BU Student awarded travel grant to conduct research in Italy

Date: 3 October 2011

Photograph of the transverse section of Scots Pine.

The red arrow points to a sound cell whereas the yellow arrow points to heavily degraded cells. Photograph was kindly provided by C. Capretti of the IVALSA institute in Florence.

Helen Griffiths, a Maritime Archaeology student at BU, has been awarded a travel grant which gave her the fantastic opportunity to study alongside BU guest lecturer Dr Nicola Macchioni at the Council for National Research in Florence.

Helen was awarded the grant by BU after discussing the possibility of working with the Council for National Research with her tutor, Paola Palma. They decided that it would not only be a great experience for Helen, but would also contribute greatly towards her personal research.

The main part of Helen’s training in Italy focused on the bacterial and fungal degradation of waterlogged wood. Whilst this is a prominent feature of Maritime Archaeology Helen states that: “What many people do not understand is that archaeological wood may seem to be sound on the outside, yet can be falling to pieces inside. To be able to save and protect valuable archaeological artefacts, it is vital to understand the internal decay.”

The research Helen undertook involved looking at wood samples from some of Italy’s major Maritime Archaeological sites, and she studied wood from impressive sites such as Pisa, Fiavè and Venice.

She was then able to apply the findings from this analysis to samples from Bournemouth’s major shipwreck project, the Swash Channel Wreck.

This was particularly rewarding for Helen as the main focus of her dissertation will be bacteria and fungal degradation of waterlogged wood, using the Swash Channel Wreck as a Case Study.

Helen says that her work with Dr Macchioni, Dr Chiara Capretti and other specialists in wood anatomy has provided invaluable insight which will feed into her studies at BU. “Now I know more about this kind of work, and have studied both the practical and theory, I can take that knowledge and continue my own research. I learnt an awful lot and only wish I could have stayed longer!” she said.

Dr Capretti, an expert on anatomical characterization of archaeological word, spent a considerable amount of dedication and time with Helen and trained her on the main aspects of wood investigation.

Paola Palma, Programme Coordinator of the MSc in Maritime Archaeology, started the collaborative research project a few years ago with Dr Macchioni. She said “both Dr Macchioni and Dr Capretti have inspired BU students with their highly scientific research investigation of archaeological wet wood during their time as guest lecturers for the MSc in Maritime Archaeology”.

Paola also added “I’m very pleased the collaboration is now offering students unique first hand research experiences, like the one Helen has benefitted from. I hope more students will take advantage of this and other national and international opportunities the MSc Maritime Archaeology course has to offer.”