Seeing the forest for the trees: New approaches and challenges for dendroarchaeology in the 21st century

Domínguez‐Delmás, Marta

doi:10.1016/j.dendro.2020.125731

Cited by 46 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 138 publications

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“…Scientific investigations of cultural heritage objects made from different materials play an important role in understanding the manufacturing process, establishing their chronology, attributing objects to artists, and deciding on conservation methods 1 – 5 . Because of the uniqueness of these historical objects, investigations requiring invasive methods (those that involve removing a sample from the object to be analysed either by destructive or non-destructive techniques) are carefully weighed against the potential knowledge gain 1 , 6 . Therefore, the demand for non-invasive methods has increased over the past years, and novel techniques are being developed 7 – 13 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This requires a sample to be extracted from the object and placed under a microscope, or the growth pattern to be accessible in a cross-section so that it can be photographed and measured on the digital photos. Usually, optimal visualisation of the tree rings is only obtained after cleaning the surface with some abrasive method 6 . Such methods range from non-invasive simple brushing to highly-invasive procedures such as sand-blasting or even scraping with scalpel blades.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A novel method for dendrochronology of large historical wooden objects using line trajectory X-ray tomography

Bossema

Domínguez‐Delmás

Palenstijn

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Dendrochronology is an essential tool to determine the date and provenance of wood from historical art objects. As standard methods to access the tree rings are invasive, X-ray computed tomography (CT) has been proposed for non-invasive dendrochronological investigation. While traditional CT can provide clear images of the inner structure of wooden objects, it requires their full rotation, imposing strong limitations on the size of the object. These limitations have previously encouraged investigations into alternative acquisition trajectories, including trajectories with only linear movement. In this paper, we use such a line-trajectory (LT) X-ray tomography technique to retrieve tree-ring patterns from large wooden objects. We demonstrate that by moving a wooden artifact sideways between the static X-ray source and the detector during acquisition, sharp reconstruction images of the tree rings can be produced. We validate this technique using computer simulations and two wooden test planks, and demonstrate it on a large iconic chest from the Rijksmuseum collection (Amsterdam, The Netherlands). The LT scanning method can be easily implemented in standard X-ray imaging units available at museum research facilities. Therefore, this scanning technique represents a major step towards the standard implementation of non-invasive dendrochronology on large wooden cultural heritage objects.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel method for dendrochronology of large historical wooden objects using line trajectory X-ray tomography

Bossema

Domínguez‐Delmás

Palenstijn

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“…Dendrochronological research on panel paintings is done on the transverse ends (end grain) of the boards making up the panel. It usually requires cleaning a thin linear area along the surface with a scalpel blade, micro-abrasive blasting or other methods to remove leftovers of preparatory layers, varnish, or dirt that hamper the visualization of the tree rings [11,12]. Such invasive procedures are undesirable, as they leave irreversible traces on the objects examined.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, cleaning methods must be carefully considered for each object and set against the possible knowledge gained through the research. The increasing demand for non-invasive methods has led in the last decade to close collaborations between computer scientists, mathematicians, conservators and wood scientists, resulting in improved imaging techniques such as X-ray computed tomography (CT) to allow non-invasive dendrochronological studies [12]. The first attempts to carry out dendrochronology on CT images date back to the 1980s [13,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Achieving the required image resolution and quality for tree-ring research is still a challenge for most scanning facilities, in particular medical ones [26,27]. Furthermore, the size of the object poses additional limitations that currently hinder the systematic application of this technique in the study of cultural heritage [12]. Therefore, our investigation of a painting on panel attributed to Rubens' studio aimed at implementing X-ray CT scanning and achieving high-quality CT images to retrieve the tree-ring sequence in the wood and establish its date and provenance by dendrochronology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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X-ray computed tomography for non-invasive dendrochronology reveals a concealed double panelling on a painting from Rubens’ studio

et al. 2021

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Dating the wood from historical art objects is a crucial step to ascertain their production time, and support or refute attribution to an artist or a workshop. Dendrochronology is commonly used for this purpose but requires access to the tree-ring pattern in the wood, which can be hindered by preparatory layers, polychromy, wax, or integrated frames. Here we implemented non-invasive dendrochronology based on X-ray computed tomography (CT) to examine a painting on panel attributed to Rubens’ studio and its presumed dating around 1636 CE. The CT images achieved a resolution of 37.3 micron and revealed a double panelling, which was concealed by oak strips covering all four edges. The back (visible) board is made of deciduous oak (Quercus subg. Quercus), the most common type of wood used in 17th-century Netherlandish workshops, and was dated terminus post quem after 1557 CE. However, the front (original) board used for the painting has been identified through examination of the wood anatomy as a tropical wood, probably Swietenia sp., a species seldom used in Netherlandish paintings, and remains undated. Its very presence attests the global character of 17th-century trade, and demonstrates the use of exotic species in Flemish studios. The date of the oak board refutes previous results and suggests that this board was trimmed to meet the size of the tropical one, having been glued to it for conservation purposes or with deceiving intentions to pretend that the painting was made on an oak panel. These revelations have opened new lines of art historical inquiry and highlight the potential of X-ray CT as a powerful tool for non-invasive study of historical art objects to retrieve their full history.

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Current progress in quantifying and monitoring instream large wood supply and transfer in rivers

Ruiz‐Villanueva,

Aarnink,

Ghaffarian

et al. 2024

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Large wood drives both the form and function of gravel‐bed rivers draining forested basins. Previously overlooked benefits of wood in rivers are now widely recognized. Together with flow and sediment regimes, the wood regime controls rivers' physical and ecological integrity. Yet large quantities of wood transported during floods can pose additional hazards, potentially damaging infrastructures like bridges or dams and exacerbating flooding. However, unlike the water and sediment regimes intensively studied over the past decades, the instream wood regime or budgeting has been only recently defined and thus is still rarely quantified. The instream wood budget describes the cascading processes from supply or recruitment, entrainment, and transport to deposition, storage and decay (i.e., fragmentation or decomposition). These processes show high spatial and temporal variability but can be characterized by magnitude, frequency, timing, duration and mode. Instream wood budgeting is challenging, primarily because of the lack of observations, monitoring stations, and standardized protocols to acquire data. This contribution reviews the most recent advances to quantify the different instream wood budget components, notably the wood supply, and transfer. Case studies showing applications of biogeochemistry, videography, artificial intelligence, numerical modelling or tracking illustrate the current progress. Because critical challenges remain, we identify and describe some of them and discuss how the wood in riverine sciences may develop in the future.

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Seeing the forest for the trees: New approaches and challenges for dendroarchaeology in the 21st century

Cited by 46 publications

References 138 publications

A novel method for dendrochronology of large historical wooden objects using line trajectory X-ray tomography

A novel method for dendrochronology of large historical wooden objects using line trajectory X-ray tomography

X-ray computed tomography for non-invasive dendrochronology reveals a concealed double panelling on a painting from Rubens’ studio

Current progress in quantifying and monitoring instream large wood supply and transfer in rivers

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