Application Of ¹⁴C Wiggle-Matching To Support Dendrochronological Analysis In Japan

Abstract

¹⁴C wiggle-matching was applied to two wood samples closely related to geological and archaeological events with associated dendrochronological dates, to demonstrate the accuracy of ¹⁴C dating with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Wiggle-matching on charred wood with bark, excavated from a pyroclastic mud-flow deposited by the huge 10th Century eruption of the Baitoushan Volcano, revealed the eruption age as cal A.D. 935 +8/-5 with 95% confidence. This date is consistent with the eruption age of A.D. 912 to A.D. 972 estimated by dendrochronology on two wooden boards that had clear stratigraphical connections to the B-Tm tephra deposit in Japan, an ash fall layer formed by the eruption of the Baitoushan Volcano. The date is also consistent with an A.D. 937–938 date estimated by the analysis of varved sediments from Lake Ogawarako in Aomori prefecture. The other wooden board collected from the Mawaki archaeological site in Ishikawa prefecture was wiggle-matched as 783 +13/-11 cal B.C. with 95% confidence, which is consistent with the dates of 830 cal B.C. to 759 cal B.C. obtained for seven wooden poles from the same wooden structures as the wooden board. These results are highly encouraging for obtaining accurate dates on wood when dendrochronology cannot be used.