not be conducive to preservation. Ideally these materials are placed on the site
with the minimum amount of disturbance to both site and environment.
Sufficient samples should be placed for long-term monitoring; ideally
50–100 years and with samples sufficient for at least triplicate analysis. To
this end systems have been developed for placing and retrieving wooden and
metal specimens without the need for excavation.
A system designed for placing wooden samples on a site (Figure 2), con-
sists of a carbon fibre pole with a sharpened spike, machined from a solid piece
316 Chapter 12
Figure 2Equipment for placing modern wood samples. The image to the left shows the steel tube
and the carbon fibre pole with mounted specimens. The image to the right shows an
expanded view of the tip of the pole and the arrangement of specimens and PVC spacers