Assessment of the preservation of the timber flooring of the 12th-century homestead from the Troitsky excavation (Veliky Novgorod). Recommendations for conservation

This work is devoted to the study of the degree of preservation of the timber flooring of the 12th century homestead from the Troitsky excavation (Veliky Novgorod) and the development of methodological recommendations for its conservation. For more than 20 years, the Laboratory of Chemical and Technological Research of the State Research Institute for Conservation has been working on preservation of archaeological objects made of wood. Based on the world experience and knowledge accumulated in the field of preservation of archaeological artifacts, as well as laboratory research and practical work on objects, our laboratory has developed methodological foundations for conservation, both for a specific archaeological object and for a series of objects made of wood. A change in the density and, accordingly, the strength of archaeological wood compared to healthy wood of the same breed is the most acceptable criterion for assessing the degree of its destruction. The destruction of wood extracted from water or wet soil usually occurs in the upper layers, deeper ones are healthy wood that does not require strengthening. Therefore, the assessment of the "degree of degradation" of wood by the depth of the massif provides the most objective data for the development of methodological recommendations for its conservation. The archaeological objects of the flooring selected for conservation are presented mainly in the form of a hump, peeled from the bark. It has been experimentally proven that different amounts of consolidant are required to strengthen the opposite sides of the hump. According to the data 43 obtained, the optimal amount of it was calculated, taking into account the depth and degree of destruction of the wood. This article describes in detail the choice of a consolidant, methods of impregnation, drying and control of the conservation process. The final stage of the research work was the creation of recommendations for carrying out technological operations for the conservation of archaeological timber flooring of a 12th century homestead from the Troitsky excavation (Veliky Novgorod).