Page 70 - Manual for Activities directed at the Underwater Cultural Heritage

© K.Vandevors / Onroerend Erfgoed. Post-fieldwork analysis on the Doel Cog, Flemish Cultural Institute, Antwerp, Belgium.
3D measuring of timbers with a 3D recording arm and a real-time control in a Computer-Aided Design or Drawing program (CAD) is developing into a standard for ship-archaeological research. A more or less informal network the Faro-arm / Rhino Archaeology User Group (FRAUG) connects nautical archaeologists applying this technique and provides for mutual assistance.This picture shows a team documenting and analyzing planks from the Doel Cog.
Conservation programme for
artefacts and site
Any recovery of artefacts or other intervention on a site will have implications for site and artefact conservation. Sites and artefacts that have been under water for a long time can deteriorate quickly once they are interfered with. Any equilibrium with the environment that ensures stability will be disturbed. This is true for the site as a whole, but is particularly evident when artefacts are recovered and exposed to dry air. Conservation requires specialized expertise from qualified material conservators.
Therefore, this section of the project design must clearly identify arrangements for conservation treatment of artefacts and site stabilization. For sites with a large and complex collection of artefacts, a field conservation laboratory is advisable. Packaging and safe transportation of the artefacts have to be accounted for and planned. Storage plans should be concerned with practical accessibility of the material for researchers involved in the preparation of the report. Redundancy in the recording process should be ensured from the field work operation to the laboratory. This may involve the use of parallel data logging systems and parallel data storage systems to provide insurance against system failures and information loss. It should also be accompanied by compatibility and clear relational cohesion between all the different types of records, whether field notes, site plans, photographs, drawings, videos etc.
The competent authority has a role in ensuring that planning for the conservation process begins well
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Project Design