The characteristic and irreversible damage which accompanies the unrestrained drying of water degraded wood had proved difficult to treat until the introduction of polyethylene glycol over fifteen years ago. The widespread acceptance of the total bulking and water replacement properties of polyethylene glycol has not always led to successful treatment of swamp wood. An alternative method of wood stabilization is available which is based on the removal of water in saturated wood by its sublimation as ice in vacuum or at atmospheric pressure. Vacuum freeze-drying has been successfully used as a standard treatment for wooden implements from excavations in Papua New Guinea, and in the treatment of 10,000-year-old boomerangs from swamp deposits in South Australia. Author's address: Department of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, Box 4, Canberra A.C.T. 2600, Australia.