Author: Mladen Mustaček, Head of Conservation workshop, ICUA, Croatia SESSION 2 Regional meeting on the implementation and ratification of the 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage in South-East Europe - 30 September – 1 October 2014. Zadar, Croatia DISCLAIMER The ideas and opinions expressed in the above presentations are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout the documents do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city of area or of its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

1. Conservation and Restoration of Underwater Cultural Heritage Mladen Mustaček,, ICUA, Croatia
Regional meeting on the implementation and ratification of the 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage in South-East Europe
Zadar, Croatia, 30 September – 1 October 2014

2. The mission
Undertaking the conservation and restoration of archaeological finds from wet environments and of furthering development and specialization in the field.
- Opening of the Conservation- Restoration workshop In late 2007
- Workshops specialized in the conservation and restoration of artefacts of ceramic, stone, glass and metals, and of wood and other organic materials.

3. - Education projects in the field of the conservation and restoration of underwater archaeological finds
- Introductory and Advanced conservation and restoration courses
- Conservation of underwater archaeological finds, now in its second edition
Based on
-Individualised approach
-Theory and practice
- Participants acquire essential practical experience in independent work on cultural property

4. Conservation-Restauration practice at ICUA
- High standards of the conservation-restoration profession and the ethical principles of ECCO
- Various phases of work in which diverse restoration methods and procedures are applied
Restoration-conservation procedures
•preliminary examination
•desalinization
•cleaning
•consolidation
•fragment joining
•reconstruction
•toning of reconstructed parts
•final protection
•documentation
•recommendations

5. Securing the extraction of artefacts and the transport of finds to the restoration workshop

6. Preliminary examination
-Documentation of the condition as found
-Visual and microscopic inspection
-X-ray imaging
-Instrumental measurements
-Laboratory analysis.
- Precise plan of the required conservation- restoration interventions.

7. Preliminary cleaning
- Removal of fouling organisms, sandy and organogenic sediments
- Preliminary cleaning of finds shortens the long process of desalination and reduces the possibility of the development of detrimental microorganisms.

8. The contamination of archaeological material with insects and microorganisms
•Biocidal substance
•Solvents (ethanol, aceton)
•Gamma radiation

9. Desalinization
- The extraction of detrimental salts from the structure of archaeological materials
- Lengthy process and, on the average, lasts one year
- Monitoring of the desalination process

10. The removal of corrosive and sedimentary deposits
Methods
•Mechanical
•Chemical
•Electrochemical

11. Consolidation and impregnation
Structural reinforcement and stabilisation of archaeological material and the protection of artefacts from atmospheric influences and handling

12. Reconstruction and toning

13. Work in Progess
Roman Spalatum – (Waterlogged Archaeological Wood)
-150 pieces of waterlogged archaeological wood from the 1st century BCE from the Roman Spalatum locality in Split.
-Impregnation with polyethylene glycol

14. Karlovac wooden boat – 16 st.
Dry Archaeological Wood
The final phase of the conservation and restoration is in progress
We conducted the phases of thorough cleaning, surface and structural consolidation of the wood and the adhesion and reinforcement of fragmented elements.

15. Gnalić – Two 16th Century Iron Anchors
Two iron anchors with a length of 3.5 m and 5 m
A special container has been fabricated for the safe storage and desalination process.
Preparatory work is now in progress for the process of the desalination of the smaller anchor and the fabrication of a container for the larger anchor.
The desalination procedure for these two anchors will be conducted employing the electrolytic reduction method. We expect the completion of these processes in 2016.

16. Gabajeva Greda – 18th Century Wooden Monoxylon
Consolidation and impregnation with polyethylene glycol was conducted on the monoxylon in early 2002.
Adequate storage was not provided for after the interventions, which – over time – led to the bending of the material and the broadening of pre-existing cracks, which has largely impaired the form of the artefact.

17. FUTURE PROJECTS
Two Early Croatian boats of the Condura type from Nin (10th-11th century) Conservation-restoration work on these vessels was conducted in the early 1980s. Detrimental processes have developed in the wooden material over the years such that these vessels are now in an exceptionally poor state of conservation.

18. Conservation study for the conservation and restoration of two Roman period ships found in Pula in early 2013.
These vessels have been dated to the period from the 1st century BCE to the 1st century CE.
Conservation-restoration work on some one hundred organic finds from these ships is in progress at our workshop, including the conservation and restoration of not only wooden material, but also a dozen specimens of leather and rope.

19. •Over the past seven years the Restoration Department has accomplished 150 large- and small-scale conservation-restoration projects in the frame of which over 2,000 various archaeological artefacts from all historical periods have been restored.
•The significant number of accomplished restoration projects and the great interest for the education programmes conducted by the Department confirms the necessity for the existence of a specialised restoration workshop for the treatment of underwater archaeological finds, the work of which constitutes a significant contribution to the protection and preservation of underwater archaeological heritage, and also furthers the development and advancement of this specific area of conservation- restoration activity.