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Informing Conservation: Towards 14C Wiggle-Matching of Short Tree-Ring Sequences from Medieval Buildings in England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2016

A Bayliss ,
P Marshall ,
C Tyers ,
C Bronk Ramsey ,
G Cook ,
S P H T Freeman  and
S Griffiths
A Bayliss
Affiliation:
Historic England, 1 Waterhouse Square, 138-142 Holborn, London, UK
P Marshall*
Affiliation:
Historic England, 1 Waterhouse Square, 138-142 Holborn, London, UK
C Tyers
Affiliation:
Historic England, 1 Waterhouse Square, 138-142 Holborn, London, UK
C Bronk Ramsey
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Dyson Perrins Building, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, UK
G Cook
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, Scotland G75 0QF, UK
S P H T Freeman
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, Scotland G75 0QF, UK
S Griffiths
Affiliation:
University of Central Lancashire, Archaeology, School of Forensic and Applied Sciences, Preston, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Email: peter.marshall@historicengland.org.uk.
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Abstract

This study tested whether accurate dating by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon wiggle-matching of short tree-ring series (~30 annual rings) in the Medieval period could be achieved. Scientific dating plays a central role in the conservation of historic buildings in England. Precise dating helps assess the significance of particular buildings or elements of their fabric, thus allowing us to make informed decisions about their repair and protection. Consequently, considerable weight, both financial and legal, can be attached to the precision and accuracy of this dating. Dendrochronology is the method of choice, but in a proportion of cases this is unable to provide calendar dates. Hence, we would like to be able to use 14C wiggle-matching to provide a comparable level of precision and reliability, particularly on shorter tree-ring sequences (~30 annual growth rings) that up until now would not routinely be sampled. We present the results of AMS wiggle-matching five oak tree-ring sequences, spanning the period covered by the vast majority of surviving Medieval buildings in England (about AD 1180–1540) when currently we have only decadal and bidecadal calibration data.

Keywords

radiocarbon AMS datingMedievaldendrochronologycalibration
Type
Studies of Calibration, Environment, and Soils
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 59 , Special Issue 3: Proceedings of the 22nd International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 2 of 2) , June 2017 , pp. 985 - 1007
Copyright
© 2016 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 2015 Radiocarbon Conference, Dakar, Senegal, 16–20 November 2015

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