NAS Conservation Course

Both an online and in person conservation course was run by the Nautical Archaeology Society in September and October 2022. The Foundation supported five students to attend the online course, and one to attend the practical session. The course focussed on the conservation oof waterlogged material. The online session included a pre-recorded video to allow attendants to work at their own pace; the live session was held on the 17th September 2022 and was followed by an online quiz.

The course was divided into the six following panels: First aid for underwater finds by Angela Middleton, Sampling and plant remains from wreck sites by Dr. Ruth Pelling, Zooarchaeology by Polydora Baker, Introduction of Material Science in Heritage Science by Francesca Gherardi, and finally, Introduction to maritime conservation and case studies by Angela Middleton. The case studies showcased examples from famous wrecks such as the Uluburun shipwreck, the London wreck, the Rooswijk wreck and many more.

Asmaa Fayed – “The bursary enhanced my basic knowledge of the main procedures I can use in the fieldwork to prevent deterioration of maritime finds from discovery passing by cleaning, handling, packaging, wrapping till deliver it to conservation laboratory.”

Christelle Kabboul – “Being an archaeobotanist in-the-making, usually focusing on analysing charred botanical macro-remains uncovered from land sites, this bursary introduced me to waterlogged plant remains analysis and gave me an insight on how to preserve them. It also widened my scope not only in the archeobotanical field but also the zooarchaeological one, material sciences, and conservation and marine materials.”

Elissa Nader – “The third practical was my favourite, I found the micro-excavation process very soothing and very insightful. I had the chance to be very close to the object and understand its smallest details. It also taught me how to think critically and because it is hard to see what is inside the concretion which was challenging yet very exciting.”

“My skills of the process of conservation for marine finds has extensively increased. I learned how each material reacts when its environment has changed, why this change happens and how we can help this item survive more and what we can learn from them. “

The bursaries were awarded to:

• Asmaa Fayed
• Rawda Abdelhady
• Sami El Jammal
• Reem Nader
• Elissa Nader (attended online and the practical session)