A five-member team from WP3, including Katharina Fuchs (UAA), Marija Milchin (UAA), Farkas Pintér (UAA), Abdelrhman Fahmy (SPK), and Vincent Thiery (IMT), conducted the final condition assessment for Task 3.1 at the Cimetière Saint Jean in Caen in July/August 2024.

The Cimetière Saint Jean is a small historical cemetery with a few dozen 19th-century graves and crypts, primarily made of porous Caen stone. Now a park in the city center, it has been neglected for a century, resulting in poor preservation of most graves.

The assessment focused on two objects—a small crypt and a gravestone—both made of Caen stone. The team conducted visual inspections and a range of in-situ tests, including contact sponge, Karsten tube, brush test, gloss and color measurements, and ultrasonic velocity. Digital mapping and RTI photography were used to capture the on-site conditions. With Vincent Thiery’s assistance, the team also explored the Normandy region (Caen, Arromanches-les-Bains, Rouen) to gain further insights into the historical use and weathering of Caen stone.