The best way to preserve an item?

I have had this on my mind a few times now so I thought I would ask here on ATS. I have some items and drawings etc. I would like to have them preserved over many years, preferably over thousands of years and way beyond my own lifetime. So what are the best options for preserving a group of items, mainly sketchbooks and other small objects?

I'm not a pro at this or have any clue at all, but if i were to guess it would be to submerge in Oil.

reply to post by OwenGP185


Different items can be preserved in different ways. The life of scretchings usually lasts much longer if they were drawn on silk, rice paper, leather or papyrus however it also depends on what medium you used to scretch your drawings.

List your items and I'll advise you what is best for each.

Vacuum sealing can preserve almost anything for an indefinite amount of time.

Air and environmental influence are what deteriorate paper and other sensitive items... but be sure your paper is acid free!

Cheap paper with acid in it will become brittle and fall apart no matter what you do. so get yourself a bag sealer and some good strong plastic. When finished, put it in a metal box and store for future generations

~edit~ I found this for you building a time capsule tips

time capsule preservation of items

This car was preseved very well under a 2 inch concrete base of a cow shed for over 50 years.

just a thought

reply to post by OwenGP185


Well, aluminium decays in 1000 years, you would be able to make your items live up to 3 012 a.d. minimum. Honey lasts pretty long also, it decays in about 2 000 years.
What are these items? What are they made of?

scan all your drawings into a computer, nothing lasts forever but but having a digital copy cant hurt.
but if you want to preserve the paper it's on then you might want to ask an experienced librarian.
as for other items a time capsule buried somewhere that isn't going to be screwed up by population or industry.
good luck with it.

Sorry for the long reply, thanks everyone, some very usefull info. I will deffinitely look into that vacuum sealing idea. To the person who mentioned scanning them, I already save copies to multiple HDD though I suspect electronic devices such as HDD will deteriorate over time. The idea is to create something that exists even after us humans go extinct for whatever reason.

Originally posted by swan001
reply to post by OwenGP185

 

Well, aluminium decays in 1000 years, you would be able to make your items live up to 3 012 a.d. minimum. Honey lasts pretty long also, it decays in about 2 000 years.
What are these items? What are they made of?

At the moment I am only sure about the sketchbooks but I have been thinking about make more sculptural stuff that I can only assume will be made of wood or metals. I just like the thought of leaving something behind that will still be there hundreds of years later. I am also wondering where to place it, I think somewhere at high altitude and away from any urban area might be good place.