Freezing would be bad as water expands when it freezes, causing damage
to the artifact.
I am not a professional archaeologist, so take anything I say with a
huge grain of salt, but I have always seen "wet" items kept in water
until they can be professionally stabilized.
Mark Branstner wrote:
> Hi,
>
> As you all know, lots of leather is recovered from nineteenth and earlyt
> twentieth century sites e.g., shoe leather, harness, etc. OK, generally
> speaking, if its just fragments or scraps, I have just put it in paper
> bags and let it dry for later processing or curation. However, let's say
> I recover a leather or cloth artifact that seems worthy of more
> extensive long-term storage, curation, restoration or whatever. What
> are reocmmendations for short to medium-term storage of something like a
> damp or waterlogged shoe. Sealed container? Refrigeration? Freezing?
> Thinking about coming out of the field, stabilizing, and holding for
> further work ... Comments or suggestions. Thanks in advance.
>
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