INTERVALIDATION OF DENDROCHRONOLOGY AND 14C DATING ON A 700-YR TREE-RING SEQUENCE ORIGINATING FROM THE EASTERN CARPATHIANS

We present a comparative study on a 700-yr sequence of dendrochronologically ordered tree-rings of Pinus cembra originating from Eastern Carpathians for the period AD 1009-1709. This period covers the solar minima of the Little Ice Age. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of our radiocarbon (C-14) determinations interpreted on the IntCall3 calibration data and to observe any apparent offsets. The C-14 measurements on single and double tree-rings were "wiggle-matched" to secure the dendrochronology crossmatching of all the Pinus cembra wood pieces. The results showed a very good agreement between the age datasets for four out of five wood trunks. However, for one of them a new cross-matching was performed after a quality assurance test, establishing an earlier 48-yr position, recommended by wiggle-matching Bayesian statistics and dendrochronological analysis. Following this adjustment, the quantification of the C-14 level variability with respect to the IntCall3 calibration curve was obtained by calculating Delta C-14 for all tree-ring samples. As a final conclusion, an insignificant C-14 concentration offset of -0.63 +/- 3.76%0 was found for the Romanian samples.