An adaptive workflow for the anatomical identification of severely degraded carbonised archaeological wood from waterlogged deposits

Balzano, Angela (author), Krže, Luka (author), Novšak, Matjaž (author), Merela, Maks (author)

Severely degraded and carbonised archaeological wood recovered from waterlogged deposits presents major challenges for anatomical identification because long-term burial may preserve organic material while also producing structural collapse, heterogeneous alteration, and strongly contrasting mechanical properties. This case study evaluates an adaptive decision-making workflow that combines gradual dehydration and extended paraffin processing, preservation of anatomical orientation, trial microtome sectioning, and block-face examination. Six fragments were recovered from Early Medieval pit features at Babinci in northeastern Slovenia; six specimens were processed for detailed anatomical analysis. One specimen yielded diagnostically usable transverse, radial, and tangential thin sections and was identified as Populus sp. The other specimens did not yield diagnostically usable transverse thin sections and were identified as Quercus sp. primarily from trimmed block faces. Paraffin embedding improved handling and block-face preparation. The contribution is therefore a transparent workflow for switching between complementary analytical routes according to specimen behaviour.

• Language: English
• Keywords: severely degraded archaeological wood, carbonised wood, waterlogged deposits, paraffin embedding, block-face trimming, anatomical identification, wood anatomy, histological preparation, Quercus, Populus
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 1-12
• Numbering: Vol. 9, iss. 8, [article no.] 300
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-185411
• UDC: 630*1
• ISSN on article: 2571-9408
• DOI: 10.3390/heritage9080300
• COBISS.SI-ID: 286802435
• Publication date in RUL: 04.08.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Heritage
• Shortened title: Heritage
• Publisher: MDPI AG
• ISSN: 2571-9408
• COBISS.SI-ID: 1538164675

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: močno degradiran arheološki les, karboniziran les, z vodo prepojena nahajališča, vgradnja v parafin, obrezovanje površine bloka, anatomska identifikacija, anatomija lesa, histološka priprava, hrast, topol

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P4-0015
• Name: Les in lignocelulozni kompoziti