Provenance Study of Wood Found in Archaeological and Architectural Objects

Abstract

In this paper we would like to address the study of the provenance of wood used for artistic objects (e.g., statues, panels), architectural structures (e.g., rafters, beams) and archaeological findings, (e.g., foundation piles) through the analysis of its growing curves. The comparison of these curves (sample curves) with different standard curves that originated from different places can in fact be used for discovering the provenance of the wood used in the respective objects. The method that we emphasize here is based on the analysis of two values: the “correlation coefficient” value and the “coincidence rate” value, developed by Eckstein (2007) in a study of a few statues and panels of the Lübeck Cathedral. However, our study is also based on a graphic comparison of the trend curves of samples with the trend curves of the references. In fact, by following this methodology, it has been possible to study the provenance of a large number of samples gathered by the Dendrochronological Laboratory of the Institute for the History of Material Culture (ISCUM – Genoa, Italy) during the past years.