A review of microbial deterioration found in archaeological wood from different environments

Wooden cultural properties are degraded by microorganisms when moisture, oxygen and other environmental factors are favorable for microbial growth. Archaeological woods recovered from most environments, even those that are extreme suffer from some form of biodeterioration. This review provides a summary of wood degradation caused by fungi and bacteria and also describes specific degradation found in archaeological wood from a variety of different terrestrial and aquatic environments. These include woods from several ancient Egyptian tombs (4000 BC to 200 AD); an 8th century BC tomb found in Tumulus MM at Gordion, Turkey; Anasazi great houses (1000 AD) from the southwestern United States, waterlogged woods (100-200 BC) from the Goldcliff intertidal site, Wales, United Kingdom; and the late Bronze Age Uluburun shipwreck found off the coast of Turkey. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.