La conservación de la madera

Organic materials - wood, textiles and rope - were overwhelmingly used to construct ships and implements in Antiquity. They are often found in extremely dry conditions - or in our case, underwater. Salto de línea When a boat sinks, the wood which is covered by the sand on the sea bed may be conserved. However, the exposed parts will soon be devoured by different organisms or eroded and worn away by sea currents. Buried wood can reach a conservation balance which will preserve it for centuries.Salto de línea When it is extracted by underwater archaeologists, the restoration team must apply the right treatments to avoid its destruction. Freeze-drying or lyophilisation is a special method for eliminating water in organic objects. This dries them while conserving their original colour, shape, structure and texture. The object is put into a chamber and frozen at very low temperatures; then the air is extracted from the chamber to create a vacuum. Salto de línea Over weeks or months, depending on the size of the object, the wood is heated so that the frozen water becomes gas without passing through a liquid state. The vapour produced is removed with a condenser and thus the object is gradually dried without Salto de línea shrinking or warping.Salto de línea