The mariners museum will conduct research to develop a new treatment tool to facilitate conservation of waterlogged artifacts

This federal Project Grant award, provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the National Leadership Grants for Museums (CFDA 45.312) program, will support The Mariners Museum in conducting research to develop a new treatment tool to facilitate the conservation of waterlogged organic archaeological artifacts. The $654,308 grant, awarded on September 1, 2024, will enable the museum to address the critical challenge of sulfur contamination in organic materials excavated from underwater sites. The research aims to create a new conservation technique that can remove sulfur from these objects while they are still wet, thereby saving time, money, and energy for conservation laboratories. This project will benefit the underwater archaeology and conservation communities nationally and internationally by providing an innovative solution to preserve rare organic archaeological objects.

Organic archaeological objects are rare, as they rapidly degrade in most environments, and damaging sulfur contamination occurs in organic materials excavated from underwater sites. The new conservation technique developed through this project will remove sulfur from organic excavated objects while the artifacts are still wet and before causing damage to objects. The technique will save time, money, and energy for conservation laboratories, and will benefit underwater archaeology and conservation communities nationally and internationally.