Wood Deterioration by Terrestrial Microorganisms

Pournou, Anastasia

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-46504-9_6

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 103 publications

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“…After an initial rough stage of branch removal, debarking was an important next step in preparing the blank, even for the sections that were not further shaped. Debarking improves handling and flight performance, accelerates the drying process and thus hardening of the tool, and helps prevent insect attack during the use phase [ 74 ]. Like most of the Schöningen wooden tools, the double-pointed stick bears no traces of inner bark and/or cambium.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A double-pointed wooden throwing stick from Schöningen, Germany: Results and new insights from a multianalytical study

et al. 2023

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The site of Schöningen (Germany), dated to ca. 300,000 years ago, yielded the earliest large-scale record of humanly-made wooden tools. These include wooden spears and shorter double-pointed sticks, discovered in association with herbivores that were hunted and butchered along a lakeshore. Wooden tools have not been systematically analysed to the same standard as other Palaeolithic technologies, such as lithic or bone tools. Our multianalytical study includes micro-CT scanning, 3-dimensional microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, supporting a systematic technological and taphonomic analysis, thus setting a new standard for wooden tool analysis. In illustrating the biography of one of Schöningen’s double-pointed sticks, we demonstrate new human behaviours for this time period, including sophisticated woodworking techniques. The hominins selected a spruce branch which they then debarked and shaped into an aerodynamic and ergonomic tool. They likely seasoned the wood to avoid cracking and warping. After a long period of use, it was probably lost while hunting, and was then rapidly buried in mud. Taphonomic alterations include damage from trampling, fungal attack, root damage and compression. Through our detailed analysis we show that Middle Pleistocene humans had a rich awareness of raw material properties, and possessed sophisticated woodworking skills. Alongside new detailed morphometrics of the object, an ethnographic review supports a primary function as a throwing stick for hunting, indicating potential hunting strategies and social contexts including for communal hunts involving children. The Schöningen throwing sticks may have been used to strategically disadvantage larger ungulates, potentially from distances of up to 30 metres. They also demonstrate that the hominins were technologically capable of capturing smaller fast prey and avian fauna, a behaviour evidenced at contemporaneous Middle Pleistocene archaeological sites.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A double-pointed wooden throwing stick from Schöningen, Germany: Results and new insights from a multianalytical study

et al. 2023

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“…It presents well-known biodeterioration problems due to its use in different industries or as a construction material [65]. Wood fungal biodeterioration can be classified as white rot, brown rot (exclusively by Basidiomycota), and soft rot (generally Ascomycota), depending on the produced damages [66,67]. Brown rot fungi feed on cellulose and produce brown pigmentation and structural damage on wood, while white rot fungi also feed on lignin and produce discoloration [68].…”

Section: Fungal Biodeterioration Of Wood On Easel Paintingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eco-Sustainable Approaches to Prevent and/or Eradicate Fungal Biodeterioration on Easel Painting

Sala-Luis,

Oliveira-Urquiri,

Bosch-Roig

et al. 2024

Coatings

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Eliminating and controlling fungal biodeterioration is one of the most important challenges of easel painting conservation. Historically, the pathologies produced by biodeterioration agents had been treated with non-specific products or with biocides specially designed for conservation but risky for human health or the environment due to their toxicity. In recent years, the number of research that studied more respectful solutions for the disinfection of paintings has increased, contributing to society’s efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Here, an overview of the biodeterioration issues of the easel paintings is presented, critically analyzing chemical and eco-sustainable approaches to prevent or eradicate biodeterioration. Concretely, Essential Oils and light radiations are studied in comparison with the most used chemical biocides in the field, including acids, alcohols, and quaternary ammonium salts. This review describes those strategies’ biocidal mechanisms, efficiency, and reported applications in vitro assays on plates, mockups, and real scale. Benefits and drawbacks are evaluated, including workability, easel painting material alterations, health risks, and environmental sustainability. This review shows innovative and eco-friendly methods from an easel painting conservation perspective, detecting its challenges and opportunities to develop biocontrol strategies to substitute traditional chemical products.

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“…In terrestrial environments, the most common wood degraders are wood-decaying fungi: brown-rot, white-rot and soft-rot. They mainly degrade wood carbohydrates but can also decompose lignin (particularly white-rot fungi) [ 14 , 15 ]. In aquatic ecosystems, wood is usually decomposed by soft-rot fungi and bacteria (erosion, tunnelling and cavitation bacteria), which mainly decompose polysaccharides, but tunnelling bacteria can also degrade lignin-rich regions of the cell wall [ 16 , 17 , 18 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Biological and Chemical Degradation on the Properties of Scots Pine Wood—Part I: Chemical Composition and Microstructure of the Cell Wall

et al. 2022

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Research on new conservation treatment for archaeological wood requires large amounts of wooden material. For this purpose, artificial wood degradation (biological—using brown-rot fungus Coniophora puteana, and chemical—using NaOH solution) under laboratory conditions was conducted to obtain an abundance of similar samples that mimic naturally degraded wood and can serve for comparative studies. However, knowledge about its properties is necessary to use this material for further study. In this study, the chemical composition and microstructure of degraded cell walls were investigated using FT-IR, XRD, helium pycnometry and nitrogen absorption methods. The results show that biological degradation caused the loss of hemicelluloses and celluloses, including the reduction in cellulose crystallinity, and led to lignin modification, while chemical degradation mainly depleted the amount of hemicelluloses and lignin, but also affected crystalline cellulose. These changes affected the cell wall microstructure, increasing both surface area and total pore volume. However, the chemical degradation produced a greater number of mesopores of smaller size compared to fungal decomposition. Both degradation processes weakened the cell wall’s mechanical strength, resulting in high shrinkage of degraded wood during air-drying. The results of the study suggest that degraded wood obtained under laboratory conditions can be a useful material for studies on new consolidants for archaeological wood.

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Wood Deterioration by Terrestrial Microorganisms

Cited by 3 publications

References 103 publications

A double-pointed wooden throwing stick from Schöningen, Germany: Results and new insights from a multianalytical study

A double-pointed wooden throwing stick from Schöningen, Germany: Results and new insights from a multianalytical study

Eco-Sustainable Approaches to Prevent and/or Eradicate Fungal Biodeterioration on Easel Painting

Effects of Biological and Chemical Degradation on the Properties of Scots Pine Wood—Part I: Chemical Composition and Microstructure of the Cell Wall

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