A Method of Embedding Brittle Specimens of Wood for Sectioning

Abstract

GREAT difficulty was encountered in cutting sections from the brittle and often partly carbonized wooden remains found on the sites of Roman and ancient British settlements. The impact of the razor caused instantaneous fragmentation of the sections, and identification became very difficult. A simple embedding material was sought which would penetrate the specimen without difficulty, and which could be cut easily and would prevent the resulting section from crumbling.