Dendrolab

Dendrochronologic dating and age calculation is a method of dating old wooden objects based on the analysis of tree-rings. Each summer a new annual ring is formed in trees. In a “good” summer the ring becomes broad, but thin in a “bad” summer. This takes place in similar patterns across relatively large, climatically homogeneous areas and can be used for the compilation of an average curve, which will show how the growth of trees has varied within an area like e.g. the inland of northern Sweden.

- Our ambition is to date buildings, historical objects and archaeological and forestry history finds. Through the cooperation with county administrative authorities, folklore societies and private persons we would like to arouse an interest in and throw light upon the importance of the cultural heritage that the old log houses and wooden objects represent.

- DendroLab, the Forestry Museum in Lycksele.

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(Illustration Schweingruber 1990)

With the help of successively older overlapping trees the curve may be prolonged backwards in time. The age of the annual ring farthest out is known. Accordingly, it is also possible to work out the age of all the other annual rings.

Dating of an old log store building from southern Lapland. dendro-3

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The customer orders a dating of an old log store building.

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1. Drilling core samples are taken from a suitable wall log.

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2. The surfaces of the drilling cores are prepared.

3. The widths of the annual rings are measured
by means of a computer-connected microscope.

4. The curve for the house is drawn up and compared to the average curve of Lapland.

Lapland can boast one of world’s longest average curves. Here are the last 800 years:

dendro-1

The work with the compilation of dendrochronological basic curves for northern Sweden was started more than 20 years ago in northernmost Lapland. These activities continued over the years and resulted in one of the world’s longest dendrochronological series, the so-called Torne River series, which goes back 7 400 years in time. Thus it covers the major part of the period after the last ice age. As a consequence of this research DendroLab was formed in 1999, and it operates in Lycksele, Sollerön with research operations at Abisko.

Please contact us, if you have queries concerning sampling etc. We can also procure dating of objects in southern Sweden.

Tel: 0950-379 45
Fax: 0950-132 60

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