Conservation Finishing for Archaeological Waterlogged Wood Using Feather Hydrolysate

A novel conservation treatment for archaeological waterlogged woods has been developed using duck feather keratin hydrolysate prepared by degrading and dissolving waste duck feather and down with 1N NaOH at 70oC for 3h. The treatment with increasing a concentration of duck feather keratin hydrolysate in a treatment bath is effective to suppress the shrinkage at drying and to retain the dimension of archaeological waterlogged woods. A slight expansion, however, can be observed for the woods treated with the keratin hydrolysate solution of 40%. In addition, the treatment is also effective for the reinforcement of the cell walls of woods. The molecular weight of duck feather keratin hydrolysate ranges from 1 kDa to 5.7 kDa, and not a small amount of low molecular hydrolysate smaller than 1 kDa is also contained. The enhancement in shrinkproof property and reinforcement of cell walls seems to be brought about by the keratin hydrolysate settled in the cell walls. Furthermore, the treatment does not affect the hues of woods.