Dating of Wooden Heritage Objects in the Gliwice 14C and Mass Spectrometry Laboratory (original) (raw)

Radiocarbon Dating of the Wooden Church in Borovinești (Southern Romania, 19th Century): An Attempt to Elucidate the History of the Church

C. A. Simion, N. Palincaș, G. O. Sava, O. Gâza, I. M. Stanicu, T. B. Sava, D. Gh. Păceșilă, I. Anania and L. Dragomir. In 'Bridging Science and Heritage in the Balkans: Studies in archaeometry, cultural heritage restoration and conservation', N. Palincaș and C. C. Ponta (eds). Archaeopress, p. 64-71, 2019

Free access: www.archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/defaultAll.asp?intro=Home&PublishedDateGT=16+Apr+2018 This article presents the results of radiocarbon dating and wood anatomy analyses of the wooden church built in Borovineşti (Argeş County, Southern Romania) in 1869. The aim was to verify whether the church was made of reused wood – either from an old church in Cicăneşti, for which contradictory written information exists, or, alternatively, some other church, even if this is not mentioned in written sources. Dendrochronology is not yet available in the study region and radiocarbon dating does not work between 1700 and 1950. Nevertheless, the risk of using the radiocarbon method was taken in the hope that the dated material would contain much older wood and thus the life history of the church in Borovineşti could be elucidated. The results were indecisive and, owing to the lack of preserved bark and the only partially preserved sapwood, it is not certain if even dendrochronology would have produced much better results.