| Treatment and analysis | |||||||||
| The ship's timbers were treated using the same technique used for the Viking timbers on display at JORVIK. Large heated and insulated concrete tanks were loaded with several dozen timbers to be treated simultaneously. The tanks were filled with water to which was gradually added a water-soluble waxy polymer called polyethylene glycol (p.e.g.); the concentration of p.e.g. gradually built up over many months. The polymer replaces the water in the degraded wood structure, and the excess water in the tank is gradually lost through evaporation. |
Timbers in treatment tank |
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After 20 months, the boat timbers contained a p.e.g./water concentration of 72%/28%, with a solution temperature of 50°C. At this point they were removed, surface cleaned and allowed to cool and dry. Nowadays, such timbers would be treated using freeze-drying after a much shorter period of tank treatment, a much quicker and more cost-effective process. |
Surface cleaning of the timbers |
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Back to Introduction |
Bringing
it alive  |
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