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To prevent damage from acid and microbes, conservators usually remove water from these artifacts by freeze-drying or using a process that replaces the water with highly pressurized carbon dioxide or a viscous polymer.

The process involves blending three main components -- carbon nanotubes, polyvinyl alcohol and carboxymethyl cellulose -- followed by freeze-drying.

The microbes are also too delicate to survive the freeze-drying process that would make them easier to transport.

Many of the Inca mummies discovered high on Andean mountaintops were preserved by freeze-drying, too.

About £8m has already been spent preserving and restoring the timbers, which has included freeze-drying the wood at the Mary Rose museum in Portsmouth.