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Gokstad ship

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The Gokstad ship is a 9th-century Viking ship found in a burial mound at Gokstad in Sandar , Sandefjord , Vestfold , Norway . It is displayed at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway . It is the largest preserved Viking ship in Norway.

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63-507: The site where the boat was discovered, situated on arable land, had long been named Gokstadhaugen or Kongshaugen (from the Old Norse words konungr meaning king and haugr meaning mound ), although the relevance of its name had been discounted as folklore, as other sites in Norway bear similar names. In 1880, sons of the owner of Gokstad farm, having heard of the legends surrounding

126-539: A 2 t 3 k v ρ 1 3 ( c 4 + c 1 e − a 1 t + c 2 e − a 2 t ) 2 3 {\displaystyle \Delta L(t)=-{\frac {c_{1}e^{-a_{1}t}+c_{2}e^{-a_{2}t}}{3k_{v}\rho ^{\frac {1}{3}}\left(c_{4}+c_{1}e^{-a_{1}t}+c_{2}e^{-a_{2}t}\right)^{\frac {2}{3}}}}} where c 1 , c 2 , and c 4 are some coefficients,

189-535: A 1 and a 2 are positive constants. The formula is useful for correct approximation of samples data before data normalization procedure. The typical forms of the function Δ L ( t ) of annual growth of wood ring are shown in the figures. Dendrochronology allows specimens of once-living material to be accurately dated to a specific year. Dates are often represented as estimated calendar years B.P. , for before present, where "present" refers to 1 January 1950. Timber core samples are sampled and used to measure

252-549: A German professor of forest pathology, wrote a series of papers on the anatomy and ecology of tree rings. In 1892, the Russian physicist Fedor Nikiforovich Shvedov  [ ro ; ru ; uk ] (1841–1905) wrote that he had used patterns found in tree rings to predict droughts in 1882 and 1891. During the first half of the twentieth century, the astronomer A. E. Douglass founded the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at

315-401: A gradual replacement of wooden panels by canvas as the support for paintings, which means the technique is less often applicable to later paintings. In addition, many panel paintings were transferred onto canvas or other supports during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The dating of buildings with wooden structures and components is also done by dendrochronology; dendroarchaeology is

378-1098: A half-scale replica in Vancouver, British Columbia , Canada, the Íslendingur in the Viking World museum in Iceland, the Hugin , in Ramsgate , England, and a replica at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead, Minnesota . Gokstadhaugen Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.133 via cp1102 cp1102, Varnish XID 547205010 Upstream caches: cp1102 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:39:41 GMT Dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating )

441-512: A much greater number have been analysed. A portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots in the National Portrait Gallery, London was believed to be an eighteenth-century copy. However, dendrochronology revealed that the wood dated from the second half of the sixteenth century. It is now regarded as an original sixteenth-century painting by an unknown artist. On the other hand, dendrochronology was applied to four paintings depicting

504-503: A reference for subsequent European naturalists. In the U.S., Alexander Catlin Twining (1801–1884) suggested in 1833 that patterns among tree rings could be used to synchronize the dendrochronology of various trees and thereby to reconstruct past climates across entire regions. The English polymath Charles Babbage proposed using dendrochronology to date the remains of trees in peat bogs or even in geological strata (1835, 1838). During

567-480: A relative internal chronology, they cannot be dendro-matched with the main Holocene absolute chronology. However, 14C analyses performed at high resolution on overlapped absolute and floating tree-rings series enable one to link them almost absolutely and hence to extend the calibration on annual tree rings until ≈13 900 cal yr BP." Herbchronology is the analysis of annual growth rings (or simply annual rings) in

630-442: A removable section of decking. Sea chests were placed on top of the decking to use when rowing. Most likely on longer voyages sea chests were secured below decks to act as ballast when sailing. The centre section of the keel has little rocker and together with flat midships transverse section the hull shape is suited to medium to flat water sailing. When sailing downwind in strong winds and waves, directional control would be poor, so it

693-597: A section against another chronology (tree-ring history) whose dates are known. A fully anchored and cross-matched chronology for oak and pine in central Europe extends back 12,460 years, and an oak chronology goes back 7,429 years in Ireland and 6,939 years in England . Comparison of radiocarbon and dendrochronological ages supports the consistency of these two independent dendrochronological sequences. Another fully anchored chronology that extends back 8,500 years exists for

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756-424: A small part of the radius of the trunk. Consequently, dating studies usually result in a terminus post quem (earliest possible) date, and a tentative date for the arrival of a seasoned raw panel using assumptions as to these factors. As a result of establishing numerous sequences, it was possible to date 85–90% of the 250 paintings from the fourteenth to seventeenth century analysed between 1971 and 1982; by now

819-417: A wide ring, while a drought year may result in a very narrow one. Direct reading of tree ring chronologies is a complex science, for several reasons. First, contrary to the single-ring-per-year paradigm, alternating poor and favorable conditions, such as mid-summer droughts, can result in several rings forming in a given year. In addition, particular tree species may present "missing rings", and this influences

882-553: Is 23.80 metres (78.1 ft) long and 5.10 m (16.7 ft) wide. It is the largest in the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo . The ship was steered by a quarter rudder fastened to a large block of wood attached to the outside of the hull and supported by an extra stout rib. The block is known as the wart, and is fastened by osiers, bent willow shoots on the outside passed through both the rudder and wart to be firmly anchored in

945-636: Is a term used to designate a layer of deformed, collapsed tracheids and traumatic parenchyma cells in tree ring analysis. They are formed when air temperature falls below freezing during a period of cambial activity. They can be used in dendrochronology to indicate years that are colder than usual. Dates from dendrochronology can be used as a calibration and check of radiocarbon dating . This can be done by checking radiocarbon dates against long master sequences, with Californian bristle-cone pines in Arizona being used to develop this method of calibration as

1008-496: Is also used as a check in radiocarbon dating to calibrate radiocarbon ages . New growth in trees occurs in a layer of cells near the bark. A tree's growth rate changes in a predictable pattern throughout the year in response to seasonal climate changes, resulting in visible growth rings. Each ring marks a complete cycle of seasons , or one year, in the tree's life. As of 2023, securely dated tree-ring data for Germany and Ireland are available going back 13,910 years. A new method

1071-622: Is an exact replica of the Gokstad ship. Gaia was constructed during the winter of 1989–1990 in Bjørkedal in Volda . On May 17, 1991, it was sailed by Ragnar Thorseth to North America to mark the 1000th anniversary of Leiv Eriksson ’s founding of Vinland . It was named Gaia on June 19, 1991, by Vigdis Finnbogadottir , the President of Iceland , during this voyage. In May 1993, the vessel

1134-427: Is based on measuring variations in oxygen isotopes in each ring, and this 'isotope dendrochronology' can yield results on samples which are not suitable for traditional dendrochronology due to too few or too similar rings. Some regions have "floating sequences", with gaps which mean that earlier periods can only be approximately dated. As of 2024, only three areas have continuous sequences going back to prehistoric times,

1197-402: Is likely that some reefing system was used to reduce sail area. In such conditions the ship would take water aboard at an alarming rate if sailed at high speed. The method of fastening the planking to the frames above the waterline is by iron rivets in the form of iron nails driven from outside and then turned over a cinch plate on the inside. The lowest nine planks on each side of the keel up to

1260-409: Is more uniform (complacent). In addition, some genera of trees are more suitable than others for this type of analysis. For instance, the bristlecone pine is exceptionally long-lived and slow growing, and has been used extensively for chronologies; still-living and dead specimens of this species provide tree-ring patterns going back thousands of years, in some regions more than 10,000 years. Currently,

1323-571: Is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology , the study of climate and atmospheric conditions during different periods in history from the wood of old trees. Dendrochronology derives from the Ancient Greek dendron ( δένδρον ), meaning "tree", khronos ( χρόνος ), meaning "time", and -logia ( -λογία ), "the study of". Dendrochronology

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1386-426: Is the science of determining past climates from trees primarily from the properties of the annual tree rings. Other properties of the annual rings, such as maximum latewood density (MXD) have been shown to be better proxies than simple ring width. Using tree rings, scientists have estimated many local climates for hundreds to thousands of years previous. Dendrochronology has become important to art historians in

1449-428: Is to make the bottom of the ship lighter and more flexible. The 1893 'Viking' replica of the Gokstad ship reproduced this form of construction. The Viking's captain, Magnus Andersen, reported that the lightness and flexibility allowed the bottom to rise and fall up to 18 mm in heavy seas without leaking and the gunwale could twist up to 15 cm out of line. Speeds of around 10 or 11 knots were recorded. The ship

1512-525: Is useful for determining the precise age of samples, especially those that are too recent for radiocarbon dating , which always produces a range rather than an exact date. However, for a precise date of the death of the tree a full sample to the edge is needed, which most trimmed timber will not provide. It also gives data on the timing of events and rates of change in the environment (most prominently climate) and also in wood found in archaeology or works of art and architecture, such as old panel paintings . It

1575-449: Is width of annual ring, t is time (in years), ρ is density of wood, k v is some coefficient, M ( t ) is function of mass growth of the tree. Ignoring the natural sinusoidal oscillations in tree mass, the formula for the changes in the annual ring width is: Δ L ( t ) = − c 1 e − a 1 t + c 2 e −

1638-529: The University of Arizona . Douglass sought to better understand cycles of sunspot activity and reasoned that changes in solar activity would affect climate patterns on earth, which would subsequently be recorded by tree-ring growth patterns ( i.e. , sunspots → climate → tree rings). Horizontal cross sections cut through the trunk of a tree can reveal growth rings, also referred to as tree rings or annual rings . Growth rings result from new growth in

1701-550: The Vistula region via ports of the Hanseatic League . Oak panels were used in a number of northern countries such as England , France and Germany . Wooden supports other than oak were rarely used by Netherlandish painters. Since panels of seasoned wood were used, an uncertain number of years has to be allowed for seasoning when estimating dates. Panels were trimmed of the outer rings, and often each panel only uses

1764-438: The vascular cambium , a layer of cells near the bark that botanists classify as a lateral meristem ; this growth in diameter is known as secondary growth . Visible rings result from the change in growth speed through the seasons of the year; thus, critical for the title method, one ring generally marks the passage of one year in the life of the tree. Removal of the bark of the tree in a particular area may cause deformation of

1827-474: The University of Oslo asserted that the man was King Olaf Gudrodson , gout-ridden son of the elderly king Gudrod of Vestfold. But this has not been sufficiently proven. The grave was furnished with grave goods in addition to the ship itself: three small boats, a tent, a sledge, and riding equipment. Other grave goods were probably plundered in ancient times: the excavation in 1880 found no gold or silver. In

1890-463: The Viking period, weapons were considered an important part of a man's grave goods, but again, none were found in the Gokstad ship. The ship, the reconstructed burial chamber, two of the small boats and two tent boards from the burial chamber are displayed in the Viking Ship Museum located on Bygdøy peninsula in Oslo, Norway . Some other artifacts that survived the plundering are also on display in

1953-449: The around the waterline are held to the frames by the archaic method of tying using withies . These nine bottom planks are also thinner than elsewhere being about 2.5 cm in thickness compared with a thickness of about 3 to 4 cm for the upper planks. The thinner bottom planks are formed with cleats projecting from their inner face to allow the planks and frames to be tied together using withies. The overall effect of this construction

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2016-701: The bristlecone pine in the Southwest US ( White Mountains of California). The dendrochronological equation defines the law of growth of tree rings. The equation was proposed by Russian biophysicist Alexandr N. Tetearing in his work "Theory of populations" in the form: Δ L ( t ) = 1 k v ρ 1 3 d ( M 1 3 ( t ) ) d t , {\displaystyle \Delta L(t)={\frac {1}{k_{v}\,\rho ^{\frac {1}{3}}}}\,{\frac {d\left(M^{\frac {1}{3}}(t)\right)}{dt}},} where Δ L

2079-404: The database software Tellervo, which is based on the new standard format whilst being able to import lots of different data formats. The desktop application can be attached to measurement devices and works with the database server that is installed separately. Bard et al write in 2023: "The oldest tree-ring series are known as floating since, while their constituent rings can be counted to create

2142-491: The dating of panel paintings . However, unlike analysis of samples from buildings, which are typically sent to a laboratory, wooden supports for paintings usually have to be measured in a museum conservation department, which places limitations on the techniques that can be used. In addition to dating, dendrochronology can also provide information as to the source of the panel. Many Early Netherlandish paintings have turned out to be painted on panels of "Baltic oak" shipped from

2205-623: The effects on tree rings of defoliation caused by insect infestations. By 1882, this observation was already appearing in forestry textbooks. In the 1870s, the Dutch astronomer Jacobus Kapteyn (1851–1922) was using crossdating to reconstruct the climates of the Netherlands and Germany. In 1881, the Swiss-Austrian forester Arthur von Seckendorff -Gudent (1845–1886) was using crossdating. From 1869 to 1901, Robert Hartig (1839–1901),

2268-405: The excavations, a human skeleton was found in a bed inside a timber-built burial chamber. The skeleton was that of a man aged approximately forty to fifty years old, of powerful build and between 181 and 183 cm (5’11" to 6') tall; his identity is unknown. The bones of twelve horses, six dogs, and one peacock were found laid out around the man's body. In the 1920s Professor Anton Willem Brogger of

2331-500: The fastening. Dendrochronological dating suggests that the ship was built of timber that was felled around 890 AD. This period is the height of Norse expansion in Dublin, Ireland and York, England . The Gokstad ship was commissioned at the end of the 9th century during the reign of King Harald Fairhair . The ship could carry a crew of between forty and seventy men. The ship's design has been demonstrated to be very seaworthy. During

2394-563: The foothills of the Northern Alps , the southwestern United States and the British Isles. Miyake events , which are major spikes in cosmic rays at known dates, are visible in trees rings and can fix the dating of a floating sequence. The Greek botanist Theophrastus (c. 371 – c. 287 BC) first mentioned that the wood of trees has rings. In his Trattato della Pittura (Treatise on Painting), Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)

2457-405: The history of building technology. Many prehistoric forms of buildings used "posts" that were whole young tree trunks; where the bottom of the post has survived in the ground these can be especially useful for dating. Examples: There are many different file formats used to store tree ring width data. Effort for standardisation was made with the development of TRiDaS. Further development led to

2520-426: The isotopes of carbon and oxygen in their spines ( acanthochronology ). These are used for dating in a manner similar to dendrochronology, and such techniques are used in combination with dendrochronology, to plug gaps and to extend the range of the seasonal data available to archaeologists and paleoclimatologists . A similar technique is used to estimate the age of fish stocks through the analysis of growth rings in

2583-552: The latter half of the nineteenth century, the scientific study of tree rings and the application of dendrochronology began. In 1859, the German-American Jacob Kuechler (1823–1893) used crossdating to examine oaks ( Quercus stellata ) in order to study the record of climate in western Texas. In 1866, the German botanist, entomologist, and forester Julius Theodor Christian Ratzeburg (1801–1871) observed

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2646-458: The longevity of the trees (up to c.4900 years) in addition to the use of dead samples meant a long, unbroken tree ring sequence could be developed (dating back to c.  6700 BC ). Additional studies of European oak trees, such as the master sequence in Germany that dates back to c.  8500 BC , can also be used to back up and further calibrate radiocarbon dates. Dendroclimatology

2709-432: The maximum span for fully anchored chronology is a little over 11,000 years B.P. IntCal20 is the 2020 "Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve", which provides a calibrated carbon 14 dated sequence going back 55,000 years. The most recent part, going back 13,900 years, is based on tree rings. European chronologies derived from wooden structures initially found it difficult to bridge the gap in the fourteenth century when there

2772-446: The mound still measured 50 metres by 43 metres, although its height had been diminished down to 5 metres by constant years of ploughing. With his team, he began excavating the mound from the side rather than from the top down, and on the second day of digging found the bow of the ship. The Gokstad ship is clinker-built and constructed largely of oak . The ship was intended for warfare, trade, transportation of people and cargo. The ship

2835-642: The museum. After thirteen years of debate regarding a possible relocation, Education Minister Kristin Halvorsen stated on May 3, 2012, that the ship would not be moved from Bygdøy . Viking , an exact replica of the Gokstad ship, crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Bergen, Norway to be exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893; it remains on exhibit near Chicago. The Gaia ship

2898-434: The planks lie straight and about 125 mm apart where the planks turn. At the bow, all of the planks taper to butt the stem. The stem is carved from a single curved oak log to form the cutwater and has one land for each plank. The inside of the stem is hollowed into a v shape so the inside of the rivets can be reached during construction or repair. Each of the crossbeams has a ledge cut about 25 mm wide and deep to take

2961-462: The rings as the plant overgrows the scar. The rings are more visible in trees which have grown in temperate zones , where the seasons differ more markedly. The inner portion of a growth ring forms early in the growing season, when growth is comparatively rapid (hence the wood is less dense) and is known as "early wood" (or "spring wood", or "late-spring wood" ); the outer portion is the "late wood" (sometimes termed "summer wood", often being produced in

3024-454: The same locale, in overlapping fashion, chronologies can be built up—both for entire geographical regions and for sub-regions. Moreover, wood from ancient structures with known chronologies can be matched to the tree-ring data (a technique called 'cross-dating'), and the age of the wood can thereby be determined precisely. Dendrochronologists originally carried out cross-dating by visual inspection; more recently, they have harnessed computers to do

3087-482: The same subject, that of Christ expelling the money-lenders from the Temple . The results showed that the age of the wood was too late for any of them to have been painted by Hieronymus Bosch . While dendrochronology has become an important tool for dating oak panels, it is not effective in dating the poplar panels often used by Italian painters because of the erratic growth rings in poplar. The sixteenth century saw

3150-445: The secondary root xylem of perennial herbaceous plants . Similar seasonal patterns also occur in ice cores and in varves (layers of sediment deposition in a lake, river, or sea bed). The deposition pattern in the core will vary for a frozen-over lake versus an ice-free lake, and with the fineness of the sediment. Sclerochronology is the study of algae deposits. Some columnar cacti also exhibit similar seasonal patterns in

3213-536: The selection of trees for study of long time-spans. For instance, missing rings are rare in oak and elm trees. Critical to the science, trees from the same region tend to develop the same patterns of ring widths for a given period of chronological study. Researchers can compare and match these patterns ring-for-ring with patterns from trees which have grown at the same time in the same geographical zone (and therefore under similar climatic conditions). When one can match these tree-ring patterns across successive trees in

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3276-452: The ship. There are 16 tapered planks per side. The garboard planks are near vertical where they attach to the keel. The garboard planks are narrow and remain only slightly wider to take the turn of the bilge. The topside planks are progressively wider. Each oak plank is slightly tapered in cross section to allow it to overlap about 30mm the plank above and below in normal clinker ( lapstrake ) style. Iron rivets are about 180 mm apart where

3339-533: The site, uncovered the bow of a boat while digging in the still frozen ground. As word of the find got out, Nicolay Nicolaysen , then President of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments , reached the site during February 1880. Having ascertained that the find was indeed that of an ancient artifact, he liaised for the digging to be stopped. Nicolaysen later returned and established that

3402-455: The source of ships as well as smaller artifacts made from wood, but which were transported long distances, such as panels for paintings and ship timbers. Miyake events , such as the ones in 774–775 and 993–994 , can provide fixed reference points in an unknown time sequence as they are due to cosmic radiation. As they appear as spikes in carbon 14 in tree rings for that year all round the world, they can be used to date historical events to

3465-400: The summer, though sometimes in the autumn) and is denser. Many trees in temperate zones produce one growth-ring each year, with the newest adjacent to the bark. Hence, for the entire period of a tree's life, a year-by-year record or ring pattern builds up that reflects the age of the tree and the climatic conditions in which the tree grew. Adequate moisture and a long growing season result in

3528-413: The task, applying statistical techniques to assess the matching. To eliminate individual variations in tree-ring growth, dendrochronologists take the smoothed average of the tree-ring widths of multiple tree-samples to build up a 'ring history', a process termed replication. A tree-ring history whose beginning- and end-dates are not known is called a 'floating chronology'. It can be anchored by cross-matching

3591-477: The term for the application of dendrochronology in archaeology. While archaeologists can date wood and when it was felled, it may be difficult to definitively determine the age of a building or structure in which the wood was used; the wood could have been reused from an older structure, may have been felled and left for many years before use, or could have been used to replace a damaged piece of wood. The dating of building via dendrochronology thus requires knowledge of

3654-405: The width of annual growth rings; by taking samples from different sites within a particular region, researchers can build a comprehensive historical sequence. The techniques of dendrochronology are more consistent in areas where trees grew in marginal conditions such as aridity or semi-aridity where the ring growth is more sensitive to the environment, rather than in humid areas where tree-ring growth

3717-533: The year. For example, wooden houses in the Viking site at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland were dated by finding the layer with the 993 spike, which showed that the wood is from a tree felled in 1021. Researchers at the University of Bern have provided exact dating of a floating sequence in a Neolithic settlement in northern Greece by tying it to a spike in cosmogenic radiocarbon in 5259 BC. Frost ring

3780-521: Was a building hiatus, which coincided with the Black Death . However, there do exist unbroken chronologies dating back to prehistoric times, for example the Danish chronology dating back to 352 BC. Given a sample of wood, the variation of the tree-ring growths not only provides a match by year, but can also match location because climate varies from place to place. This makes it possible to determine

3843-414: Was built to carry 32 oarsmen, and the oar holes could be hatched down when the ship was under sail. It utilized a square sail of approximately 110 square metres (1,200 sq ft), which, it is estimated, could propel the ship to over 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). The mast could be raised and lowered. While the ship was traveling in shallow water, the rudder could be raised very quickly by undoing

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3906-703: Was donated to the city of Sandefjord by Knut Utstein Kloster of the Gaia Ship Foundation and this remains its home port. The ship's oak mast is constructed in one piece and stone provides ballast. Gaia can reach ten knots under its full canvas, which is 120 sq. m., and it has sixteen pairs of oars. Gaia also sailed to the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit via the Faroe Islands , Iceland , Greenland , and North America . Other replicas include Munin ,

3969-412: Was the first person to mention that trees form rings annually and that their thickness is determined by the conditions under which they grew. In 1737, French investigators Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau and Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon examined the effect of growing conditions on the shape of tree rings. They found that in 1709, a severe winter produced a distinctly dark tree ring, which served as

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