Reasoned use of chemical parameters for the diagnostic evaluation of the state of preservation of waterlogged archaeological wood

► Large number of samples representative of archaeological wood as a material. ► Use of “effective” chemical parameters to assess the wood state of preservation. ► A method to detect eventual incongruence in the raw physical and chemical data. ► Wood lignin is also attacked by biotic agents, which cause its quantitative decrease. ► Decay of wood structural polysaccharides is highly dependent on wood species.