WIGGLE-MATCH DATING OF A FLOATING OAK CHRONOLOGY FROM AN EARLY IRON AGE GRAVE CONSTRUCTION (ERESZTVENYI FOREST, FEHERVARCSURGO, HUNGARY)

Archaeological excavations unearthed three burial mounds between 1983 and 1986 at Fehervarcsurg ' o (Hungary). Based on the archaeological determination the site was dated to the Early Iron Age. A complex wooden architecture was observed in the largest tumulus containing inner and outer beam constructions separated by stone blocks. Dendrochronological and radiocarbon (C-14) analyses were performed on conserved logs (n=5) to constrain the felling date of the timber, identified as oak, and the construction period of the tumuli. The four longest ringwidth series were synchronized providing a 153-yr-long floating chronology. Five blocks were removed from the cross sections and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) C-14 analysis was performed on the separated alpha-cellulose. A wiggle-matching procedure was employed as the C-14 ages were in agreement with their relative position in the tree-ring sequence and concurred with the expected archaeological period. The calibrated age range of the last extant ring is 747-707 cal BC (95.4%). The earliest possible felling date of the trees used in the construction was between 735 and 695 BC considering the missing sapwood. This is the first C-14 dated tree-ring width chronology from the Early Iron Age in Hungary providing a valuable reference for dendroarchaeological studies along the eastern border of the Hallstatt Culture.