The degradation characteristics of waterlogged archaeological compression wood excavated in South Korea were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Degradation of Pinus compression wood occurred mainly in the inner part of S2 layer. In contrast, the outer part of S2 layer remained relatively intact. CLSM and TEM showed the erosion type of bacterial attack to be dominant in the secondary cell walls of both severe and mild compression wood. However, in some cases middle lamella was also degraded, which suggests that other forms of microbial attacks, such as bacterial tunnelling, were also present. Bacterial erosion in the severe compression wood was mainly confined to the inner part of S2 layer whereas in the mild compression wood it also extended into outer part of S2 and the S1 layer. The extent of erosion correlated to the differences in the amount and distribution of lignin, particularly in the outer S2 layer between the severe and mild compression wood cells. These features are compared with the degradation of normal Pinus wood.

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