Effectiveness Evaluation of Silicone Oil Emulsion In Situ Polymerization for Dehydration of Waterlogged Wooden Artifacts.

Organosilicon materials have shown potential as dehydration agents for waterlogged wooden artifacts. These materials can polymerize under normal conditions to form polymers with favorable mechanical strength, antibacterial properties, and aging resistance. However, the insolubility of most organosilicon hindered their penetration into waterlogged wood, which may lead to an unwanted cracking.

Large-scale medieval urbanism traced by UAV-lidar in highland Central Asia.

Aerial light detection and ranging (lidar) has emerged as a powerful technology for mapping urban archaeological landscapes, especially where dense vegetation obscures site visibility. More recently, uncrewed aerial vehicle/drone lidar scanning has markedly improved the resolution of three-dimensional point clouds, allowing for the detection of slight traces of structural features at centimetres of detail across large archaeological sites, a method particularly useful in areas such as mountains, where rapid deposition and erosion irregularly bury and expose archaeological remains. Here we present the results of uncrewed aerial vehicle-lidar surveys in Central Asia, conducted at two recently discovered archaeological sites in southeastern Uzbekistan: Tashbulak and Tugunbulak.

Archaeological and molecular evidence for ancient chickens in Central Asia.

The origins and dispersal of the chicken across the ancient world remains one of the most enigmatic questions regarding Eurasian domesticated animals. The lack of agreement concerning timing and centers of origin is due to issues with morphological identifications, a lack of direct dating, and poor preservation of thin, brittle bird bones. Here we show that chickens were widely raised across southern Central Asia from the fourth century BC through medieval periods, likely dispersing along the ancient Silk Road.

Paleolithic occupation of arid Central Asia in the Middle Pleistocene.

Central Asia is positioned at a crossroads linking several zones important to hominin dispersal during the Middle Pleistocene. However, the scarcity of stratified and dated archaeological material and paleoclimate records makes it difficult to understand dispersal and occupation dynamics during this time period, especially in arid zones. Here we compile and analyze paleoclimatic and archaeological data from Pleistocene Central Asia, including examination of a new layer-counted speleothem-based multiproxy record of hydrological changes in southern Uzbekistan at the end of MIS 11.

Non-destructive preservation state estimation of waterlogged archaeological wooden artifacts.

Non-destructive preservation state estimation is an essential prerequisite for the preservation and conservation of waterlogged archaeological wooden artifacts. Herein, Near Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy coupled with orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were applied to assess sixty-four waterlogged archaeological woods collected from seven excavation sites in the period range of 2900 BCE-1912 CE, aiming at developing a non-destructive, accurate and rapid preservation state estimation methodology. The role of non-decayed recent wood of relevant species on preservation state estimation was studied in prior, showing the use of non-decayed recent wood could not improve the predictive ability.

Fungal Community and Biodeterioration Analysis of Hull Wood and Its Storage Environment of the Nanhai No. 1 Shipwreck.

The Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck is a Chinese merchant ship in the Southern Song Dynasty, and now it is stored in a huge enclosed glass warehouse in Maritime Silk Road Museum in Guangdong Province. At present, the hull of the Nanhai No.