via Wisconsin State Journal, 26 March 2023: Craig Deller, a conservator from Madison, traveled to Southeast Asia in February to help researchers develop a plan designed to preserve the 2,000-year-old wooden coffins discovered in 2016 in a cave near the Myanmar border.
The wood was in the form of 2,000-year-old log coffins discovered in 2016. It’s Deller’s job, working with archeologists from Silpakorn University and conservators from the National Museum of Thailand, to come up with a plan to preserve the 30 coffins and save coffins in other nearby caves in the area of Mae Hong Son, close to the Myanmar border, from further deterioration.
“I’ve been in other caves but nothing like this,” Deller said. “Wonder. Just wonder. I was in awe of what I was in the presence of.”
Deller spent two weeks in Thailand in February with the trip and research work financed through part of a $220,000 U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation grant awarded to Silpakorn University. The fund is designed to foster technical exchanges in wood conservation with American experts and encourage local youths and ethnic communities to be involved with their heritage.
