Abstract The archaeological site of Biskupin (Poland) is a prehistoric settlement dating to the 8th century BC, situated on a marshy island. Excavations started in 1934 and a considerable number of wooden artifacts were found in the lake water. Unfortunately, during many years of archaeological excavations, wooden remains deposited in the trenches were exposed to degradation and underwent considerable decomposition. Among the main causes of wood degradation, fungi and bacteria were the most destructive ones. The chemical effects induced by fungi and bacteria on wood are not well-known or studied. Here we present the investigation of a set of pine wood samples (Pinus sylvestris) buried in the Biskupin site, with the aim of reproducing the burial conditions of the original archaeological wood. Two monitoring stations (wet peat and lake water) were chosen and the samples were then removed from these burial environments after four and ten years. After removal, the samples were exposed to laboratory-controlled attack by the brown rot fungus Coniophora puteana. The final aim was to evaluate the effects of fungal activity on the wood substrates with different degrees of natural degradation. The study is part of an experiment designed to evaluate the short-term effects of the in situ preservation strategy adopted for the Biskupin archaeological woods. Various techniques were used to assess the physical and chemical degradation of the wood. The morphological changes induced by the exposure to the burial environment and by the action of the fungi were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The chemical state of the wood was evaluated by using infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), analytical pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) and XRD spectroscopy. Fungal action caused the depletion of polysaccharides resulting in mass loss and the FTIR spectra of the wood samples highlighted that cellulose was more degraded with respect to hemicelluloses. This trend correlated with an increase in the relative abundance of furans, which are among the main pyrolysis products of polysaccharides. Fungal attack also induced oxidation of lignin and an increase in the crystallinity index of cellulose, which points towards a preferential metabolisation of amorphous cellulose. The overall results highlighted that the burial in these wet environments caused changes mostly in the hemicelluloses, whereas the fungal attack was mainly directed to cellulose degradation.

中文翻译：

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潮湿环境和褐腐菌 Coniophora puteana 对比斯库平（波兰）考古遗址松木的退化影响

摘要 比斯库平（波兰）考古遗址是一个可追溯到公元前 8 世纪的史前聚居地，位于一个沼泽岛上。1934年开始发掘，在湖水中发现了相当数量的木制文物。不幸的是，在多年的考古发掘中，沉积在战壕中的木质遗骸暴露在外，并经历了相当大的分解。在木材退化的主要原因中，真菌和细菌是最具破坏性的。真菌和细菌对木材引起的化学作用尚不为人所知或研究。在这里，我们介绍了对埋在 Biskupin 遗址的一组松木样本（Pinus sylvestris）的调查，目的是再现原始考古木材的埋藏条件。选择了两个监测站（湿泥炭和湖水），然后在四年和十年后从这些掩埋环境中取出样本。移除后，样品暴露于实验室控制的褐腐真菌 Coniophora puteana 的攻击。最终目的是评估真菌活动对不同程度自然降解的木材基材的影响。该研究是旨在评估 Biskupin 考古木材采用的原位保存策略的短期影响的实验的一部分。使用各种技术来评估木材的物理和化学降解。使用扫描电子显微镜 (SEM) 研究了由暴露于埋葬环境和真菌作用引起的形态变化。通过使用红外光谱 (FTIR)、分析热解结合气相色谱和质谱 (Py-GC/MS) 和 XRD 光谱来评估木材的化学状态。真菌作用导致多糖消耗，导致质量损失，木材样品的 FTIR 光谱强调纤维素比半纤维素降解得更多。这种趋势与呋喃相对丰度的增加有关，呋喃是多糖的主要热解产物。真菌侵袭还诱导木质素氧化和纤维素结晶指数的增加，这表明无定形纤维素的优先代谢。总体结果强调，在这些潮湿环境中的掩埋主要导致半纤维素发生变化，