Degradation assessment of archaeological oak (<i>Quercus</i> spp.) buried under oxygen-limited condition

Abstract The biological deterioration of archaeological wood under oxygen-limited conditions varies due to the limited activities microorganisms. It is essential expand knowledge degradation types and status monuments for selecting proper consolidates. physical, chemical, anatomical properties approximately 600–650 year old oak collected from an site in Iasi-Romania were analysed assess quality identify types. results compared with similar tests on recently-cut oak. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed presence more lignin-related peaks oak, which likely reflected carbohydrates as evidenced by decreased oxygen-to-carbon ratio C ox / non-ox . differences cellulose crystallinity not significant suggesting that any occurred amorphous regions. This was also dynamic water vapor sorption analysis where isotherms hysteresis oaks marginal. Microscopic cells illustrated bacterial patterns, while field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) showed erosion bacteria low oxygen conditions.