Experimental Treatment Conservation Report of Waterlogged Paper Artifacts from the Brother Jonathan Shipwreck

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

To date, little research has been conducted on the conservation of waterlogged paper due to the typical lack of preservation of thin organic material on shipwrecks. The purpose of this report is to discuss the conservation of waterlogged paper artifacts from Brother Jonathan, a shipwreck sunk in 1865 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. Used to wrap iron tools, the paper had been underwater for 155 years and concreted with corrosion products, severely affecting the structural integrity of the paper while simultaneously preserving it in its hardened state. A number of sequestering and consolidation treatments were selected from the paper conservation literature, tested, and compared with the aim of stabilizing and conserving waterlogged paper from underwater contexts. Ideal treatment methodologies were compared against standards of efficacy and structural integrity, financial feasibility, and reversibility of treatment.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2023 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow