use by museum conservators because of the side effects that may damage
the object or because of safety concerns regarding the use of highly toxic
substances and reactions (chemical or physical) that can affect the painted
wood surface or other associated materials. Alternative strategies that
include changes in atmospheric gases, such as high CO 2 or N 2 environ-
ments and oxygen scavengers, are being used for controlling insect pests
(Daniel, Hanlon, and Maekawa 1993; Gilberg 1989, 1990; Hanlon et al.
1992; Pinniger 1991; Valentin 1993). Additional information on the use of
modified atmospheres to eradicate insect infestations is presented by
Hanlon and Daniel (“Modified Atmosphere Treatments,” herein). Further
testing of various control strategies in different substrates and deterioration
situations is important in determining the most appropriate compounds,
methods, and procedures to use. It is hoped that this review of the causal
agents involved in the biological degradation in wood will serve as a diag-
nostic guide and source of information about the effects that different
fungi and insects have on wooden cultural properties.The author thanks George Bisacca of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, for samples of deteriorated wood from various panel paintings;
Cemal Pulak of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, College Station,
Texas, for samples from the Uluburun shipwreck; Elizabeth Simpson of
the Bard Graduate Center forStudies in the Decorative Arts, New York,
for samples of wood from Tumulus MM, Gordion, Turkey; and Julie Janki
for drawing the illustrations ofwood-boring beetles.Blanchette, R. A.
1990 Delignification by wood-decay fungi. Annual Review of Phytopathology29:381–98.1992 Anatomical responses ofxylem to injury and invasion by fungi. In Defense Mechanisms
of Woody Plants against Fungi,ed. R. A. Blanchette and A. R. Biggs, 76–95. Heidelberg:
Springer-Verlag.Blanchette, R. A., K. R. Cease, A. R. Abad, R. J. Koestler, E. Simpson, and
G. K. Sams
1991 An evaluation of different forms of deterioration found in archaeological wood.
International Biodeterioration28:3–22.Blanchette, R. A., J. E. Haight, R. J. Koestler, P. B. Hatchfield, and D. Arnold
1994 Assessment of deterioration in archaeological wood from ancient Egypt. Journal of the
American Institute ofConservation35:55–70.Blanchette, R. A., and P. Hoffmann
1994 Degradation processes in waterlogged archaeological wood. In Proceedings of the ICOM
Working Group on Wet Organic Archaeological Materials, 9–13 August, Portland, Maine,ed.
P. Hoffman, 111–42. Bremerhaven, Germany: ICOM Committee for Conservation
Working Group on Wet Organic Archaeological Materials.Blanchette, R. A., T. Nilsson, G. Daniel, and A. Abad
1990 Biological degradation of wood. In Archaeological Wood: Properties, Chemistry and
Preservation,ed. R. M. Rowell and R. J. Barbour, 141–74. Advances in Chemistry Series,
no. 225. Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society.Blanchette, R. A., and E. Simpson
1992 Soft rot and wood pseudomorphs in an ancient coffin (700 B.C.) from Tumulus MM at
Gordion, Turkey.International Association ofWood Anatomists Bulletin, n.s., 13:201–13.References
Acknowledgments
66 Blanchette