Studies of Material Intervention to Conserve the Living Archaeological Site of Shuijingjie Distillery Site in Chengdu, China

The Shuijingjie Distillery site, located in the core urban district of Chengdu, is a historic liquor production site with over 600 years of history. It was designated as a National Monument Site in 2006 and listed as a National Industrial Heritage site in 2019. As part of the site's museum, liquor production remains operational. However, seepage from the fermentation pits has caused significant deterioration, including partial collapses of the earthen walls within the excavation pits. Additional damage to bricks and natural stone has also been observed. This article presents studies stabilizing the archaeological excavation using compatible and reversible materials. To mitigate seepage from the excavation walls, a locally available natural clay with low permeability (2.3–3.8 × 10⁻⁷ cm/s) was identified and tested. The clay was used as an anti-seepage grout material, tested in scaled simulation soil reconstructed in laboratory. Multiple injections of modified clay grouts reduced effectively speed and volume of moisture from simulated reservoir source. This study explores the use of locally sourced, retreatable materials in archaeological site conservation, offering a reference for the preservation of similar sites.