Supported by:
Maritime Archaeological Association of NZ|
NZ Archaeological Association|
NZ Conservators of Cultural Materials|
ACA NZ Branch Technical Meetings
Dr Ian MacLeod
Fellow, Western Australian Museum
Principal, Heritage Conservation Solutions
Conservation of cultural heritage recovered from terrestrial and marine sites
Our island nations are littered with historic shipwrecks which have been recording the microenvironment of the oceans since 1622 off the Western Australian coast. A study of the layers of decay recorded on degraded metal objects provides climate and corrosion scientists with a unique insight into the changing conditions on the seabed and with data on seawater temperatures.
After 40 years of applied research MacLeod has developed a series of novel conservation treatments which have extended the lives of thousands of artefacts. Overseas projects include in the in-situ conservation of the WWI submarine HMAS AE2, which penetrated the Dardanelles on the first ANZAC Day and so saved the lives of hundreds of New Zealand and Australian troops. Work on early bronze age sites in Turkey has shown that in-situ measurements of pH, voltage and chloride ion activities in soil profiles has enabled prediction of treatment needs of bronze objects recovered from those historic sites