Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Dendrochronological dating of wooden artifacts by measuring the tree rings using magnifying glass and photography-assisted method: an example of a Dutch panel painting

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Dendrochronology, an analysis of tree rings, is a commonly used method for dating wooden structures in archaeological remains and historical objects. Fascinating subjects of examination are the historical oil paintings on oak panels. Here, we applied a tree ring analysis on three boards of a Dutch painting from the Sinebrychoff Art Museum (Helsinki). Tree rings were measured using the conventional lens-assisted method, in addition to the photography-based approach, where the widths of the rings were determined from digital enlargements of the photos. These two methods produced comparable tree ring series. The lens- and photography-based records of the measured panel exhibited higher agreement with each other than the conventional, lens-based, record against the different master chronologies. Dendrochronological cross-dating against the master chronology showed that the rings of the panel represent the period ad 1413–1620. Cross-dating was attained by comparing the tree ring series of the panel painting with the previously published chronologies obtained from timber transported from the historical ports of the Eastern Baltic Sea to Western Europe. Photography appears as a promising method to be used for dendrochronological investigations of archaeological and historical objects, alongside the conventional methods. We note that the importance of using photographs of tree ring cross sections was highlighted already in the 1930s. In the digital era, the photographic approach shows obvious benefits for archival purposes and remeasuring the rings, with additional future prospects of image processing and analyses.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aniol RW (1983) Procedures and statistics in dendrochronology. Mitteilungen Bundesforschungsanstalt für Forst Holzwirtschaft 141:21–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Baillie MGL (1982) Tree-ring dating and archaeology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Baillie MGL, Pilcher JR (1973) A simple cross-dating program for tree-ring research. Tree-Ring Bull 33:7–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Baillie MGL, Hillam J, Briffa KR, Brown DM (1985) Re-dating the English art-historical tree-ring chronologies. Nature 315:317–319

  • Bannister B, Robinson WJ (1975) Tree-ring dating in archaeology. World Archaeol 7:210–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauch J, Eckstein D (1981) Woodbiological investigations on panels of Rembrandt paintings. Wood Sci Technol 15:251–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bunn AG, Jansma E, Korpela M, Westfall RD, Baldwin J (2013) Using simulations and data to evaluate mean sensitivity (ζ) as a useful statistic in dendrochronology. Dendrochronologia 31:250–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colton HS (1934) First tree ring conference. Am Anthropol 36:635–636

    Google Scholar 

  • Daly A, Läänelaid A (2012) The dendrochronological dating of three paintings in the style of Bosch/Bruegel. In: Hermens E (ed) On the Trail of Bosch and Bruegel. Four paintings United under cross-examination. Archetype Publications Ltd, Copenhagen, pp 47–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglass AE (1921) Dating our prehistoric ruins. Nat Hist 21:27–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglass AE (1935) Dating Pueblo Bonito and other ruins of the Southwest. Washington: Natural Geographic Society. Contributed Technical Papers. Pueblo Bonito Series. Number 1

  • Eckstein D (2005) Wood science and art history—interdisciplinary research illustrated from a dendrochronological point of view. In: Van de Velde C, Beeckman H, Van Acker J, Verhaeghe F (eds) Constructing wooden images. Proceedings of the symposium on the organization of labour and working practices of Late Gothic altarpieces in the Low Countries 25–26 October 2002. Brussels, Belgium, VUB Press, Brussels, pp 19–26

  • Eckstein D, Wazny T, Bauch J, Klein P (1986) New evidence for the dendrochronological dating of Netherlandish paintings. Nature 320:465–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fonti P, García González I (2004) Suitability of chestnut earlywood vessel chronologies for ecological studies. New Phytol 163:77–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraiture P, Dubois H (2011) Dendrochronological and technological examination of painting supports. The case of Rubens’s studio practice. In: Fraiture P (ed), Tree rings, art, archaeology. proceedings of an international conference, Brussels, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage 10–12 February 2010, Brussels, pp 313–329

  • Fritts HC (1976) Tree rings and climate. Academic, London

    Google Scholar 

  • García González I, Eckstein D (2003) Climatic signal of earlywood vessels of oak on a maritime site. Tree Physiol 23:497–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glock WS (1934) Report on the first tree ring conference. Tree-Ring Bull 1:4–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Grissino-Mayer HD (2001) Evaluating crossdating accuracy: a manual and tutorial for the computer program COFECHA. Tree-Ring Res 57:205–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Grissino-Mayer HD, Sheppard PR, Cleaveland MK, Cherubini P, Ratcliff P, Topham J (2010) Adverse implications of misdating in dendrochronology: addressing the re-dating of the ‘Messiah’ violin. Dendrochronologia 28:149–159

  • Haneca K, Van Acker J, Beeckman H (2005) Growth trends reveal the forest structure during Roman and Medieval times in Western Europe: a comparison between archaeological and actual oak ring series (Quercus robur and Quercus petraea). Ann For Sci 62:797–805

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haneca K, Cufar K, Beeckman H (2009) Oaks, tree-rings and wooden cultural heritage: a review of the main characteristics and applications of oak dendrochronology in Europe. J Archaeol Sci 36:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helama S, Läänelaid A, Raisio J, Tuomenvirta H (2009) Oak decline in Helsinki portrayed by tree-rings, climate and soil data. Plant Soil 319:163–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helama S, Arentoft BW, Collin-Haubensak O, Hyslop MD, Brandstrup CK, Mäkelä HM, Tian QH, Wilson R (2013) Dendroclimatic signals deduced from riparian versus upland forest interior pines in North Karelia, Finland. Ecol Res 28:1019–1028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hillam J (1998) Dendrochronology: guidelines on producing and interpreting dendrochronological dates. Ancient Monuments Laboratory, Conservation and Technology, English Heritage, London

  • Hillam J, Tyers I (1995) Reliability and repeatability in dendrochronological analysis: tests using the Fletcher archive of panel-painting data. Archaeometry 37:395–405

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hillam J, Morgan RA, Tyers I (1987) Sapwood estimates and the dating for short ring sequences. BAR Int Ser 333:165–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes RL (1983) Computer-assisted quality control in tree-ring dating and measurement. Tree-Ring Bull 43:69–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Houbrechts D, Vandervellen P (2011) Dendrochronology applied to Belgian pianofortes. In P. Fraiture (ed) Tree rings, art, archaeology. Proceedings of an International Conference, Brussels, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage 10–12 February 2010, Brussels, pp 285–297

  • Jagels R, Telewski FW (1990) Computer-aided image analysis of tree rings. In: Cook ER, Kairiukstis LA (eds) Methods of dendrochronology: applications in the environmental science. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 76–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein P (1983) Dating of art historical objects. Mitt Bundesforschungsanstalt Forst Holzwirtschaft 141:209–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein P (1998) Dendrochronological analyses of panel paintings. In: Dardes K, Rothe A (eds) The structural conservation of panel paintings: proceedings of a symposium at the J. Paul Getty Museum, 24–28 April 1995, The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, pp 39–54

  • Läänelaid A, Nurkse A (2006) Dating of a 17th century painting by tree rings of Baltic oak. Balt For 12:117–121

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarroll D, Pettigrew E, Luckman A, Guibal F, Edouard JL (2002) Blue reflectance provides a surrogate for latewood density of high-latitude pine tree-rings. Arct Antarct Alp Res 34:450–453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miles D (1997) The interpretation, presentation and use of tree-ring dates. Vernac Archit 28:40–56

  • Mitsutani T (ed) (2004) Dendrochronology and the latest imaging equipments. Applications to ancient architecture, carved wooden Buddha statues, and wooden artifacts. Buried Cultural Properties News 116, Nara

  • Myhr K, Thun T, Hytteborn H (2007) Dendrochronological dating of wooden artefacts using photography. Nor Archaeol Rev 40:179–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nash SE (1997) A history of archaeological tree-ring dating 1914–1945. Doctoral dissertation, University of Arizona

  • Pearson S (1997) Tree-ring dating: a review. Vernac Architect 28:25–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pichler T, Nicolussi K, Goldenberg G, Hanke K, Kovács K, Thurner A (2013) Charcoal from a prehistoric copper mine in the Austrian Alps: dendrochronological and dendrological data, demand for wood and forest utilisation. J Archaeol Sci 40:992–1002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rybníček M, Kolář T, Kyncl T, Kyncl J (2010) Dendrochronological dating of artefacts. In: Hradil D, Hradilová J (eds) Acta Artis Academica 2010—Proceedings of the 3rd Interdisciplinary Conference of ALMA, 24–25, November 2010, Prague, pp 247–250

  • Sheppard PR, Graumlich LJ, Conkey LE (1996) Reflected-light image analysis of conifer tree rings for reconstructing climate. The Holocene 6:62–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sohar K, Vitas A, Läänelaid A (2012) Sapwood estimates of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) in eastern Baltic. Dendrochronologia 30:49–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sohar K, Helama S, Läänelaid S, Raisio J, Tuomenvirta H (2013) Oak decline in a southern Finnish forest as affected by a drought sequence. Geochronometria 41:92–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Soille P, Misson L (2001) Tree ring area measurements using morphological image analysis. Can J For Res 31:1074–1083

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speer JH (2010) Fundamentals of Tree-ring research. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson

    Google Scholar 

  • Therrell MD, Stahle DW (2012) Tree-ring dating of an Arkansas antebellum plantation house. Tree-Ring Res 68:59–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thun T, Alsvik E (2009) Dendrochronological dating of four chests: a surprising result. Dendrochronologia 27:71–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker MJC (2005) Quaternary dating methods. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang S, Zhao X (2013) Re-evaluating the Silk Road’s Qinghai Route using dendrochronology. Dendrochronologia 31:34–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wazny T (1990) Aufbau und Anwendung der Dendrochronologie für Eichenholz in Polen, Doctoral dissertation, University of Hamburg

  • Wazny T (2011) Dendro-provenancing between the Baltic Sea and the East Mediterranean. In: Fraiture P (eds) Tree rings, art, archaeology. Proceedings of an International Conference, Brussels, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage 10–12 February 2010, Brussels, pp 99–105

  • Wilson R, Loader N, Rydval M, Paton H, Frith A, Mills C, Crone A, Edwards C, Larsson L, Gunnarson B (2011) Reconstructing Holocene climate from tree rings—the potential for a long chronology from the Scottish Highlands. The Holocene 22:3–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zunde M (2011) New dendrochronological, historical and archaeological evidence of long-distance floating of timbers to Riga. In: Fraiture P (ed) Tree rings, art, archaeology. Proceedings of an International Conference, Brussels, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage 10–12 February 2010, Brussels, pp 125–135

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Dipl.-Holzwirt Sigrid Wrobel for running the sample series against the master chronology of Eckstein et al. (1986). Two anonymous referees are thanked for their constructive comments. This work was supported by the Sinebrychoff Art Museum and the Academy of Finland.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Finnish Forest Research Institute, Northern Unit, Eteläranta 55, P.O. Box 16, 96301, Rovaniemi, Finland

    Samuli Helama

  2. Institute of Geography, University of Tartu, Vanemuise St. 46, 51014, Tartu, Estonia

    Alar Läänelaid

  3. Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Bulevardi 40, 00120, Helsinki, Finland

    Maija Santala & Ari Tanhuanpää

Authors
  1. Samuli Helama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alar Läänelaid
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Maija Santala
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ari Tanhuanpää
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Samuli Helama.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Helama, S., Läänelaid, A., Santala, M. et al. Dendrochronological dating of wooden artifacts by measuring the tree rings using magnifying glass and photography-assisted method: an example of a Dutch panel painting. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 8, 161–167 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-014-0222-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-014-0222-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation