Honestly thought it was overkill but now I get it, that sounds like a game changer.

Did you calibrate the probe against boiling water or just trust it out of the box?

oh man, @skylergrant is totally onto something here. methylcellulose is way less fussy than wheat paste for tricky old materials. definitely worth trying if the hinge is as delicate as you're describing.

Has anyone thought about the actual preservation problems with reburying? Like you dig up a woven basket or a wooden tool and it's been in stable ground for centuries, but now it's exposed to air and light. By the time your study is done, that thing is already rotting away fast in a lab, let alone if you put it back in the dirt where bacteria and moisture will just finish it off. Is reburying really giving it a second life or just letting it crumble back to nothing?

oh wow congrats I just hit #75 myself and its wild how far we come