Dendrochronology improves understanding of the charcoal production history

0560866 - ÚVGZ 2023 RIV IT eng J - Článek v odborném periodiku
Rybníček, Michal - Kyncl, T. - Vavrčík, H. - Kolář, Tomáš
Dendrochronology improves understanding of the charcoal production history.
Dendrochronologia. Roč. 75, OCT (2022), č. článku 125994. ISSN 1125-7865. E-ISSN 1612-0051
Institucionální podpora: RVO:86652079
Klíčová slova: Charcoal pile * Culture heritage * Dendrochronology * Radiocarbon method * Tree rings * Central Europe
Obor OECD: Forestry
Impakt faktor: 3, rok: 2022
Způsob publikování: Open access
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1125786522000741?via%3Dihub

Charcoal piles have become a frequent subject of research in recent years as a better understanding of past human activities in forests is sought. The age of charcoal piles is usually determined by radiocarbon dating dendrochronology is rarely used because of the small size of preserved charcoal remains and the insufficient number of visible tree rings. This paper presents the potential for dendrochronological and 14C method in research into charcoal piles. From 14 charcoal-burning sites in the Czech Republic, 214 pieces of charcoal were anatomically identified at the genus level and dendrochronologically analysed. Our results show that fir dominated in these charcoal remains, followed by oak, beech, spruce and pine. With an overall dendrochronological dating success of 24 %, fir charcoal was dated most often (65 %) with measurable tree rings ranging from 14 to 90. The oldest charcoals were dendrochronologically dated to summer 1682 CE, conversely, the youngest had end dates in the second half of the 19th century. The relatively poor dating success of oak charcoal very likely resulted from the use of branches for charcoal production rather than tree trunks. Based on an analysis of selected charcoal samples, we confirm that radiocarbon dating provided a very wide range of dates in the post-1650 CE period and the use of the wiggle-matching method was usually challenging because of short TRW series. Based on samples with preserved waney edges, we conclude that charcoal was more commonly made from wood felled in the summer than in the winter. Despite the relatively low level of success of dendrochronological dating, it seems more effective for dating charcoal than the 14C method, especially with samples from the last 350 years.
Trvalý link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0333649