Proceedings e report - Firenze University Press

THE WRECK OF VROUW MARIA - CURRENT SITUATION AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES
and time-consuming process no doubt. Research is needed, but even so this option seems more
realistic than the aquarium plan.
Not raising the hull but protecting it in situ and excavating the artifacts could be initiated by the high
historical and artistic values of the contents of the hold, especially the art objects. Starting such a
project for the sake of raising something as delicate as the paintings, which most likely have not
survived well or at all, would definitely call for a thorough ethical debate. Nevertheless, it has to be
done properly fulfilling all the archaeological standards and securing full conservation resources. In
practical view, bringing up individual artifacts rather than whole wreck would certainly be easier.
Generally, whatever is decided to be done, the costs will be great, especially if the wreck is raised, in
which case they will be enormous, both in the beginning and during the coming decades. The time
perspective is very important. Problems will follow if funding and personnel are not secured for many
decades. This would also be an international project, and negotiations for collaborations with
Russians are currently taking place. What happens now largely depends on resources available, and for
now this issue – which in the end is the vital one – unfortunately remains unclear.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the following for valuable discussions concerning the conservation challenges of
Vrouw Maria: Ulla Klemelä, Ian MacLeod, Paul Mardikian, Mark Jones, Emma Hocker, Martijn
Manders, Christopher Dobbs.
References
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10. See the recent doctoral theses: Fors, Y. (2008): “Sulfur-Related Conservation Concerns for
Marine Archaeological wood”. PhD thesis. Department of Physical, Inorganic and Structural
Chemistry. Stockholm University -.Almkvist, G (2008). “The Chemistry of the Vasa”. PhD
thesis. Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Science, Department of Chemistry.
University of Uppsala.
11. Gregory, D., Matthiesen, H. (2006): In-situ Preservation of Waterlogged Archaeological sites.
in Conservation Science – Heritage Materials. May, E.; Jones, M. (Eds). RSC Publishing,
Cambridge UK. 309-329.
12. Hietala, R. et al (2004): The Physical and Chemical Measurements at the Vrouw Maria Wreck
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on-line: http://www.nba.fi/internat/moss/download/final_report.pdf )
13-15. Kinnunen, V. (2008): Vrouw Maria hylyltä kesällä 2007 nostetun puunäytteen kunnon ja puun
hajottajamikrobien tutkimus sekä puun alkuaineanalyysi. Master’s thesis, Department of
Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki.
16. Palma, P. (2004): Final Report for the Monitoring Theme of the MOSS Project. in MOSS
project Final Report. pp 32-36. ( http://www.nba.fi/internat/moss/download/final_report.pdf )
17. See Bjordal, C., Nilsson, T., Petterson, R. (2007): Preservation, storage and display of
waterlogged wood and wrecks in an aquarium: ”Project Aquarius”. Journal of Archaeological
Science 34 (2007) 1169-1177.
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