Non-Invasive Dendrochronology Success and Limitations Aoife Daly Larvik Boats, Norway

Non-invasive dendrochronology success and limitations Aoife Daly Larvik Boats, Norway

Sampling for dendrochronological analysis Stegeborg Denmark

Sampling for dendrochronological analysis Rembrandt’s ‘Entombment’ (Hunterian Glasgow)

Photographing the end-grain for dendrochronological analysis Oak anatomy Gokstad project Previous analysis

• The building of the grave chamber in the Gokstad burial mound was estimated to be AD 900-905. • The felling date for the trees used for the Gokstad Ship was estimated to 890s. No sapwood on the analysed samples. • The wood for chamber and ship had grown in the Oslo fjord region (Bonde 1995). DendroCT – Gokstad funded by Nordic Culture Fund and Anders Jahre’s Humanitarian Foundation. • Jan Bill, Oslo University • Aoife Daly, Dendro.dk • Øistein Johnson, Norwegian Geotechnical Institute • Knut Dalen, Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Oseberg samples 6 narrow ring series Oseberg sample 6, images

The cut surface

Medical CT Oseberg sample 6, first attempt

AD653 AD807

Oseberg\Z037003A.D

Oseberg\Z037003X.D Oseberg sample 6, 2nd scanning

Micro CT The cut surface Oseberg, comparing tree-ring curves

AD653 AD807

Oseberg sample 6 from micro-CT Z037003a

Oseberg sample 6 conventional measurements Z037003d Oseberg, comparing tree-ring curves

AD653 AD807

Oseberg sample 6 from micro-CT Z037003a

Oseberg sample 6 conventional measurements Z037003d Direct versus scan

DIRECT MEASUREMENT Gokstad z038001a.d

MEASUREMENT FROM SCAN Gokstad z038001w.d Direct versus scan

DIRECT MEASUREMENT Gokstad z038001a.d

MEASUREMENT FROM SCAN Gokstad z038001w.d Method (see Bill et al 2012)

Spades from the Tune burial mound method

0.34mm Spades from Oseberg, Gokstad and Tune (Bill & Daly 2012)

(Photo Bill et al 2012) Sapwood on the scanned images

Gokstad ship, plank fragment Gokstad Ship, dating (Daly, in press)

Gokstad ship bord q102 Z038027a after AD 744 q033 Z038014a after AD 796 prøve 13 z038005a after AD 838 028 Z038015a after AD 844 068 Z038031a after AD 847 002 Z038012a after AD 875 v Z038029a after AD 877 tværbjælke C10384.l Z038023a after AD 884 bord tree1 q027 Z038009a after AD 884 prøve 23 z038006a after AD 884 bord tree2 q097 Z038016a after AD 845 prøve 21 z038002a after AD 845 prøve 22 z038003a after AD 845 q096 z038008a after AD 845 bord tree6 q071 Z038026a after AD 864 prøve 18 z038004a&b after AD 864 069 Z038901a after AD 864 prøve 12 z038007a after AD 864 bord tree8 029 Z038033a AD 878-92 001b Z038010a AD 878-92 001a Z038011a AD 878-92

500 600 700 800 900 1000 Gokstad Ship 885-892 Bed etc. winter 895-6 Photos from http://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/boatyard/previous-building-projects/the-small-boat-from-gokstad/ Gokstad boat G3 provenance? (Daly, in press)

Gokstad båd G3

G3 bord G3 7a Z038109a after AD 677 G3-174 Z0381138 after AD 752 G3 199b Z038107a after AD 811 G3 1kort Z038115a after AD 827 G3 18 Z038112a after AD 852 G3 17 Z038111b after AD 864 G3 bord tree11 G3-34 z038104a AD 887-896 G 3-15 z038101a AD 887-896 G3 bord tree12 G3 97a Z0381109 after AD 780 G3-8 z0381051 after AD 780 G3 bord tree13 G3 1lang Z038114a after AD 741 G3-1kort Z038108a after AD 741 G3 reparation? G 3-83 z038102a AD 889-900

500 600 700 800 900 1000 Gokstad Ship 885-892 Bed etc. winter 895-6 Gokstad, boat G3

Building Repair phase Filenames - - z0381m03 z038102a

- start Dates AD 504 AD 575 - dates End AD 886 AD 888 Z037M001 AD 549 AD 815 12,55 - Oseberg ship (Daly unpubl.) Z0382M01 AD 548 AD 895 4,70 11,51 Gokstad inventory big group (Daly 2011b) Indbrudslag gr3 AD 550 AD 925 - 7,56 Break-in group 3 (Daly 2011a) Z0371M01 AD 536 AD 833 - 5,99 Oseberg grave chamber (Daly upubl.) N054M001 AD 666 AD 967 3,73 5,76 Klåstad (Eriksen 1993) Z038ship AD 578 AD 876 3,64 5,72 Gokstad Ship (Daly 2011b) Z055M001 AD 716 AD 889 - 5,27 Tune ship (Daly upubl.) KAUPANG AD 518 AD 862 4,89 4,73 Kaupang (Bonde 2007) The timbers used to build boat G3 from the Gokstad burial are dating with tree-ring curves from the Oseberg Ship. The Oseberg ship is made from oaks that grew in West Norway (Bonde & Stylegar 2009) so we can conclude that the small Boat G3 also comes from West Norway. A single plank from G3 however dates with tree-ring data from the region around Oslo Fjord (Daly, in press). Identifying bark edge on the scanned images

Gokstat inventory, Gokstad ship, bedpost fragment bedpost fragment Bedpost bark edge

Bed etc. winter 895-6 Bed post from Gokstad. Many of the wooden objects from Gokstad can only be dated dendrochronologically thanks to the development of a non-destructive sampling method. The plundering (Bill & Daly 2012)

The Break-in, all mounds

Gokstad spade C10421.e Z038836a træ 3 AD 895-6 C10421b Z038834a after AD 824 C10421d Z038833a after AD 868 C10421.f Z038837a after AD 912 * C10421.h Z038835a after AD 939* Oseberg stretcher C55000 6 Z037216A after AD 898 1904-13 Z037207A after AD 938 * 1904-13 Z037208A after AD 944* 1904-13a z0372069 after AD 951 1904-13c Z037209A after AD 953 Oseberg spade 1904-308 Z0372159 AD 803-14 1904-21 Z037212A after AD 801 1903-10 Z037214A after AD 831 1904-48 Z037210A after AD 839 1903-11 z0372049 after AD 840 1904-50 z037205a after AD 845 1903-9 Z0372139 after AD 921 1904-75 Z0372118 after AD 933 Tune spade C23838 o Z055201A AD 895-909 C23838 o Z055202x AD 903-17

AD 600 AD 750 AD 900

Oseberg grave chamber summer 834

Gokstad Ship 878-892 Gokstad bed etc. winter 895-6 Tune c. 910

Fig 1. De norske vikingeskibsgrave, dendrokronologisk datering af spaderne og båredele fra Oseberg, Gokstad og Tune gravhøje. The plunderings, correlation (Daly 2011a)

Filenames - - all Long Shorter Group 3 Group 2 - start Dates AD 550 AD 550 AD 766 - dates End AD 945 AD 925 AD 945 Z0382M01 AD 548 AD 895 19,98 13,93 9,61 Gokstad inventar big group (Daly 2011b) oslo fjord AD 536 AD 967 17,67 15,00 9,17 oslo fjord (Gokstad skib, Oseberg gravkammer, Tune skib, Klåstad skib) (Daly upubl.) Z0371M01 AD 536 AD 833 11,42 12,13 6,02 oseberg gravkammer (Daly upubl.) Z055M001 AD 716 AD 889 11,13 7,60 9,94 Tune ship (Daly upubl.) 00695M01 AD 674 AD 997 9.46 6.85 7.52 Roskilde vrag 6 (Bonde 1997) KAUPANG AD 518 AD 862 8,88 7,66 6,38 Kaupang (Bonde 2007, 282) Z036M001 AD 666 AD 967 8,29 7,35 6,77 Klåstad (Daly upubl.) N054M001 AD 666 AD 967 8,13 6,92 6,75 Klåstad (Eriksen 1993) Z038ship AD 578 AD 876 7,39 7,59 9,26 Gokstad ship (Daly 2011b) Z0382M02 AD 713 AD 876 5,59 4,96 4,04 Gokstad inventar small grp. (Daly 2011b) 9M456781 109 BC AD 1986 3,68 5,02 3,53 Jylland/Fyn (Nationalmuseet) Z037M001 AD 549 AD 815 3,60 - 3,42 Oseberg ship (Daly upubl.)

Tabel 2. De norske vikingeskibsgrave, synkroniseringen mellem middelkurverne for spaderne og båredele fra Oseberg, Gokstad og Tune gravhøje og diverse kurver fra Nordeuropa. Kilden til kurverne er givet . The plundering, t-values (Bill & Daly 2012)

* * Gokstad spade Z038837a

Oseberg stretcher plank Z037216A Modern oaks around Oslo Fjord (tree-ring data Kjeld Christensen, pers comm) The plundering (Bill & Daly 2012)

The Break-in, all mounds

AD 600 AD 750 AD 900

Oseberg grave chamber summer 834

Gokstad Ship 878-892 Gokstad bed etc. winter 895-6 Tune c. 910

Fig 1. De norske vikingeskibsgrave, dendrokronologisk datering af spaderne og båredele fra Oseberg, Gokstad og Tune gravhøje. Power politics?

Storhaug Oseberg Grønhaug Gokstad

Aggersborg Fyrkat Ravning Enge bridge Jelling Borgeby Nonnebakken Trelleborg Trelleborg

the plundering after 953

Storhaug Grønhaug Oseberg Gokstad Jelling Ring fortress ship ship ship burial ship bed 960s & bridge 771 780 820 834 878-92 895-6 980s

burial burial Boat G3 779 790-95 887-96 750 800 850 900 950 1000 The Jelling Stone

“Harald King had these stones made after Gorm his father and after Thyra his mother – that Harald who won all Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian”

Dating c. 960s literature • Bill, J. & Daly, A., 2012. The plundering of the ship graves from Oseberg and Gokstad – an example of power politics? Antiquity, 86, 808-824. • Bill, J., Dalen, K.S., Daly, A. og Johnsen, Ø., 2012. Dendro CT – dendrochronology without damage. Dendrochronologia 30 (2012) 223–230. • Bonde, N. 1995. Dendrochronological dating of the Viking age ship burials at Oseberg, Gokstad and Tune, Norway. In: A. Sinclair, E. Slater & J. Gowlett (Eds) Archaeological Sciences 1995. Oxford, 195-200. • Bonde, N., 1997. Præliminær dendrokronologisk undersøgelse af seks skibsvrag fra Roskildes gamle havneområde. Nationalmuseets Naturvidenskabelige Undersøgelser rapport 1997.15, Copenhagen. • Bonde, N., 2007. Dendrochronological dates from Kaupang. In: Dagfinn Skre (ed.), Kaupang in Skiringssal, Kaupang excavation project publication series volume 1. Aarhus University Press, 273-282. • Bonde, N. and Stylegar, F.-A. (2009). Fra Avaldsnes til Oseberg. Dendrokronologiske undersøkelser av skipsgravene fra Storhaug og Grønhaug på Karmøy. Viking, LXXII, 149-168. • Daly, A., 1997. Dendrokronologisk undersøgelse af skibsvrag fra Vejdyb udfor Hals, Aalborg Amt. Nationalmuseets Naturvidenskabelige Undersøgelser rapport 12, 1997, København. • Daly, A., 2007. Timber, Trade and Tree-rings. A dendrochronological analysis of structural oak timber in Northern Europe, c. AD 1000 to c. AD 1650. Ph.D. thesis submitted February 2007, University of Southern Denmark. • Daly, A. 2011a. De norske vikingeskibsgrave, indbrudslag. Dendro.dk report 6:2011, Brønshøj. • Report prepared for the Museum of Cultural History, Oslo. • Daly, A. 2011b. De norske vikingeskibsgrave, Gokstad. Dendro.dk report 9:2011, Brønshøj. Report prepared for the Museum of Cultural History, Oslo. • Daly, A., in press. ‘Exploring the Norwegian Viking ship burials through non-destructive dendrochronology’. In Jan Bill ed. Returning to Gokstad: The art and the science of revisiting monumental burials in Scandinavia, Aarhus University Press. • Eriksen, O.H., 1993. Dendrokronologisk undersøgelse af skibsvrag fra Klåstad, Norge. Nationalmuseets Naturvidenskabelige Undersøgelser rapport 1993.1, Copenhagen. Conclusion and credits

Methods Non-invasive dendrochronology and provenance determination – high tech to low tech. But I’m not quite ready to sell my chain-saw yet! :o)

Credits DendroCT – Jan Bill & Nordic Culture Fund and Anders Jahre’s Humanitarian Foundation.