The English warship, the <i>Mary Rose</i>, which sank in 1545 in the English Channel, has been raised and experiments are underway to conserve the waterlogged wooden structure using a mixture of polyethylene glycols of two different molecular weights. After the ship was recovered in 1982, it was moved to dry dock and stabilized by spraying with chilled fresh water containing fungicides and bactericides for at least 20 hours out of every 24, and maintaining conditions of 5°C and 95% relative humidity. Pilot experiments have indicated that impregnation with a low-molecular weight polyethylene glycol followed by one of high molecular weight overcame some of the previous disadvantages of this method. Scaled-up tests have now begun using several combinations of glycols applied to hatchcover planks from the ship. The article also announces the three-day symposium planned by the American Chemical Society at the Los Angeles National Meeting, September 1988, on Archaeological Wood: Properties, chemistry and Preservation. -- AATA