Dewatering a pond to create conditions in which excavation could proceed while maintaining appropriate water levels to prevent the desiccation of the still-buried organic materials required engineering as well as archaeological knowledge.

The pumping systems used to manage water levels in the active excavation area had to be designed not to damage the surrounding material.

The exposed peat had to be kept moist during work to prevent the rapid deterioration that drying would have caused.

Material recovered from the peat could not simply be put in bags and labeled.

Waterlogged organic material requires different conservation treatment from dry archaeological material.

Wet storage of recovered objects had to be maintained until conservation specialists could treat them for long-term preservation.