The site was discovered in 1977 by amateur scuba divers. During preliminary excavation in the Puck Lagoon, a massive system of timber structures, fascine, and stone as well as earthen embankments scattered over an area of over 12 hectares, were found. Looking at the chronological arrangement of the site, slowly reconstructed on the basis of dendrochronological analyses and supplemented with radiological research, it should be assumed that the northern strip of the construction is a continuation of the quay strengthening construction, the root of a harbour pier. It is probably the earliest stage of the Puck harbour development. Taking both the layout of the construction, working as defences of the swampy alluvial estuary of the Płutnica river, parallel to the present coastline, as well as chronological layout of the stand, which gets younger and younger the closer it gets to the present shore line, it may be assumed that the changes in the location of the port construction were influenced by quite quick deepening of the basin and movement to the south of the medieval shore line.
Changes of physical and chemical properties, mass loss and susceptibility of oak wood to decay caused by Basidiomycetes fungi were assessed after wood samples had been taken out of the sea within the framework of MACHU project. Test samples of oak wood of the dimensions of 250 × 10 × 10 mm were placed in coastal waters of the Baltic Sea at the area of medieval seaport in Puck and in waters of the Gdansk Bay at the same longitude as Orłowo (near the wreck of Swedish warship Solen). The samples taken out of the sea were examined visually and described. Changes in mass of the samples, their bending strength and modulus of elasticity, compression strength along the grain, ability to decay caused by Trametes versicolor fungus, content of mineral substances and substances soluble in water, ethanol-benzene mixture and in 1-percent aqueous solution of NaOH, content of cellulose, lignin and pentosanes as well as pH of the wood were investigated. The properties of samples taken out of the sea after 6 months of immersion were compared with the properties of control twin samples of oak wood which had not been immersed. The results obtained so far indicate that noticeable, measurable changes in oak wood immersed in sea occur already in half a year since immersion, so observation of them may be useful for protection and monitoring of underwater archaeological objects.
The Polish Maritime Museum in Gdansk participated in the EU project MACHU aiming at creation of a system of location, making information on European subaqueous maritime cultural heritage available and dissemination of it. 7 EU countries co-operated in the project. The Wood Technology Institute contributed to research on durability of small oak wood samples submerged in the sea. The samples were considered bioindicator of changes. The outline of research in the project is presented below.
PL
Centralne Muzeum Morskie w Gdańsku uczestniczyło w projekcie UE MACHU zmierzającym do stworzenia systemu lokalizacji, udostępnienia i upowszechnienia informacji o europejskim podwodnym morskim dziedzictwie kulturowym. W projekcie współpracowało 7 krajów UE. Instytut Technologii Drewna wziął udział w pracach w zakresie badań trwałości w warunkach zatopienia w morzu małych próbek drewna dębu traktowanych jako bioindykator zmian. Przedstawiono zarys badań w projekcie.
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