Methodology

1. Establish Dendrochronology as a key research method for the study of the past in Cyprus and the region. Dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) allows precise dating of wooden materials via the construction of annually resolved tree-ring chronologies and is the key analytical approach to explore dating and historical use of wood materials in buildings and other material culture. Chronologies are built by synchronizing and matching (‘crossdating’) the common tree-ring width patterns shared among trees (of the same or similar species) growing in similar climate and environmental conditions. The tree-rings of a wooden sample– including historical building timbers and wooden objects like painted panels–can be assigned absolute calendar dates when its ring-width pattern can be matched against known-age ‘reference’ chronologies, which include tree-ring data from modern forest trees of known age. One can therefore determine to the exact year (or even season) when wood was cut. Dendrochronologically-dated historical and archaeological tree-ring data can then be added to reference chronologies, extending them further back in time beyond the ages of the oldest living trees and enabling even older wood materials to be dated. Dendrochronological methods have been successfully employed to date and source a wide variety of buildings and religious artwork in northern Europe contemporaneous with Byzantine-Medieval Cyprus and elsewhere in the eastern Mediterranean. However, systematic dendrochronological study of Byzantinemedieval wooden cultural heritage on Cyprus remains unexplored. TREE proposes the first thorough application of the method in Cyprus concentrating on a key group of Byzantine-Medieval monuments.

2. Use Dendrochronology to provide a secure timeframe for the history and environment of the UNESCO listed Painted Churches of the Troodos Ten churches in the Troodos Massif of central Cyprus are collectively inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/351). However, while thus identified and recognized, we currently lack a concrete timeframe for this material and thence the ability to establish an accurate historical context for most of these monuments is significantly limited. Stylistic criteria and (in some cases) inscriptions provide dating, but these chronologies are not always secure and present limitations as to the phases of building histories, or the actual date of painting programs. Several churches have subsequently endured multiple renovations and interventions, whose dates are, at best, known only in approximation. The same is true for icons; it was not common for painters to sign or date their works. Moreover, the study of these monuments in their natural setting provides a rich context to probe questions about the history of the Troodos natural environment. Indicatively, the history and typology of the pitched wooden roofs of the churches of the region have been the focus of scholarly debate. Their particular typology and elaborate technology have been credited to imported ideas from Western Europe or attributed to purely practical needs due to changing climatic conditions. With the latter explanation being the most probable, the analysis of wood from these buildings has the potential of making significant contributions to better assessing the climatic and environmental conditions in the island during the late medieval and early modern periods. Dendrochronology can provide a secure timeframe that will enrich our knowledge of these buildings and artworks. The results of this project would provide the first independent, high-precision timeline for medieval church construction, building histories, and icon production, allowing an accurate reconstruction of the evolution of medieval-post-Byzantine architecture and artwork on Cyprus, as well as how mountain village communities within the Troodos—a culturally, economically, and environmentally critical region on Cyprus—developed. In addition, dendrochronology can also identify the provenance of the wood used. Consequently, dendroprovenancing data, in tandem with textual sources and archaeological survey data, will provide unique new data on how wood materials for buildings and artwork were acquired, and their potential local impacts on the Troodos forests and landscape. The tree-ring datasets will further facilitate dating of additional and earlier Byzantine wooden cultural heritage in Cyprus and the East Mediterranean.

3. Consolidate the collaborative consortium of the ‘Cyprus Dendrochronology Lab’ and secure the key transfer of knowledge and expertise from research institutions to public/ governmental authorities

An important goal of the project is the consolidation of the development and the research activities of the recently inaugurated ‘Cyprus Dendrochronology Laboratory’

(https://www.cyi.ac.cy/index.php/in-focus/establishment-of-the-cyprus-dendrochronology-laboratorycdl.html). Combining leading international (Cornell University) and local (The Cyprus Institute) research expertise and capacity with governmental authorities (Departments of Antiquities and Forests), the project’s consortium secures the highest level of research excellence and its successful implementation. Furthermore, the project aims at fostering transfer-knowledge between the consortium partners. The transfer of expert knowledge and hands-on field experience will strengthen the impact of the project.