Alverstone Marshes, Isle of Wight Dendrochronological and Radiocarbon Analysis

Scientific dating of timbers Tree-ring analysis of sixteen samples from oak timbers excavated at Alverstone Marshes, Isle of Wight in 2005 clustered ten of these samples into three groups, which consisted of two, five and three timbers respectively. These sample, and the six unmatched timbers, however, are all currently undated by dendrochronology. Radiocarbon dating of Cluster 2 (five timbers) surprisingly determined that these timbers were felled during the early part of the first millenium cal BC. Twenty-one timbers from eight structures were radiocarbon dated with construction in Areas A and B taking place in the sixth century cal AD and in Area C from the ninth-twelfth centuries cal AD. The identification of several sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) timbers dating to the sixth century cal AD raises the possibility that they were derived from trees that may have been a relict population introduced during the Roman period. Providing robust chronologies for the monoliths taken for environmental analysis was hampered by lack of suitable samples for scientific dating and by the presence of residual/intrusive material within the sediments.