Researchers at the University of Bern have succeeded in dating a prehistoric agricultural settlement in northern Greece to between 5328 and 5140 BC.
The team used dating techniques and a significant radiocarbon spike in 5259 BC from a cosmic event known as the Miyake event to shed light on the secrets of the ancient secret village.
The breakthrough in the use of cosmic rays provided precise chronological references for other archaeological sites in southeastern Europe. It also marked a paradigm shift in the way prehistoric times were dated, especially in areas where consistent tree-ring dating was lacking.
In fact, it has only been possible to date prehistoric finds in recent decades.
Two methods are used for this: dendrochronology, which allows dating based on the sequence of annual rings in a tree trunk, and radiocarbon dating, which can calculate an approximate age using the decay rate of the radioactive isotope 14C present in the wood ring.
Specifically, the researchers used high-energy particles from space, which were able to reliably date the site to 5259 BC.
Dendrochronology is a scientific method used to measure the age of trees or other woody materials by analyzing large rings inside the tree trunk, also known as “growth rings”.
This is one of the most common methods for measuring the age of trees and it is also widely used in climate and geological research.
Each year, trees grow a new layer, called a “ring”. Differences in environmental conditions such as temperature, rainfall and water availability can affect this growth and create a graph that reflects changes in the tree’s environment.
Tree rings not only provide information about the age of a tree, but also contain information about past environmental conditions. For example, wider rings usually indicate good environmental conditions while smaller rings may indicate environmental stress.
By comparing rings from different trees, researchers can determine the age of wood samples without direct measurement.
Because each area has a different living environment, the Dendro method to be more accurate is often combined with the carbon isotope method.
As long as a tree is alive, it absorbs the radioactive isotope 14C (radiocarbon) present in the Earth’s atmosphere through photosynthesis. When it dies, the tree can no longer absorb radioactive carbon. This isotope decays with a half-life of 5,730 years.
Laboratory measurements can then be used to determine how much radiocarbon is still contained in a particular tree ring. From this, the approximate age of the tree within the known half-life can be calculated.
