• 15th ICOM-CC WOAM Conference

    15th ICOM-CC WOAM Conference

    15th ICOM-CC Wet Organic Archaeological Materials Conference (WOAM)

    Call for papers

    19th-23rd September, 2022

    Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia


    It is an immense pleasure to announce that the 15th ICOM-CC Wet Organic Archaeological Materials (WOAM) Working Group Interim Meeting will take place on 19th-23rd September, 2022, in Kazan, The Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. 

    Our host is Artyom Silkin, Director of the State Museum-Reserve “Town-Island Sviyazhsk”. 

    The conference venue itself will be the National Library of the Republic of Tatarstan in Kazan (the Library is more easily accessible and has the necessary conference facilities. A visit and tour of the Museum-Reserve will be arranged as part of the conference).

    The conference is for the first time being planned as a hybrid-format: both in-person and virtual attendance will be possible. We have never tried this format before, but hope it will give more colleagues the opportunity to participate. However, Presenters are expected to attend the conference in person. If the Covid-19 situation makes it impossible to meet in person, the conference will be transformed into a fully virtual format. We are however hopeful that the situations will be such that we can meet in-person in 2022 like we usually do.


    The Wet Organic Archaeological Materials Working Group (WOAM) exists to:

    • Disseminate scientific research in the field of wet organic archaeological materials.

    • Promote the application of new materials and technologies for conservation.

    • Investigate new tools for analysis and documentation.

    • Present relevant case studies in the conservation of wet organic archaeological materials.

    • Identify further areas of research.

    • Facilitate networking for future collaborative activities.


    In the Triennial Programme for the 2020-2023 period, ICOM-CC’s Wet Organic Archaeological Materials Working Group (WOAM) has established a particular focus on the following subjects, and papers on these themes are invited:

    • The ethics and practicalities of treating waterlogged materials, especially large structures or large assemblages.

    • In-situ preservation of waterlogged organics.

    • New treatment techniques and continued review of older techniques, such as kauramin, PEG, Sugars, Alum etc.

    • The treatment of composite materials.

    • The treatment of non-wood organics.

    • The display and storage of waterlogged (and previously waterlogged) organics.

    • The role of sulphur and other contaminants in the deterioration of wood and other organics and ways to mitigate these effects.

    • The documentation and characterisation techniques for recording and assessing waterlogged organics.

    • Exploration of different sustainable concepts and methods within our field: for example, comparison of different materials used for impregnation, regeneration/reuse of materials used during treatment, methods used to reduce microbial growth during storage and impregnation of waterlogged organics.

    Although papers and posters addressing these subjects are most welcome, the list is not exclusive. We encourage all original submissions covering topics relevant to the analysis, treatment, study and care of wet organic archaeological materials for consideration. The Working Group particularly encourages research from students and emerging professionals.


    After the conference, papers will be published as post-prints on the ICOM-CC Publications Online Platform as well as on Lulu (www.lulu.com). All authors will be asked to complete and deliver an Author Copyright Agreement to ICOM-CC, before their paper is processed for publication. 


    Abstract submissions for Papers

    We are using the Coms conference management system to facilitate the submission of abstracts and papers and to make it easier to communicate regarding the reviewing and publication of papers. Please submit abstracts for papers to www.conference-service.com/ICOM-CC-WOAM2022 and follow the steps to create an account. They are due by 31st of October, 2021.

    Abstracts should be a minimum of 250 words and a maximum of 500 words. The work must be original and not previously published (ie print published, as a poster, as an internal review report, or online eg youtube). The abstracts must contain the title, author(s) name and contact details as well as the body of the abstract. They should not contain images or graphs.


    Key dates: 

    Call for papers issued on 1st of September 2021. 

    September 10th 2021: Start of abstracts submission. 

    October 31st 2021: Deadline for abstracts submission. 

    December 30th 2021: Authors notified of abstract review decision. 

    April 30st 2022: Deadline for final paper submission. 

    June 15th 2022: Authors notified of final paper review decision.


    Abstract submissions for Posters

    Abstracts for posters should not be submitted yet. 

    The Call for posters will be announced in December 2021. Abstract submission for posters should also be through www.conference-service.com/ICOM-CC-WOAM2022

    Abstracts for posters have the same word limits as for papers, but be aware that the maximum word count for the poster itself is 2000. Again, the work should be original and not published before. 


    We look forward to an interesting and stimulating conference.