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Wiggle-Match Dating of Wooden Samples from Iron Age Sites in Northern Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

G Quarta ,
M I Pezzo ,
S Marconi ,
U Tecchiati ,
M D'Elia  and
L Calcagnile
G Quarta*
Affiliation:
CEDAD (Centre for Dating and Diagnostics), Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
M I Pezzo
Affiliation:
Museo Civico di Rovereto, Dendrochronology Laboratory, Rovereto, Italy
S Marconi
Affiliation:
Museo Civico di Rovereto, Dendrochronology Laboratory, Rovereto, Italy
U Tecchiati
Affiliation:
Soprintendenza Provinciale ai Beni Culturali di Bolzano/Bozen/Bozen, Ufficio Beni Archeologici, Bolzano/Bozen, Italy
M D'Elia
Affiliation:
CEDAD (Centre for Dating and Diagnostics), Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
L Calcagnile
Affiliation:
CEDAD (Centre for Dating and Diagnostics), Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
*
Corresponding author. Email: gianluca.quarta@unisalento.it.
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Abstract

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Archaeological excavations carried out at the sites of Laion/Lajen (Bolzano/Bozen) and Stufles-Oberegger (Bressanone/Brixen) in northern Italy uncovered well-preserved wooden samples in cultural layers archaeologically dated to the Iron Age. From the 2 sites, different wooden samples were recovered that were well preserved enough to allow clear identification of the tree species and of the ring structure. Among the different wooden samples, 2 were selected for radiocarbon analyses: from Laion/Lajen, a beam with an unbroken sequence of 158 rings; from Stufles-Oberegger, a combusted trunk with a sequence of 217 rings. Both samples were identified as Larix decidua species. From each sequence, single rings were selected and submitted for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating analysis at CEDAD. Conventional 14C ages were then calibrated to calendar ages using the IntCal04 atmospheric data set, while the statistical constraints resulting from the defined ring sequence were used to develop a wiggle-matching approach by making use of the Bayesian analysis functions available in OxCal. The obtained results are an important contribution in refining the chronology of the studied sites.

Type
Calibration, Data Analysis, and Statistical Methods
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 52 , Issue 3: 20th Int. Radiocarbon Conference Proceedings , 2010 , pp. 915 - 923
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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