Dendrochronology is a scientific method for dating wood. It is useful for dating paintings on panel, icons, wood sculptures, antiques and antiquities.

In order to date wood we must have it's ring history and we have it for European Oak and Pine in particular. Oak is particularly useful as nearly all Netherlandish paintings are on oak panels.

Other woods that can be dated are Douglas fir, White fir, Ponderosa pine, Post oak, Red oak, Sugar Maple. Some species of wood are not suitable for datng. For example the appearance of growth rings in Poplar trees (Popular for painting panels in Italy) is unreliable. Saguaro, Fan palm and Mesquite don't produced rings or not clear enough.

In order to "read" the rings they must be clearly visible in the wood we are trying to date.

Another requirement, is that there must be at lest 30 rings to have a useful sequence that can be dated.

Due to these limitations only about 40 percent of wood samples can be succesfully dated.

The benefit of dendrochronology over carbon datng is that it is often precise down to the year.

If you need a painting on panel to be dated, let us know.