584 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1959 
put in a plastic bag and sent to the laboratory where it is preserved 
in alcohol. 
In collecting samples for radiocarbon dating, it is obviously un- 
desirable to take out a thick sample which might comprise a period 
of several hundred years. It is essential, therefore, to take a slice 
of peat as thin as possible, preferably less than 1 cm. thick. In 
order to avoid contamination of these samples by mold or mildew 
they are placed in a drying chamber under controlled heat as soon as 
possible, after which they may be kept for years in well-closed plastic 
bags. 
LABORATORY WORK 
REGISTRATION OF ARTIFACTS AND BONES 
The investigation of the Muldbjerg dwelling place has gone on for 
several years. Usually, the fieldwork was initiated in May—June, 
and often continued until the end of November or even until the 
middle of December (when snow and frost forced an end to it). 
After the return to the laboratory a lot of work had to be done. 
All the bags filled with culture remains were unpacked, the objects 
provided with numbers written with india ink, and the finds com- 
pared with the excavation records. In the laboratory there is more 
leisure for studying the artifacts, and often details are observed which 
have been overlooked during the excavation. In that way the exca- 
vation records may be corrected. 
Many objects are so friable when found that they have to be 
strengthened in various ways. This concerns first of all the potsherds. 
Though a potsherd may appear intact when lying in the peat layer, 
it often falls apart while drying. In such cases it is necessary to 
harden each single bit by means of a plastic-lac. When all the frag- 
ments have been hardened they must be glued together; thus the 
original sherd is restored in a durable way. Frequently bone tools 
and bones are so damaged that they must be strengthened by a 
preparation with plastic-lac or wax. Wooden objects are the most 
difficult to preserve, but in recent years the Department of Preser- 
vation at the Danish National Museum has achieved good results by 
special treatments which make it possible to dry the wood in such a 
way that it does not lose its original shape. 
When all the excavated objects have been examined, prepared, and 
provided with numbers, the worn record books, which are yellow from 
peat litter and stained from rain, can be retyped. In that way rec- 
ords on all the excavated objects are kept in numerical order. In 
this manner it is possible, from the number of an object, to find 
its position and level in the field. However, the information most 
often desired is what has been found along a surveyed section. ‘There- 
fore, it is necessary to make another record of all objects found 
within a given one-quarter square meter. This is done by cutting 
