Conserving ancient artifacts is a difficult task, and perhaps no one knows this better than the conservators of ancient Egyptian papyrus—the oldest surviving samples of which are almost 5,000 years old. When not stored in a place that’s controlled for temperature and humidity, ancient papyrus can become colonized by fungi species, which deteriorate the organic matter. These fungi can be difficult to remove without further damaging the papyrus. But now a team of researchers primarily based in Egypt have found a way to safely and effectively remove fungus from papyrus,…
