Budapest, October 30, 2007 10:00

This August in a quarry in Bükkábrány staff of Ottó Herman Museum (Miskolc) found eight-million-year-old trees that once formed part of a unique forest of swamp cypresses. The four most intact trunks were successfully transported to Miskolc. A special procedure and circumstances are necessary to save the exceptional finds. Magyar Telekom has contributed HUF 2 million to creating these conditions. T-Mobile’s Communication Director Gabriella Liptay symbolically presented the donation to the Director of Ottó Hermann Museum.

The unique finds are particularly at risk because the trunks have lost part of their cellulose content and consequently also their solidity. Without the necessary restoration work, when the trunks come into contact with the air they dry out rapidly, split into plates and can fall apart. Magyar Telekom’s contribution can help preserve and conserve the original condition of the trees weighing 3.5 tons. As a result, later these valuable finds can be exhibited in a museum to be built for the purpose – Pannon Sea Museum – and made accessible to the public.

A wide consultation about potential solutions for permanently preserving the remains already excavated and transported to the museum was organized by Ottó Hermann Museum (Miskolc), the Hungarian Museum of Natural Sciences and the Ministry of Education and Culture with the involvement of Hungarian and international experts where it was decided that the trees transported to Miskolc would be conserved in a sugar-based solution. This procedure is expected to take several years. The donation significantly contributes to enabling the Museum to start conservation of the trees in a sugar-based solution before the start of winter.