Characterisation of archaeological wood: A case study on the deterioration of a coffin

An advanced strategy for the improvement of conservation techniques applied to archaeological wood requires a deep insight in its structure. The authors report here a new approach to the structural characterisation of ancient wood. A sample of an ancient Egyptian artefact was studied by means of scanning electron microscopy, quantitation of the residual amount of lignin and carbohydrates. Its residual lignin was isolated and characterised by 31P-, 1H-NMR and 2D-Homonuclear NMR HOHAHA techniques. These analyses allowed the description of structural details of the ancient wood.