Indirect dating of an olive tree planting event using luminescence of the sediments lying beneath the roots of the tree: a pilot study in the south-western part of Anatolia, Turkey

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to attempt assessing the age of a monumental olive tree located between the Antique Cities of Militus (Didim-Aydın region) and Iasos (Milas-Muğla region). Wood from the trunk of an olive tree is not appropriate for conventional dating approaches such as dendrochronology or 14C. The sediments closely located surrounding and beneath the roots of the olive tree are considered indicative of the age of the planting event; therefore these sediments were dated using both quartz and feldspar luminescence signal protocols. Methodological aspects including the preheating plateaus, equivalent dose statistical approaches and dose rate using gamma spectrometry are also discussed, as dating of the associated palaeochannel sediments of the area are presented for the first time in the dating literature. The optically stimulated luminescence and/or infrared stimulated luminescence ages are extrapolated to date the event of the tree planting; it is the first time in the literature that an age is reported for an olive tree in the eastern Mediterranean region. The present study stands as the first experimental evidence that olive trees have been cultivated in the area since the Iron Age. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.