyacute

(ed) European Research on Cultural Heritage State‐

of‐the‐Art Studies Vol 2 ITAM 2004 Academy of

Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague 2004 pp

405‐412 available at URL [pdf] (accessed August

2010)

[16] E Hocker ldquoMaintaining a Stable Environment

Vasaacutes New Climate‐ Control Systemrdquo Journal of

Preservation Technology 41(2‐3) 2010 available at

URL [pdf] (accessed August 2010)

[17] B Haringfords The climate of the Vasa Museum ndash

problems in coordinating the museum object and

the museum climate 1997 available at URL (ac‐

cessed July 2010)

[18] I Hall Roth and L Malmberg ldquoSave the Vasa‐

An Introductionrdquo in P Hoffmann J A Spriggs K

Straeligtkvern and D Gregory (eds) Proceedings of

the 9th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological Materials

Conference Bremerhaven 2005 ICOM 2005

[19] E Hocker L Dal and F Hocker ldquoUnderstand‐

ing Vasarsquos Salt Problem Documenting the Distribu‐tion of Salt Precipitations on the Swedish Warship

Vasardquo in Proceedings of the 10th ICOM Group on Wet

Organic Archaeological Materials Conference Bremer‐

haven 2008 ICOMRACM Amersfoort 2009 p 479

[20] MN Mortensen H Egsgaard S Hvilsted Y

Shashoua and J Glastrup ldquoCharacterisation of the

polyethylene glycol impregnation of the Swedish

warship Vasa and one of the Danish Skuldelev Viking

shipsrdquo Journal of Archaeological Science 34(8)

2007 p 1217 doi101016jjas200610012 URL

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONESConservator

Cristina Cabello‐Briones is a recent postgraduate

in Preventive Conservation at Northumbria Uni‐

versity (Newcastle UK) Her dissertation assessed

with distinction was about Preventive Conserva‐

tion of Wooden Wreck‐Hulls Retrieved from Un‐

derwater Maritime Environments She is a first

class graduate in the Conservation and Restora‐tion of Cultural Heritage from the Escuela Superi ‐

or de Conservacioacuten y Restauracioacuten de Bienes Cul‐

turales de Madrid (Spain) speciality in paintings

where she studied between 2002 and 2005 In

2008 she completed her second first class BA

degree in the History of Art at the Universidad

Autoacutenoma de Madrid (Spain) Her dissertation

was about Historic Restorations of the Roma‐

nesque Mural Paintings at the National Museumin Catalonia

She has recently been awarded with La Caixa Schol ‐

arship to study a PhD in Conservation in the United

Kingdom commencing in 2011

Her most recent projects include the research of

the improvements to the Tate Galleryrsquos transit

frame wrapping system in order to save on ma‐

terials time and handling of long term collec‐

tion care and the internship at the Reina Sofiacutea

Museum (Madrid Spain) assessing the risks for

cultural artefacts during mounting of exhibitions

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

52 e‐conservation

[21] Personal communication with Emma Hocker

July 2010

[22] Y Fors Sulfur‐Related Conservation Concerns

for Marine Archaeological Wood The Origin Spe‐

cification and Distribution of Accumulated sulfur

with some Remedies for the Vasa Doctoral Thesis

Department of Physical Inorganic and Structural

Chemistry Stockholm University 2008 p 94

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1212

No 18 February 2011

ISSN 1646‐9283

Registration Number 125248

Entidade Reguladora

para a Comunicaccedilatildeo Social

Property e‐conservationline Teodora Poiata

Periodicity Bimonthly

Cover Detail of the Vasa warship the Vasa Museum Stockholm

Photo by Karolina Kristensson

The Swedish National Maritime Museums

Executive Editor Rui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata Anca Nicolaescu

CollaboratorsAna Bidarra

Daniel Cull

Graphic Design and Photography Anca Poiata Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

AddressRua de Santa Catarina nordm 467 4D

4480‐779 Vila do Conde Portugal

wwwe‐conservationlinecom

All correspondence togenerale‐conservationlinecom

LICENCE

Attribution‐Noncommercial‐No Derivative Works 25

Portugal

You are free

to Share to copy distribute and transmit this work

Under the following conditions

AttributionYou must attribute thework in themanner specified

by ourlicence best by linking to CC website

Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial

purposes

No Derivative Works You may not alter transform or build

upon this work

e‐conservationline informs that the published information isbelieved to be true and accurate butcan notaccept any legal

responsibility forany errors or omissions that may occur ormake any warranty for the published material whichis solelythe responsability of their authors

77e‐conservation

Page 10: Cabello, C. Preventive Conserv. Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship. 2011

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1012

51e‐conservation

References

[1] G Thomson The Museum Environment Butter‐

worths London 1981 p 85

[2] S Michalski ldquoTemperature and Relative Humidity

the definition of correctincorrect valuesrdquo in S

Michalski (ed) A Systematic Approach to the Con‐

servation (Care) of Museum Collections Canadian

Conservation Institute Ottawa Ontario 1992 ap‐

pendix D p 2

[3] B Appelbaum Guide to Environmental Protec‐

tion of Collections Sound View Press Boston 1991

[4] V Jessen and C Pearson ldquoEnvironmental con‐

ditions for storage and display of marine f indsrdquo

in C Pearson (ed) Conservation of Marine Ar‐

chaeological Objects Butterworths London

1987

[5] R Harvey and C Freedland ldquoExhibition andStorage of Archaeological woodrdquo in R M Rowell

and R J Barbour (eds) Archaeological Wood Prop‐

erties Chemistry and Preservation American Chem‐

ical Society Washington 1990 p 407 Chapter DOI

101021ba‐1990‐0225ch015 URL

[6] T Nishiura and S Imazu ldquoExperimental study

on the dimensional change of highly degraded wa‐

terlogged wood according to ambient humidity afterpreservation treatmentrdquo in P Hoffmann (ed) Pro‐

ceedings of the 4th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological

Materials Conference Bremerhaven 1990 ICOM

Bremerhaven 1991 p 117

[7] D W Grattan ldquoA Practical Comparative Study of

Treatments for Waterlogged Wood Part II The Effect

of Humidity on Treated Woodrdquo in D W Grattan (ed)

Proceedings of the ICOM Waterlogged Wood Working

Group Conference 15‐18th September 1981 Cana‐

dian Conservation Institute Ottawa ICOM Com‐

mittee for Conservation Waterlogged Wood Work‐ing Group 1982 p 250

[8] M Sandstroumlm Y Fors and I Persson The Vasas

New Battle Sulphur Acid and Iron Vasa Studies 19

The Vasa Museum Stockholm 2003 p 21

[9] D Camuffo R Van Grieken H‐J Busse G

Sturaro A Valentino A Bernardi N Blades D

Shooter K Gysels F Deutsch M Wieser O Kim

and U Ulrych ldquoEnvironmental monitoring in four

European museumsrdquo Atmospheric Environment 35

Supplement No 1 2001 doi101016S1352‐2310

(01)00088‐7 URL also available at URL [pdf]

[10] M Cassar Environmental Management guide‐

lines for museums and galleries Museums amp Galleries

Commission with Routledge London 1995

[11] B Garrod and A Fyall ldquoManaging Heritage

Tourismrdquo Annals of Tourism Research 27(3) 2000

pp 682‐708 doi 101016S0160‐7383(99)00094‐8

URL

[12] M Drdaacutecky T Drdaacutecky D Creighton ldquoImpact

of Cultural Tourism upon the Diversity of Built Her‐

itagerdquo position paper of the PICTURE project Pro‐

active management of the Impact of Cultural Tourism

upon Urban Resources and Economies 2007 avail‐able at URL [pdf] (accessed November 2010)

[13] D Camuffo G Sturaro and A Valentino

ldquoShowcases a really effective mean for protecting

artworksrdquo Thermochimica Acta 365(1‐2) 2000

pp 65‐77 doi101016S0040‐6031(00)00614‐6

URL

[14] M Cassar P Brimblecombe T Nixon C Price

C Sabbioni C Saiz Jimenez and K Van Balen

Technological requirements for solutions in the con‐

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1112

servation and protection of historic monuments and

archaeological remains European Parliament Kirch‐

berg Luxembourg 2001 p 43 available at URL

[pdf] (accessed July 2010)

[15] A Young and M Cassar ldquoIndoor Climate and

Tourism Effects ‐ a UK perspectiverdquo in M Drdaacuteckyacute

(ed) European Research on Cultural Heritage State‐

of‐the‐Art Studies Vol 2 ITAM 2004 Academy of

Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague 2004 pp

405‐412 available at URL [pdf] (accessed August

2010)

[16] E Hocker ldquoMaintaining a Stable Environment

Vasaacutes New Climate‐ Control Systemrdquo Journal of

Preservation Technology 41(2‐3) 2010 available at

URL [pdf] (accessed August 2010)

[17] B Haringfords The climate of the Vasa Museum ndash

problems in coordinating the museum object and

the museum climate 1997 available at URL (ac‐

cessed July 2010)

[18] I Hall Roth and L Malmberg ldquoSave the Vasa‐

An Introductionrdquo in P Hoffmann J A Spriggs K

Straeligtkvern and D Gregory (eds) Proceedings of

the 9th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological Materials

Conference Bremerhaven 2005 ICOM 2005

[19] E Hocker L Dal and F Hocker ldquoUnderstand‐

ing Vasarsquos Salt Problem Documenting the Distribu‐tion of Salt Precipitations on the Swedish Warship

Vasardquo in Proceedings of the 10th ICOM Group on Wet

Organic Archaeological Materials Conference Bremer‐

haven 2008 ICOMRACM Amersfoort 2009 p 479

[20] MN Mortensen H Egsgaard S Hvilsted Y

Shashoua and J Glastrup ldquoCharacterisation of the

polyethylene glycol impregnation of the Swedish

warship Vasa and one of the Danish Skuldelev Viking

shipsrdquo Journal of Archaeological Science 34(8)

2007 p 1217 doi101016jjas200610012 URL

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONESConservator

Cristina Cabello‐Briones is a recent postgraduate

in Preventive Conservation at Northumbria Uni‐

versity (Newcastle UK) Her dissertation assessed

with distinction was about Preventive Conserva‐

tion of Wooden Wreck‐Hulls Retrieved from Un‐

derwater Maritime Environments She is a first

class graduate in the Conservation and Restora‐tion of Cultural Heritage from the Escuela Superi ‐

or de Conservacioacuten y Restauracioacuten de Bienes Cul‐

turales de Madrid (Spain) speciality in paintings

where she studied between 2002 and 2005 In

2008 she completed her second first class BA

degree in the History of Art at the Universidad

Autoacutenoma de Madrid (Spain) Her dissertation

was about Historic Restorations of the Roma‐

nesque Mural Paintings at the National Museumin Catalonia

She has recently been awarded with La Caixa Schol ‐

arship to study a PhD in Conservation in the United

Kingdom commencing in 2011

Her most recent projects include the research of

the improvements to the Tate Galleryrsquos transit

frame wrapping system in order to save on ma‐

terials time and handling of long term collec‐

tion care and the internship at the Reina Sofiacutea

Museum (Madrid Spain) assessing the risks for

cultural artefacts during mounting of exhibitions

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

52 e‐conservation

[21] Personal communication with Emma Hocker

July 2010

[22] Y Fors Sulfur‐Related Conservation Concerns

for Marine Archaeological Wood The Origin Spe‐

cification and Distribution of Accumulated sulfur

with some Remedies for the Vasa Doctoral Thesis

Department of Physical Inorganic and Structural

Chemistry Stockholm University 2008 p 94

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1212

No 18 February 2011

ISSN 1646‐9283

Registration Number 125248

Entidade Reguladora

para a Comunicaccedilatildeo Social

Property e‐conservationline Teodora Poiata

Periodicity Bimonthly

Cover Detail of the Vasa warship the Vasa Museum Stockholm

Photo by Karolina Kristensson

The Swedish National Maritime Museums

Executive Editor Rui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata Anca Nicolaescu

CollaboratorsAna Bidarra

Daniel Cull

Graphic Design and Photography Anca Poiata Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

AddressRua de Santa Catarina nordm 467 4D

4480‐779 Vila do Conde Portugal

wwwe‐conservationlinecom

All correspondence togenerale‐conservationlinecom

LICENCE

Attribution‐Noncommercial‐No Derivative Works 25

Portugal

You are free

to Share to copy distribute and transmit this work

Under the following conditions

AttributionYou must attribute thework in themanner specified

by ourlicence best by linking to CC website

Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial

purposes

No Derivative Works You may not alter transform or build

upon this work

e‐conservationline informs that the published information isbelieved to be true and accurate butcan notaccept any legal

responsibility forany errors or omissions that may occur ormake any warranty for the published material whichis solelythe responsability of their authors

77e‐conservation

Page 11: Cabello, C. Preventive Conserv. Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship. 2011

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1112

servation and protection of historic monuments and

archaeological remains European Parliament Kirch‐

berg Luxembourg 2001 p 43 available at URL

[pdf] (accessed July 2010)

[15] A Young and M Cassar ldquoIndoor Climate and

Tourism Effects ‐ a UK perspectiverdquo in M Drdaacuteckyacute

(ed) European Research on Cultural Heritage State‐

of‐the‐Art Studies Vol 2 ITAM 2004 Academy of

Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague 2004 pp

405‐412 available at URL [pdf] (accessed August

2010)

[16] E Hocker ldquoMaintaining a Stable Environment

Vasaacutes New Climate‐ Control Systemrdquo Journal of

Preservation Technology 41(2‐3) 2010 available at

URL [pdf] (accessed August 2010)

[17] B Haringfords The climate of the Vasa Museum ndash

problems in coordinating the museum object and

the museum climate 1997 available at URL (ac‐

cessed July 2010)

[18] I Hall Roth and L Malmberg ldquoSave the Vasa‐

An Introductionrdquo in P Hoffmann J A Spriggs K

Straeligtkvern and D Gregory (eds) Proceedings of

the 9th ICOM Group on Wet Archaeological Materials

Conference Bremerhaven 2005 ICOM 2005

[19] E Hocker L Dal and F Hocker ldquoUnderstand‐

ing Vasarsquos Salt Problem Documenting the Distribu‐tion of Salt Precipitations on the Swedish Warship

Vasardquo in Proceedings of the 10th ICOM Group on Wet

Organic Archaeological Materials Conference Bremer‐

haven 2008 ICOMRACM Amersfoort 2009 p 479

[20] MN Mortensen H Egsgaard S Hvilsted Y

Shashoua and J Glastrup ldquoCharacterisation of the

polyethylene glycol impregnation of the Swedish

warship Vasa and one of the Danish Skuldelev Viking

shipsrdquo Journal of Archaeological Science 34(8)

2007 p 1217 doi101016jjas200610012 URL

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONESConservator

Cristina Cabello‐Briones is a recent postgraduate

in Preventive Conservation at Northumbria Uni‐

versity (Newcastle UK) Her dissertation assessed

with distinction was about Preventive Conserva‐

tion of Wooden Wreck‐Hulls Retrieved from Un‐

derwater Maritime Environments She is a first

class graduate in the Conservation and Restora‐tion of Cultural Heritage from the Escuela Superi ‐

or de Conservacioacuten y Restauracioacuten de Bienes Cul‐

turales de Madrid (Spain) speciality in paintings

where she studied between 2002 and 2005 In

2008 she completed her second first class BA

degree in the History of Art at the Universidad

Autoacutenoma de Madrid (Spain) Her dissertation

was about Historic Restorations of the Roma‐

nesque Mural Paintings at the National Museumin Catalonia

She has recently been awarded with La Caixa Schol ‐

arship to study a PhD in Conservation in the United

Kingdom commencing in 2011

Her most recent projects include the research of

the improvements to the Tate Galleryrsquos transit

frame wrapping system in order to save on ma‐

terials time and handling of long term collec‐

tion care and the internship at the Reina Sofiacutea

Museum (Madrid Spain) assessing the risks for

cultural artefacts during mounting of exhibitions

CRISTINA CABELLO‐BRIONES

52 e‐conservation

[21] Personal communication with Emma Hocker

July 2010

[22] Y Fors Sulfur‐Related Conservation Concerns

for Marine Archaeological Wood The Origin Spe‐

cification and Distribution of Accumulated sulfur

with some Remedies for the Vasa Doctoral Thesis

Department of Physical Inorganic and Structural

Chemistry Stockholm University 2008 p 94

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1212

No 18 February 2011

ISSN 1646‐9283

Registration Number 125248

Entidade Reguladora

para a Comunicaccedilatildeo Social

Property e‐conservationline Teodora Poiata

Periodicity Bimonthly

Cover Detail of the Vasa warship the Vasa Museum Stockholm

Photo by Karolina Kristensson

The Swedish National Maritime Museums

Executive Editor Rui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata Anca Nicolaescu

CollaboratorsAna Bidarra

Daniel Cull

Graphic Design and Photography Anca Poiata Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

AddressRua de Santa Catarina nordm 467 4D

4480‐779 Vila do Conde Portugal

wwwe‐conservationlinecom

All correspondence togenerale‐conservationlinecom

LICENCE

Attribution‐Noncommercial‐No Derivative Works 25

Portugal

You are free

to Share to copy distribute and transmit this work

Under the following conditions

AttributionYou must attribute thework in themanner specified

by ourlicence best by linking to CC website

Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial

purposes

No Derivative Works You may not alter transform or build

upon this work

e‐conservationline informs that the published information isbelieved to be true and accurate butcan notaccept any legal

responsibility forany errors or omissions that may occur ormake any warranty for the published material whichis solelythe responsability of their authors

77e‐conservation

Page 12: Cabello, C. Preventive Conserv. Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship. 2011

872019 Cabello C Preventive Conserv Archaeological Wood Vasa Warship 2011

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcabello-c-preventive-conserv-archaeological-wood-vasa-warship-2011 1212

No 18 February 2011

ISSN 1646‐9283

Registration Number 125248

Entidade Reguladora

para a Comunicaccedilatildeo Social

Property e‐conservationline Teodora Poiata

Periodicity Bimonthly

Cover Detail of the Vasa warship the Vasa Museum Stockholm

Photo by Karolina Kristensson

The Swedish National Maritime Museums

Executive Editor Rui Bordalo

EditorsTeodora Poiata Anca Nicolaescu

CollaboratorsAna Bidarra

Daniel Cull

Graphic Design and Photography Anca Poiata Radu Matase

ExecutionTeodora Poiata

AddressRua de Santa Catarina nordm 467 4D

4480‐779 Vila do Conde Portugal

wwwe‐conservationlinecom

All correspondence togenerale‐conservationlinecom

LICENCE

Attribution‐Noncommercial‐No Derivative Works 25

Portugal

You are free

to Share to copy distribute and transmit this work

Under the following conditions

AttributionYou must attribute thework in themanner specified

by ourlicence best by linking to CC website

Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial

purposes

No Derivative Works You may not alter transform or build

upon this work

e‐conservationline informs that the published information isbelieved to be true and accurate butcan notaccept any legal

responsibility forany errors or omissions that may occur ormake any warranty for the published material whichis solelythe responsability of their authors

77e‐conservation