An Adaptive Workflow for the Anatomical Identification of Severely Degraded Carbonised Archaeological Wood from Waterlogged Deposits

Severely degraded and carbonised archaeological wood recovered from waterlogged deposits presents major challenges for anatomical identification because long-term burial may preserve organic material while also producing structural collapse, heterogeneous alteration, and strongly contrasting mechanical properties. This case study evaluates an adaptive decision-making workflow that combines gradual dehydration and extended paraffin processing, preservation of anatomical orientation, trial microtome sectioning, and block-face examination. Six fragments were recovered from Early Medieval pit features at Babinci in northeastern Slovenia; six specimens were processed for detailed anatomical analysis. One specimen yielded diagnostically usable transverse, radial, and tangential thin sections and was identified as Populus sp. The other specimens did not yield diagnostically usable transverse thin sections and were identified as Quercus sp. primarily from trimmed block faces. Paraffin embedding improved handling and block-face preparation. The contribution is therefore a transparent workflow for switching between complementary analytical routes according to specimen behaviour.