Environmental monitoring of the archaeological deposits at Øvregaten 19, Bergen. Status report III

Abstract

This report contains all the monitoring data collected in the course of three years, from 2013 to May 2016. The deposits had high contents of organic material and high water content before monitoring started. Data showed minimum temperatures close to 0-2°C under winter conditions and maximum temperatures at 14°C during the period from May to September in 2013. In 2014 the minimum temperature increased to 6-7°C and the maximum temperature increased to 17-18°C. Data recorded in 2015 showed minimum temperature 7-9°C and maximum temperature at 16-19°C. The average and median values calculated in 2013 were about 11°C, 13°C in 2014 and 14°C in 2015. High soil moisture was found in all layers, and fluctuated with precipitation. This increased more frequently in 2014 and 2015 under periods with high precipitation. This high precipitation frequency the last two years and infiltration of roof water has decreased the redox potential to more anoxic conditions, which is positive for the preservation of the archaeological remains. The previous status report II, written in 2015, informs that the redox sensor was malfunction because of the great curve drop in 2014 for sensors in layer 2 and 3. In 2015, the redox sensors all show more stable conditions of -400, -311 to -11 mV in layers 2, 3 and 4.