Consolidation and dehydration experiments were conducted on ancient water chestnuts excavated from the Tianluoshan site at Yuyao City. Three different treatments were applied, namely using PEG 4000, sorbitol and octadecanol. The treated samples were compared with nontreated samples and were analyzed to find the best conservation method. After treatment, the rates of shrinkage of the ancient water chestnuts decreased notably, while their density and shell integrity increased. On the other hand, their compositions remained almost unchanged. Microscopic examination of crosssection of treated ancient water chestnuts indicated that consolidants had filled in voids in the water chestnut and helped support the cytoderm, therefore keeping the excavated water chestnuts stable. The samples treated by ethanoloctadecanol (first dehydrated with ethanol and then steeped in octadecanol solution) seemed to be best in terms of color and stability, thus this method was considered to be the best of these three studied.