WIGGLE-MATCH DATING OF A FLOATING OAK CHRONOLOGY FROM AN EARLY IRON AGE GRAVE CONSTRUCTION (ERESZTVÉNYI FOREST, FEHÉRVÁRCSURGÓ, HUNGARY)

Abstract

ABSTRACTArchaeological excavations unearthed three burial mounds between 1983 and 1986 at Fehérvárcsurgó (Hungary). Based on the archaeological determination the site was dated to the Early Iron Age. A complex wooden architecture was observed in the largest tumulus containing inner and outer beam constructions separated by stone blocks. Dendrochronological and radiocarbon (14C) analyses were performed on conserved logs (n=5) to constrain the felling date of the timber, identified as oak, and the construction period of the tumuli. The four longest ringwidth series were synchronized providing a 153-yr-long floating chronology. Five blocks were removed from the cross sections and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C analysis was performed on the separated α-cellulose. A wiggle-matching procedure was employed as the 14C ages were in agreement with their relative position in the tree-ring sequence and concurred with the expected archaeological period. The calibrated age range of the last extant ring is 747–707 cal BC (95.4%). The earliest possible felling date of the trees used in the construction was between 735 and 695 BC considering the missing sapwood. This is the first 14C dated tree-ring width chronology from the Early Iron Age in Hungary providing a valuable reference for dendroarchaeological studies along the eastern border of the Hallstatt Culture.