Application of the Blue-Intensity Method for Dating Wooden Buildings in Siberia

Application of the Blue-Intensity Method
for Dating Wooden Buildings in Siberia

DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2018.46.4.109-113

V.S. Myglan¹, Z.Y. Zharnikov¹, M.O. Sidorova^{1, 2}, V.V. Barinov¹, and A.V. Tainik^1
1Siberian Federal University, Pr. Svobodny 79, Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia
²Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

Despite the success achieved in the tree-ring dating of wood samples from archaeological excavations over the recent years, attempts to apply this method to relatively recent wooden constructions in central Siberia run into considerable difficulties, because the increment of wood in that area shows little variation owing to the virtual absence of limiting factors. To solve this problem, we used the blue-intensity method, based on measuring the optical density of wood. This method is more sensitive to environmental changes of annual growth rates, and is optimal in terms of efficiency and cost. This article describes the techniques of sample preparation, measuring the optical density of annual rings, and the construction of chronologies from this indicator. The efficiency of the method is assessed by comparing it to the traditional approach based on tree-ring width for dating wood from the temperate zone of Siberia. The results of dating two wooden buildings (Gromov’s house (1870) and Gafarov’s store (1909)) in the city of Yeniseysk indicate that the new method is efficient, and virtually without limiting factors that might affect increment rates.

Keywords: Blue-intensity, method, wooden architecture, Siberia, calendar dating