Research on Conservation State and Preservation Conditions in Unsaturated Archaeological Deposits in Oslo

Abstract

Archaeological, biological, and geochemical investigations of soil sample series from a section and five boreholes have been studied to evaluate the state of preservation at the time of investigation and the preservation conditions of urban archaeological deposits from medieval Oslo, Norway. Focus has been put on the most fragile deposits in the unsaturated and fluctuation zones. Even with limited investigations, it is possible to assess the archaeological conservation state and the preservation conditions. Further work should focus on interpreting measured results and on mitigation strategies.