2025 Poster Session

Over 20 years since in-situ preservation was established as the first option for managing underwater cultural heritage (UCH) in the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection for the Underwater Cultural Heritage. The principal has found its success in the recent openings of artificial reefs, marine protected areas and archaeological parks across the world. Previous publications have provided comprehensive reviews of managing the UCH by large-scale projects through reburial, excavation or the establishment of the aforementioned designated spaces. However, the detailed description of conservation materials used in preventive or interventive treatment is often neglected in reviews, hindering the exchange of technical knowledge and the development of potential new UCH conservation materials. This research, for the first time, presents a holistic review and catalog of conservation materials involved in the treatment of underwater cultural heritage. Aligning with the authors’ expertise, a material science perspective is taken to carefully evaluate their applicability and effectiveness and enlighten further material development. First, exhaustive literature research is performed using Google Scholar and OpenAlex, considering the search engines' inclusivity. As a specialized field of study, literature regarding underwater cultural heritage is not necessarily published in SCI journals (for which Web of Science search engine is often used) but is more commonly seen in conference proceedings or organizational guidelines. Bibliometric data are analyzed to represent trends in conservation materials seen in preserving underwater cultural heritage and a breakdown of demographics in their development. Yet just literature is far from the full picture of materials that have been used in the field. Experienced practitioners, archaeologists or conservators devote their time to field projects more than writing and publishing papers. Secondly, a series of interviews with UCH experts have been carried out to collect material that they have been empirically using in UCH projects. Questionnaires are being developed based on the first phase interview results to further gather this knowledge in a larger population.  Three types of substrates are focused on in the research: woods, metals and stones, which raise the most concerns during the interviews and represent a significant proportion of UCH. The conservation materials researched fall into three categories based on their function: protective coverings, consolidation agents and chemical degradation inhibitors, such as corrosion inhibitors. For each of these materials, their selection and application are documented and evaluated based on effectiveness, underwater applicability, environmental impact and cost/accessibility. Climate change is posing significant threats to our UCH, through, for example, a rising sea level, ocean acidification and extreme weather events. Contrarily, UCH preservation projects are often operating under a tight budget. This project presents a first attempt to resolve the dilemma by knowledge-sharing, expanding the practitioners’ toolbox with material science-proven options.