@article{b1806de9babd4878a47bc24cba26af23,
title = "Dendroarchaeology of the mid-first millennium AD in Constantinople",
abstract = "The 1st millennium AD was a time of great transition in Europe and the Mediterranean. At the heart of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) was a pivotal trade hub for the Aegean region. Establishing a precise and accurate dating framework for the development of this remarkable city and a chronological reference for this critical time period for the Mediterranean region is of great importance to a wide range of scholars. Here we present a new 213 year tree-ring record from 89 oak samples placed in time by dendrochronology and supported by radiocarbon analysis and historical documentation. It represents the middle of the first millennium AD in Constantinople. The tree-ring series are derived from pilings recovered from the extraordinary excavations of the so-called {"} Theodosian harbor{"} at Yenikapi, Istanbul, along with timbers from other sites and buildings around the city, including one of the most famous sites on the Istanbul sky-line-Hagia Sophia. They provide potential for new insight into a time period in which earthquakes, the Justinianic plague, and even a possible tsunami struck the city, and during which dramatic changes in climate have been recorded in other paleoenvironmental proxies. The chronology is the first published tree-ring series from the Aegean region to cover the 'event' years of AD 536-7 and 542 which are characterized by anomalous growth in other tree-ring series from around the world, but interestingly these event years are not evident in this tree-ring sequence.",
keywords = "Constantinople, Dendrochronology, First millennium AD, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Yenikapi",
author = "Pearson, {Charlotte L.} and Griggs, {Carol B.} and Kuniholm, {Peter I.} and Brewer, {Peter W.} and Tomasz Wa{\"z}ny and Canady, {Le Ann}",
note = "Funding Information: The analysis of tree rings from Yenikapı has dominated the work load of the Malcolm and Carolyn Wiener Laboratory for Aegean and Near Eastern Dendrochronology at Cornell University for the last 6 years and will now continue to completion at the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona as part of the CMATE initiative. This research would not have been possible without the long-term support of the National Science Foundation , the National Endowment for the Humanities , the National Geographic Society , the Malcolm H. Wiener Foundation and numerous individual patrons of the Aegean Dendrochronology Project . For support of this initial phase of research we would particularly like to thank student employees Kate Seufer, Kayla Altland, Xan Stepp, Jessica Herlich, and Jennifer Watkins. Also Ariel Aicher, Marc Dominianni, Sam Fuller, Carrie Atkins-Fulton, Perri Gerard-Little, Ryan Hunter, Katie Kearns, Brita Lorentzen, Alison Petrucci, Sarah Johnson, Sarah Simpson, Becky Wrench, and Rebecca Wall, for their great contributions in preparation and measurement of samples. We also thank Berndt Kromer for providing the radiocarbon dates and Sturt Manning for his permission to use them in our wiggle-match. At Yenikapı we thank the archaeological team, in particular: Zeynep Kızıltan, Mehmet Ali Polat, Filiz Yal{\c c}ındağ, and Sırrı {\c C}{\"o}lmek{\c c}i. We also thank specialists Oya Algan, Namık Yal{\c c}ın, Jim Crow, Doğan Perin{\c c}ek and Alex Bayliss. Finally we are particularly indebted to Mary Jaye Bruce and three anonymous referees who have greatly helped to improve the original manuscript.",
year = "2012",
month = nov,
doi = "10.1016/j.jas.2012.05.024",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "39",
pages = "3402--3414",
journal = "Journal of Archaeological Science",
issn = "0305-4403",
publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",
number = "11",
}