• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.333-343
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• 2018

This study was conducted to evaluate the conservation environment by monitoring temperature and humidity for two years and mapping the remaining pigments of mural paintings to diagnose the conservation state of mural paintings of Royal Tombs in Neungsan-ri. We evaluated the characteristics of condensation in the tomb. Compared with the results of a 2008 survey, we conducted state change of mural paintings in the tomb. The temperature in the main room, which has an annual average soil temperature distribution at 5 m depth in Korea, is maintained at $13{\sim}18^{\circ}C$. The temperature range of the main room was between less than $0.1^{\circ}C$ to $0.5^{\circ}C$, and the diurnal variation of temperature between summer (June to September) and winter (December to January) is the greatest. Condensation is more concentrated in the summer because the outdoor air was typically at higher temperatures than the main room inflows in the tomb. Mapping the remaining pigment composition and particle distribution of mural paintings showed that it was in the range of 36.72~39.53% of the wall area. The pigment range was confirmed to be the same as it was in 2008, through ultraviolet fluorescence reaction and infrared ray investigation. Therefore, the underground environment that receives dew condensation in the summer has been stable since 2008. However, continuous monitoring is needed because the deterioration of mural painting proceeds considerably after excavation and only a small percentage of the pigments survive.