Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T13:51:16.587Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The olive tree-ring problematic dating

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Paolo Cherubini
Affiliation:
WSL Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland (Email: [email protected]; author for correspondence)
Simcha Lev-Yadun
Affiliation:
Department of Biology & Environment, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa-Oranim, Tivon 36006, Israel (Email: [email protected])

Abstract

We are glad to see that our paper has stimulated a lively debate, and we acknowledge the appreciation of our work by Bietak, Kuniholm and MacGillivray as well as that of those who oppose our hypothesis (Bruins & van der Plicht, Friedrich et al., all above). The enigma of the dating of the Santorini eruption is a long-lasting one, and because of its bearing on the dating of several eastern Mediterranean civilisations, has attracted significant attention. The potentially great importance of the Santorini olive branch used by Friedrich et al. (2006) was that it came from the site itself, and possibly belonged to the destruction layer. As such, the sincere and serious attempt to date it made by Friedrich et al. (2006) should be appreciated. Unfortunately, large olive branches may exist as dead limbs for a very long time and thus represent earlier periods.

Type
Debate
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arnan, X., López, B. C., Martinez-Vilalta, J., Estorach, M. & Poyatos, R.. 2012. The age of monumental olive trees (Olea europaea) in northeastern Spain. Dendrochronologia 30: 1114. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2011.02.002 Google Scholar
Cherubini, P., Gartner, B. L., Tognetti, R., Braker, O. U., Schoch, W. & Innes, J. L.. 2003. Identification, measurement and interpretation of tree rings in woody species from Mediterranean climates. Biological Reviews 78: 119–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1464793102006000 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cherubini, P., Humbel, T., Beeckman, H., Gartner, H., Mannes, D., Pearson, C., Schoch, W., Tognetti, R. & Lev-Yadun, S.. 2013. Olive tree-ring problematic dating: a comparative analysis. PloS ONE 8: e54730. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054730 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friedrich, W. L., Kromer, B., Friedrich, M., Heinemeier, J., Pfeiffer, T. & Talamo, S.. 2006. Santorini eruption radiocarbon dated to 1627-1600 B. C. Science 312: 548. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1125087 Google Scholar
Líphschítz, N. & Lev-Yadun, S.. 1986. Cambial activity of evergreen and seasonal dimorphics around the Mediterranean. IAWA Bulletin n.s. 7: 145–53.Google Scholar
Rossi, L., Sebastiani, L., Tognetti, R., D'Andria, R., Morelli, G. & Cherubini, P.. 2013. Tree-ring wood anatomy and stable isotopes show structural and functional adjustments in olive trees under different water availability. Plant and Soil 372: 567–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1759-0 Google Scholar
Terral, J.-F. & Durand, A.. 2006. Bio-archaeological evidence of olive tree (Olea europea L.) irrigation during the Middle Ages in southern France and north eastern Spain. Journal of Archaeological Science 33: 718–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2005.10.004 CrossRefGoogle Scholar