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Anatolian tree rings and the absolute chronology of the eastern Mediterranean, 2220–718 BC

Nature volume 381, pages 780–783 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

EXCELLENT preservation of wood and charcoal at archaeological sites in Anatolia has allowed the Aegean Dendrochronology Project to build absolute and floating tree-ring sequences1. One such floating dendrochronology of 1,503 years includes samples relating to known rulers, sites and cultures of the ancient eastern Mediterranean. If this chronology could be dated precisely, many long-standing questions might be resolved. Here we report 18 high-precision 14C determinations which, when wiggle-matched to the radiocarbon calibration curve, provide a date within narrow limits. Inside this range, we can suggest the probable absolute dating of the dendrochronology because of a remarkable growth anomaly in the seventeenth century BC, for which we propose a correlation with major growth anomalies at 1628/1627 BC in the absolutely dated dendrochronologies of Europe and the United States. Many archaeological sites from several cultures in the eastern Mediterranean can now be dated with fine precision. This chronology has important implications for Old World archaeology and prehistory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Malcolm and Carolyn Wiener Laboratory for Aegean and Near Eastern Dendrochronology, Department of the History of Art and Archaeology, G-35 Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853-3201, USA

    Peter Ian Kuniholm, Maryanne Newton, Christine E. Latini & Mary Jaye Bruce

  2. Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Institut für Umweltphysik der Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, D-69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Bernd Kromer

  3. Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, P.O. Box 218, Whiteknights, Reading, RG6 6AA, UK

    Sturt W. Manning

Authors
  1. Peter Ian Kuniholm
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  2. Bernd Kromer
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  3. Sturt W. Manning
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  4. Maryanne Newton
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  5. Christine E. Latini
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  6. Mary Jaye Bruce
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Kuniholm, P., Kromer, B., Manning, S. et al. Anatolian tree rings and the absolute chronology of the eastern Mediterranean, 2220–718 BC. Nature 381, 780–783 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/381780a0

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