part of a “three-pronged” approach to the successfulin situpreservation of an
archaeological site, namely:
(i) environmental monitoring;
(ii) analysis of the deterioration processes of modern materials analogous
to archaeological artefacts; and
(iii) analysis of artefacts to understand the processes of their deterioration
and their future stability.This overall approach will be illustrated with results from the site of Nydam.
4.1 Case Study: In situPreservation of the Site of Nydam
Nydam mose is an 11-hectare water meadow located in Southern Jutland,
Denmark (UTM coordinates are 546620/6090831 ED50 Zone 32). During
the Danish Iron Age it was a shallow freshwater lake into which sacrificial
offerings of military equipment were deposited on at least five different occa-
sions in the period from approximately 200 to 500 AD. Excavations have
taken place on several occasions since 1859, and the latest campaign, from
1989 to 1997, yielded more than 15,000 archaeological artefacts within an
area of only 600 m^2 (Figure 3). Owing to the volume of finds it was decided
in 1997 to stop further excavation campaigns and preserve the site in situ.
318 Chapter 12
Figure 3The range and richness of finds in Nydam. Spears, arrows, swords, shields and
bosses